Flowers and Big Brown Eyes (meeting Kira May)

April 6th the day we held our daughter for the first time. It is true that this was the first time we got to physically hold our daughter but it was not the first time we have held her in our prayers and in our hearts thus the physical meeting was very natural to us. We saw the fingers and toes we have prayed for. We rubbed the back and head I have asked the Lord to help develop. We made eye contact with the deep brown eyes of Kira May.  

God has knit her together perfectly. He has made her who she is and we love every part of this little girl.

We arrived at the orphanage home in Hyderabad at 11:30 am after our driver got a little lost. We spent a good three hours together. We walked into the lobby and were offered a place to sit, and before we could absorb the environment here comes walking out of the nearest room, Kira May. She walked over to us with her squeaky shoes, cute barrette with five flowers in her hair and a dress with three flowers across her chest. Timid but also curious, we started to get to know this little pumpkin. Right away it was the flashing light up balls we brought that drew her in. Next, it was the photo book of home, family and our dog. She loved the bubbles I blew for her, especially when she could pop them. She liked the sucker Kelsey gave her… the first food we gave our daughter was a bubblegum flavored sucker, classic! She cuddled with Kelsey.

The first song we sang to her was Jesus Loves Me and boy do we love this little child. It was a sweet time of humming hymns to her as she was fighting falling asleep. Our plan is to visit her again this morning, hoping for another three hours. :)

Tomorrow we take her to court with an orphanage representative. It should be pretty simple. Maybe visit a couple more times after court and fly home late Wednesday night/Thursday morning.

We praise God for your prayers and words of encouragement. We could not do this apart from the peace that comes from Christ and his body. We have friends already in this city that friends have connected us with. It does not feel so foreign after you know five or six people :) (in a city of six million.)

Continue to pray for our times with Kira. Pray that these visits start a healthy attachment for her and us.

Pray for the court tomorrow that the Judge would be kind and easy on us.

Glory to the God from whom all blessings flow!