a new life.

while the kiddos were out playing in the sprinkler, the other night, i couldn't help but stare at elsa...and think about this life she is living now.

watching her be a child, and splash around in the water.  running with her brothers and sister.

laughing.  just being a kid.

i started thinking about all of the things that she's got to experience here, that she most likely wouldn't have experienced in ethiopia.

things as small as running through a sprinkler...playing dress up with her sister...watching fireworks on the 4th of july...learning to ride a bike.

basically, things that we take advantage of our kids experiencing.

i never thought twice about my kids learning how to ride a bike.

it wasn't until elsa started learning that i realized, this is a privilege.

looking at her, so unsure what to do with a bike...learning what to do with her feet...how to steer.

realizing that if she would have stayed in ethiopia, she probably wouldn't have ever learned how to ride a bike.

and that makes me sad for a life that she once lived...

but happy that she's home with us now.

i'm not saying that we "saved" this girl.

so many times, people have told us "wow, what you did is so honorable...saving an orphan."

we didn't save her.

we were just following our hearts...we knew that it was the right thing to do, even though it didn't make sense to us at the time.

trusting God, that He would provide (and He did...and He continues to do so).

while i'm still getting to know this little girl, that is now our daughter, i can whole-heartedly say that i'm grateful for God placing her in our family.  for giving her a chance to experience "normal" kid things.

to get to run through the sprinkler, to get to be a child.