I have been struggling to write this post for several days
now. I’ve thought about it, prayed
about it, written paragraphs and then deleted them. Sometimes your heart’s deepest longings can’t be put into
words. But there is a battle being
fought as I write this, and I need your prayers, so I’ll try.
4 weeks and 1 day ago this beautiful little girl entered our
lives. We’ll call her Daniella,
name changed to protect the innocent and all that. She came to us through Safe Families, but it quickly became
apparent that her case was more complicated than others we’ve seen. I won’t go into details, but suffice it
to say that this precious little child has endured more pain and suffering in
her short life than I will face in my lifetime. Yet despite her hardships, she is incredibly resilient, and
has this amazing and spunky personality. She is so sweet and funny and full of life. And she talks. Like Every. Waking.
Minute. “Mommy, let’s sing
the ABCDs, ok? Right? Because I love that song. Are we going to school? Are we going to church? I have a book. I read it? I like this book… an on and on she goes. She is a girly-girl (how did I get 3 of
those when I was a total tomboy?) and loves her accessories. She can’t wait for me to put bows in
her hair every morning, and won’t leave the house without fancy shoes and
sunglasses. And she loves to
shop; girly's got a sense of fashion!
Every night I rock her before she goes to bed and she asks me to sing
“Jesus” (Jesus Loves Me). She
loves to pray before dinner and always reminds us when we forget. Yesterday we were walking out of the
store and she said “Jesus? Thank you for Daniella. And bless it.
Amen.”
A few days after she came to stay with us she asked if she
could call me her fairy mommy (she asked Matt if she could call him
Spiderman. He said no.). I found that incredibly ironic the
other day as I was signing an affidavit making me her godmother. I guess that makes me her fairy
godmother ;)
Tomorrow is her 3rd birthday. It’s also the day that DCFS is bringing
her (and her 3 other sibling’s) case before a judge, requesting that they be
placed in protective custody. As
her godmother, I’m technically a relative, so it has been requested that she be
allowed to stay with us. Tomorrow
should be a day of celebration. I
should be blowing up balloons and wrapping gifts and making a cake. Ok, that last part is just ridiculous. I should be ordering a cake. She wants one with a mermaid on it – oh
how that little girl just loves mermaids.
But right now my heart is tied in knots, because while we are hoping and
praying that she can stay with us, there’s just no guarantee. If her lawyer misplaces paperwork or a
social worker misfiles a report, the judge could send her back home. She has fallen through the cracks of
the system before and she’s paid a heavy price. If she and her siblings hadn’t been placed with Safe
Families a month ago, no one would be fighting for them right now.
The truth is, this
"system" can't save her.
Thankfully, we believe in
a God who can.
So this little girl needs
your prayers. She is in desperate need of a Savior, of One who can redeem
what is broken in her life and give her a hope and a future. We are doing
all we can to keep her in our home, so that we can give her the chance to grow
up in a family that will love and protect her. And we are praying for a
miracle, because that's what it's going to take and it's exactly what our God
can do. I wrote in my last post that each of us has a job to do when it
comes to caring for the oppressed and needy. Maybe you can't take a child
into your home, but you can pray for this child in ours. Here's a few
things that you can pray for specifically:
- that she would not
be returned home. Not in 2 days or years or lifetimes. I have
returned several children home to difficult and impoverished situations and
have believed that being with their families was the best thing for them.
So I can say with a clear conscience that this child should not go back
home.
- that she would be assigned
an amazing case worker. Someone who will advocate for her like no one
else has. Someone who will see her for the beautiful and smart and funny
and spirited little gift that she is and will fight like heck to make sure she
gets all the things she deserves in this world. Someone that will believe
her when she tells them what she has gone through.
- that God would give us
wisdom as we learn to navigate the system and take on the task of parenting a
child with a difficult background.
It's been a stressful
couple of weeks around here. I've made hotline calls, and filled out
reports and had lots of ups and downs. Every time I talk about this whole
mess I get a raging headache – I have one right now. The verse posted on this blog begins "If you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry..." That's how I feel right now. Spent. Having beautiful weather over the past several days has been such a gift. I've always thought that Spring smells like hope. It's amazing what a little
sunshine can do. The girls have obviously enjoyed it
too...
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| My 3 favorite girlies - checking out the farm behind us from their "fort" |
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| How did my little girl get so grown up?! |
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| My toothless wonder :) |
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| Is there anything better than swinging and flip flops? |
There's a song by Hillsong that keeps running through my head (it's called Desert Song), especially this part...
"This is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand.
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain.
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here"
Please join us in prayer for this little girl, especially tomorrow morning when her case goes before a judge. Pray that God will be her victory, that she will grow up knowing that He is here. And tomorrow we will celebrate - we will celebrate her life, we will celebrate her victory, and we will celebrate the miracles our God has only begun to do in her. Now to order the mermaid cake...
praying, praying, praying!
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