black and white Wednesday ~ seven years

There is only one happiness in life - to love and to be loved.

~ George Sand

Can you tell that's her?

Can you see she still has that beautiful mouth, the same eyes and those elegant long fingers?

We met her exactly 7 years ago and it seems like yesterday.

I can remember every single detail.

The moment she was brought in the room.
 How it was so quiet...there were no sounds (or maybe it just seemed that way?)
Time stood still for a few seconds.
That first little sweet smile, and how she reached out to me.
I took her in my arms and it felt like she'd always been there.

 I didn't want to cry because I thought it might scare her,

being aware of what she'd been through that eventful day.

My tears of joy came later.

Her life and ours have changed immensely since

that late Summer evening in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province.

Grace (Fu Lan Li) is everything and so much more 

than we could have possibly hoped or dreamed.

Today is Grace's Forever Family Day.

 It's the day she joined our family.

For us it's a marker of time(perhaps) and a day to show how much she's loved and cherished.

We don't have a big celebration with gifts or a cake.

It's a quiet family observation of that day 7 years ago.

And on a personal note, it's also a day for us to honor her birth parents.

People who we will sadly probably never meet.

 I hope and pray they know she's loved and safe, smart and healthy.

And oh so happy.

Grace is the definition of grace completely.

Poised, serene, kind, elegant in form and manner,

and strong in character.
A treasure.
And a gift from God.

Grace's name ~ Lan Li, means

'Beautiful Orchid.'

It was her given name by the SWI and I can't imagine a more fitting one for her.

Our beautiful orchid who is Lanli.

I shall be called by a new name,
embraced by a fresh pair of arms,
but I shall come and go,
the eternal me.

~  Rabindranath Tagore



You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

~  Max Ehrmann - Desiderata



And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.

~  Matthew 18:5

Please hop on over to Lisa's blog,
The Long Road to China for many more black and whites.