It was an evening that
Warren, Mike, Jenny and I
will never forget.
It was the night we met
Katerina Hope Musser.
All 10 pounds of her.
Perhaps she is up to
eleven pounds by now.
The feeding tube is firmly
in place and is feeding this
precious 9 year old girl....
so recently come
from an orphanage in
Europe.
But Katie no longer lives
there...She no longer suffers
the indignities of neglect.
That is in the past.
Katerina is now embraced by the
love of parents,
called by God,
from a world away.
Parents who obeyed His voice
and went through
impossible situations in order
to bring her home to a place
of safety.
When we walked into her room
tonight I was holding my breath.
How would I respond to this
child whom I had seen so many photos of
and yet had not seen in person?
Well, it took about a second to figure
that out. The response was pure love.
It took no time at all for this little one to
respond to her Mamma's voice and touch
with a smile that lit the room like a million
watt lightbulb.
Then came the giggle.
Oh.my.goodness.
We were all totally taken with Katie
in no time at all.
It has to be said that
there are no words to
describe the delicacy of this
girl's condition.
To explain how small she is.
It truly is shocking.
Your brain works and works
to comprehend what it is seeing.
It does not compute.
The abuse this child suffered is
unbelievable.
Inexcusable.
There are many stories to be told
when the time is right.
Those stories need to come from
Joe and Susanna,
but suffice it to say that God not only wanted
this little girl to know what it is to be loved
but He is doing more.....
much more.
Before leaving Susanna and Katie this
evening Pastor Mike and Warren took
turns praying and then we all joined in singing
The Doxology.
Picture if you will
a tiny face with
big brown eyes
chattering away
as we began to sing
and then she grows silent.
Those big brown eyes with the
long, long lashes growing bigger
and more intent if that is possible.
Then imagine that she leaned out
just a bit and studied us as we sang....
watching and listening to the
music.
Enjoying it.
As if for the first time
in her nine years.
Now that is an audience that
would encourage one to
continue to sing.
The time had come for
us to leave.
I reached my finger out to this
beautiful girl.
She did me the honor of grasping
it briefly.
Softly.
So softly....and gently.
The human touch.
It means so much!
We left the room with tears in
our eyes.
In wonder at the workings of
God in the life of this child.
Praising Him for the privilege
of bearing witness.
Of course we would covet your
continued prayers for Katerina, Susanna
and Joe.
It is not easy for Susanna to be away from
her other ten children, waiting at home.
It is necessary for now as bonding takes
place and Katie's health is stabilized.
Susanna wrote a post
after Thanksgiving that shows the
children meeting their new sister for the first time.
Look at how she remembers
and already loves her new Daddy.
Katie is one smart cookie!!
