Looking Back

I am tears this morning as I look back at photos of our first meeting with Camila. She ran aimlessly, and would hardly stop to connect with us for a second. She was in a sort of cloud from all of the meds she was taking at that time. Sure she was still extremely precious, and she melted our hearts. But she is simply not the same little girl anymore.

When I look at my intelligent, focused, and beautiful daughter after only nine weeks...I am astounded.














It is just miraculous what some love and affection can do for a child. When I think of the terrible diagnosis someone gave Camila while she was being drugged with crazy doses of medicines, when I think of all of the time she spent alone in a crib (where she wasn't even allowed toys because she would "tear them up"), my heart falls to pieces.

This is my beautiful and intelligent little girl who is going so far beyond what anyone believed for her. It's been only nine weeks...and I know there are so many more miracles to come.

It's so amazing all that Camila is saying now. She will usually repeat words anytime I ask her to, unless she is embarrassed. :)
In addition to all of the words she was saying, she now says,
-See Mama (for 'Yes Mama', after I ask her to- when I tell her to do something)
-Isaac (she loves her some Isaac. He is always on Camila patrol- sure to protect and rescue little sis from anyone who might possibly think of taking her toy or looking at her in an unfriendly way. If she's upset, he wants to hug her and make her feel better.)
-Love you.
-Josiah (it comes out like Do-di-dah...so funny)
- Amen (She says this over and over when she's ready to eat. It means "we can eat!" to her.)
-Please
-Thank you
-Daddy (she had been saying this, but now she says it in the appropriate place. When Danny gets home for lunch and she hears him, she will start hollering it. :) )

There are more that I can't think of at the moment, but on top of the other twenty or so words she was saying since we've been home, we are stacking up a little vocabulary! :)

Camila truly understands what's going on and what our routines are. She notices little details, like what it means for me to grab my purse, or change her clothes into something besides pajamas in the middle of the day. She knows that means we are about to go bye-bye, and she begins laughing her head off.

Some good things have come out of the bad situation with Camila and the misdiagnosis and circumstances surrounding her life pre adoption. Because of her specific case, a meeting took place with all of the head adoption officials in the country. Peru is now developing a system of better evaluating and diagnosing kids in the orphanages all over the country. This even includes writing up a book of things for orphanage workers and psychologists to look for and the fact that these extreme drugs should rarely, if ever be used. Also, they are even developing a team that will go to the orphanages throughout the country and see that these things are taken care of. What a joy. I'm so thankful that God is using the bad circumstance to change the way things are done, so that kids will be treated better.

The head of adoption basically called Camila's case their model for figuring out how to better help the orphans of Peru.

God can make beauty from ashes.




I'm so thankful that the Spirit of God still leads the lives of His children. Without the Holy Spirit directing our steps, Camila would never be in our family. Had we not had God directing us, and if we had only had a file with mixed up, contradictory, and crazy information to go by, we would have surely not stepped forward. We knew that the Lord was leading us directly to Camila- but we truthfully did not know what we'd find when we went to get her.

Jesus knew.

We would find our daughter. A vibrant and joyful, bubbly little girl, full of giggles and full of personality; A bright little girl who only needed to be given a chance.


She is such a blessing to us and it will be something to watch her life story unfold.