snuggles

Is there anything sweeter than being half-strangled in a bear hug snuggle by the snoring child you adore?  Breathing in the breath she breathes out and praying for her as you study her beautiful face?
Hoping your tears at the tangible good of that moment don't spill on her and wake her up?

Maybe not on this side of heaven.  Feeling thankful for this Thursday night tuck-in.

Art and Jesus

Lucy is a pajama-ed artist.  Inspiration hits in the mornings, it seems.  She drew this on her own and then told me all about it.  It's Jesus on the cross, and then alive beside the tomb.  She scribbled out his face on the cross because "it makes her so sad."

I asked her to tell me again on video.  Precious child!

Lucy's picture of herself in Africa

While I sorted laundry, Lucy made this awesome picture.   "I'm going to draw myself in Africa."

She carefully put grass at the bottom, and then drew tiny, happy Lucy (orange, center).  Then she drew a lion (top, left--see the mane?) and an elephant (top right--notice the long nose).  She drew a crocodile (bottom, right) and "one of those things with the orange and black stripes (tiger is bottom, center).  Then she drew a "nanny" in pink--we've talked about how nannies took good care of her while she was waiting for me to get there to her.  And a plane in the very tip top right corner (this is the only one I helped with--she asked for backup because she got a little stuck).

I love get a glimpse into what's going on in that busy brain!  This just made me smile.

Forever Day--four years

Wow!  God is so good to us!  I'm so thankful for the beauty of adoption in general, and so thankful that God chose (with great pleasure) to adopt us.  And I'm deeply, beyond-words-thankful that Lucy and I are forever family--she is such a blessing to me!

Lucy sings to God

Lucy woke me up this morning, inspired.  She had traced and colored her hand in her notebook (that's what she keeps referring to in the video, as if her lyrics are there).  She serenaded me in bed with a beautiful song, then I had to try to capture this awesomeness :)  It's long (around 5 minutes) so only her card-carrying fan club will want to watch it.  It's songs "from her heart" (but includes a bit of "Day by Day" by GFC and I almost here a hint of "First time in Forever" from Frozen :)  All the singing about no jail in heaven arises from a pre-school theological dispute with a little boy at her daycare (he told her that if women don't wear skirts they go to jail in heaven, and we've talked often since then that heaven has no jail!  Just God saying "Welcome, my precious daughter!" and loving us!)  Lucy can be a little shy, so seeing her praising God all loud and confident and praying boldly to Him just makes me happy.