Happy Birthday, Selah Grace AnLi!

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.  So now I give him to the Lord.  For his whole life he shall be given over to the Lord." 1 Samuel 1:27-28

As we celebrate Selah's first birthday home in the United States today, we are reminded of this scripture that describes what the Lord has done in our lives through becoming a family together.  This little girl grew in our hearts for several years before she was in our arms.  We prayed for her safety, health, mind, and heart as she waited for a family to call her own.  The Lord has truly answered our prayers of bringing her out of orphan care, and setting her into our home...declaring her our daughter...no longer an orphan.  Only those who have adopted and fallen in love with their adopted children understand when I say that she is just as much our daughter as Bryson and Lincoln are our sons.  He knit her together in her birth mother's womb, but He grew her in our hearts from the beginning until now.  The call to "give her to the Lord for her whole life" is pretty humbling and amazing.  To know that He is trustworthy, good, and more than capable to take care of her is so freeing.  We don't have to have all of the answers on how life will look moving forward, we have His answer of trusting Him because of His track record.  He has taken care of us all, He brought our family together, and He promises to continue to be faithful.

We love you, Selah Grace AnLi!  We celebrate three years of beautiful life in His creation of you.  We are so happy that you were born, that you are home, and that we get to delight in you everyday.  Your enthusiasm and sense of adventure is so contagious!  You love deeply, and you feel deeply.  We adore your sass and charm.  Watching you grow into the little girl you are today has been such a gift to us.  We are so blessed that God has answered our prayers in bringing you safely to us, and He will see us through the valleys and the mountain tops to come.  You are chosen, cherished, adored, and beloved.  You are our own.  You can never outrun the love God has given our hearts for you.  Happy Birthday to you, our sweet Selah!