Today we celebrate the birth of our Daughter of Purpose.  She is turning 6 today, but yet this is only our third opportunity to celebrate with her.  Her first 3 birthdays were in a Russian orphanage.  Sometimes that fact grieves me, but yet I know that I cannot dwell on missing out on the joyous day of her birth.  There is some sort of purpose for her being there and not here during that time frame. I may never know or understand that.  I wish I could’ve been there to hold her and love on her. It bothers me to think of her laying in a Russian hospital all alone.  Yet I have hope.  I have hope knowing that I have a God with the name El Roi.  El Roi is the God who sees.  It gives me comfort to know that even though I was not there on the day of my daughter’s birth…He was.  El Roi was there and He saw her.  He celebrated her birth and watched over her and orchestrated her path to end up in our family.  He saw and He still sees her.  He sees her here in our family and still dances with joy, probably even more joy now that she’s home.

I do not know any details of her birth mother, but on this day I also stop to remember her, pray for, wonder a bit about her and to thank God for her because without her I wouldn’t have this precious treasure to call my daughter.

Happy Birthday, Daughter of Purpose!  Can’t wait to walk this journey of life with you and to see what purposes God has in mind for you that could not be accomplished any other way than to be here in our family in America.

The top picture is her first birthday celebration with us–two weeks after her arrival in the US.

Left pic:  DOP with one of our friends at an international costume party.

Right pic:  DOP on our vacation this spring.