My hero.

Two years ago today is the first date that we know anything about Lila’s history. July 24, 2013, our sweet girl was found abandoned.

Two years ago, her birth mom gave up her tiny baby girl.

Two years ago, a woman whose face I will never know this side of heaven became my hero. I don’t know much about this woman, but I do know these things. She found out she was pregnant sometime in 2012. Despite her circumstances, whatever they were, she decided not to have an abortion. She carried our sweet girl, our Lila, in her belly and kept her safe for as long as she could. She gave birth to our girl. Then she, or someone she knows, placed her on a very public basketball court where she could be found. She went through the painful depths of losing a child so that her child could have the possibility of a future.

That’s all we know. We don’t know why she was abandoned. Was it because they were young or poor and unable to care for her? Was it because of the one child policy? Was it because Lila was very sick with pneumonia and they didn’t have a way to give her medical care?

We will not know the answers to these questions, but I do know one thing. I believe with all my heart Lila’s birth mom loved her. She could have had an abortion. She could have discarded her. She could have left her somewhere to never be found.

Today I know this woman is thinking about her daughter. And as I rocked Lila to sleep a few nights ago, with a smile on both of our faces, I prayed for Lila’s birth mom and dad. I pleaded to Him that He would put that very vision in their minds. A vision of me, smiling, rocking their daughter, our daughter, smiling and singing Jesus Loves Me. I prayed for peace in their hearts about their decision. I prayed that they would feel her happiness and our happiness and know that everything is okay. I prayed for their future, that they would come to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ. I prayed that one day I will meet this woman, my hero, in heaven and tell her thank you.

People say “Oh look at her, she is so lucky to be in a family like yours.”

But she isn’t the one that is lucky. We are the ones that are blessed to get the chance to be Lila’s mom and dad, brother and sister. He took something horrible and unthinkable and made it something beautiful and lovely.

He is using us to carry out His story of adoption, His story of grace, His story of making beauty from ashes. I am in awe that I get to be a part of this story, and that I get to be Lila’s mommy.

love

Comments

  1. Julia

    Oh my Sherry….that is beyond beautiful! Just a mess of tears after that, and so grateful for how you have shared this journey. It is a story that needs to be told as it has the finger prints of Jesus all over it.

  2. Dianna Hill

    Oh my, what a story! What a beautiful collection of stories that one day your precious angel can read.

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