Meet Annabelle

We aren't allowed to post any pictures on the internet of her until we have gone to the Philippines to pick her up, so here is a drawing that Breanna did of her:

Her name will be Annabelle and she just turned one in September.  She goes by a different name in the orphanage, but Annabelle is her second given name and is what we have chosen to name her.  She is beautiful and perfect in every way except for one thing - she has no limbs.  She was born this way.  It is a very rare condition.  It will be a huge obstacle in her life and will also be quite a challenge for us, but we believe that she will grow up to do amazing things in her life despite this challenge, and we are so excited to get to be part of that.  We don't feel like we are a family that is qualified enough to care for a child with so many challenges, but we know we can love her.  We know, because we already love her, even though we have never met her.  We can love her unconditionally and give her a home where she will always know that she is loved by us and also by God.  We will do whatever we can to help her reach her full potential and to be happy.

When we first found her on the waiting child list my first thoughts were about what potential she would be capable of achieving being born with this disability.  I did some research on the internet to find others born this way.  The first one I came across was Nick Vujicic.  He was born in Australia with no arms or legs and is now a Christian motivational speaker.  I cried when I watched this video of him.  He is so inspirational:

After watching this and also hearing inspirational stories of others with similar conditions, I realized that Annabelle would be capable of so much more then I would ever have thought possible.  This is when our family seriously began to consider adopting her.  Joshua and Eva never needed any convincing.  They wanted her from the first time they saw her picture.  I remember having a talk with Joshua about her and telling him that she wouldn't be able to do a lot of the same things as him.  I asked if he still wanted her for a sister and he said "her have eyes, and her have ears - her can hear, and her have brains".  He was only thinking about what she would be capable of.  I wish we could all think that way.  Because Breanna is much older, she had some reservations about it, but after giving it a lot of thought she also wanted this little girl to be a part of our family.  Jason and I had some reservations in the beginning also, but we feel so strongly that she is our little girl that nothing else really matters.  I have no doubt that she is going to bring so much joy to our family as well as to so many others.  The name "Annabelle" actually means "joy" which is why I decided to title this blog "Our Path to Joy".  We are so excited that our journey to bringing her home has officially begun and can't wait for that day to get here!