Our Beautiful Flower to Love

Today is Friday, November 28. Kalina is 5 months old! Thanks to Angela for posting pictures of our little girl. Yesterday Kalina enjoyed her first solid food-a soft boiled egg yolk. She loved it! She sucked hard on the spoon, kind of like we enjoy ice cream. Then she kept grabbing for the bowl to get more. Of course, she had to feel the egg, too, so Mommy and Daddy had a big clean up job at the end! I think that egg yolk is stickier than baby food! Also, you can see that Kalina can kind of sit up by herself now. She has to lean forward and use her hands to prop herself up. She's very proud of these new developments, and her Mommy and Daddy are delighted, too.
Thanks to all of you who sent such loving Thanksgiving messages! We hope that you enjoyed (or are still enjoying depending on when you read this) the holiday.
This week has brought a lot of emotions. We truly believed that we would be home to celebrate Thanksgiving with all of you. We believed that we would be home before Kalina turned 5 months old. This was not God's timing.
I love to make scrapbooks. This week I was able to get some pictures developed here. I've had fun organizing them and planning the scrapbook pages I'll make when we come home. At the same time, looking at the photos has made me sad. In most pictures, Kalina is in our bedroom here. I won't have any scrapbook pages for Halloween, Thanksgiving, playing with Grandmother, squealing at the cats, playing outside, or celebrating our homecoming with family and friends, at least, not yet.
In our devotional book, the entry for yesterday talked about a little flower that blooms in the midst of adversity. I started to cry because I knew it was describing our Kalina! Her name, Kalina, means "beautiful flower to love." God confirmed our choice by sending a beautiful array of roses on our sad little rosebush this spring.
I've wanted so much more for Kalina-instead of vaccines in a strange doctor's office, dirt, bug bites, strangers grabbing at her and scaring her, traveling in terrible road conditions with no car seat, unhealthy environment, noise pollution, air pollution, lack of sunshine, skin problems, lack of supplies, harsh soap that ruins her clothing and irritates her skin, no holidays, and no family and friends I wanted her to have the best food and supplies, the most love from family and friends, the most joyful celebrations, the best medical care, the safest conditions, proper medical care, and her own home.
God spoke to my heart and said that it's all about love. Kalina is blossoming because she is loved. In this world, we will have troubles, some more serious and difficult than others. Our perfect world will come when we reach heaven. Love conquers all. The enemy will try to steal, kill, and destroy everything he can, but he cannot steal God's love from us. By the grace of God, he cannot steal our love for each other and for Kalina. Love is what matters. Love will last.
When I cried to God that I'm so sad that Kalina's scrapbook will look so pitiful, He whispered to me again that Kalina has something far better than most babies have. God took so much sadness-sadness that a little baby felt when her mommy left her and sadness that a husband and wife felt because they longed for a child-and God made it into something beautiful. He already had planned that the three would become a family. When man said it was impossible, God said, "I already have the plan. All things are possible with me." He worked all things together for good. Maybe Kalina's scrapbook won't show what most American babies enjoy the first 5 months of their lives. However, hers will tell of a story that very few babies have-a story of God's love and her parents' faith. Kalina is the most joyful, beautiful baby, blooming in the midst of adversity-our beautiful flower to love! Happy 5 month old birthday, our precious little girl!