8 and Full of Grace
[bl]L[/bl]ydia Jane is 8! We couldn’t have known then everything she would do.
She would expand our family, our hearts. We would no longer be the same.
She would spend her first year of life in Guatemala, growing and resting in love.
She would spend her second year in bows, in America.
Her beauty would capture the eyes of strangers, and we would tell them about the One who grafts us into his tree, roots us in his love. The true Father of adoption.
Her golden skin would color our world, her golden spirit would brighten our life.
She would take us to Africa, because her home caused us to really see the world.
And it would turn our life upside down.
She would spend her third year barefoot in Uganda.
And she would climb into trees with her brothers, into the orange soil, into the hearts of Ugandans.
And at a young age she would look to Jesus for faith in her story. In the things that will always be a mystery.
And her laughter would be contagious. And her joy would lead us through some lonely times in a new land.
And her spunky, contended soul would allow her to feel comfortable and confident in all her homes.
This girl, now eight, is full of grace. She has moved to the rhythm of our family. Changed the rhythm of our family. And she has graciously received our shifting and growing, even though she’s slower to move than the rest of us. She just wants to be. Hold onto life and live!
And on her birthday we snuggle in the morning and tell her story. Oh how she loves her story! A story that redefines family as God grafts her into love through his grace. A story that redefines home as God roots her in hope rather than a place. A story that renames her as God shapes for her a new identity, secured in and through him.
God has poured his grace into this little girl. May she receive it and give it back to others.