More progress...

Yesterday after school, Danni came in to the kitchen to show me pictures from D-NOW. Savannah had printed pictures for her and she got them at school. She was so proud, and I was so thankful she thought about showing them to me. She could have chosen to take them from her backpack, tuck them away in her drawer and I would have never known...but she chose to take that risk and show me. I am so grateful.

Last night, Matthew asked her again if she was happy here..if she liked living with us..if she was having fun. And for the first time, instead of not responding, or shaking her head, or saying, "I don't know"...she said 'yes'. We are thankful for moments like theses and count them as treasures.

I posted a 'note' on Facebook about looking at photos of the girls from her orphanage...and how it breaks my heart because of their circumstances. I'm sure she does feel some guilt about being here, and I know that has to be hard on her. One of the saddest situations was a girl who never would even look at the camera. We thought maybe she was sick, or something. But after Danni told us her story, she must have hung her head in shame. I kept thinking, 'I wonder what they told the group when they were taking the pictures? Did they know they were for Danni because she was getting a family?" And how that must sting....in their minds..another lucky one...and I have not been chosen. But for this precious girl, a family had come to adopt her, only to return her to the orphanage. And now she is 13, too old to be considered for adoption.

I CANNOT even wrap my brain around that...what she must think day, after day. There is no hope for me. I will never have a family. I will never have a job. I will probably not get married...or if I do, it will be forced..like slave labor for my 'husband's' family...or I may be a sex slave...forced to do the unthinkable.

Lastly, there is one girl, Danni calls her best friend. Lin X. J. I will call her. She is waiting for a family from the US..or so Danni told us. I have to assume for now that is true. I told Danni we found out from the SWI Director, she is still there. I asked Danni if she wanted to write her a letter. She said softly, "She can't read." Lin is 9 years old and has not been allowed to go to school.

We will continue to 'speak for those who cannot speak for themselves' and advocate for the orphan.

I am so proud of Danni and how brave she is. Today she brought home her Math ThinkLink results. Out of 30 questions, she only missed 4...amazing!