THE NUMBER OF COMPLETION...

...That would be the number 7. Did you know that? I recently learned that fact. Just a little fact tucked away in the back of my mind. Maybe something I can use in a game of trivial pursuit. Then again maybe not. I actually don't like the game unless my brother Paul is my partner. He's the king of useless knowledge.

Anyways, I never thought this little known fact would become a BIG reality to me.

Meet my number 7.

Her given name is Daphkaline (daf- coleen) Albert. She is 2 years old. Her birthday is March 9, 2005. She was brought to the orphanage this year. Her aunt brought her and said her parents are dead. This woman is her dad's sister.

Because there is no record of their deaths the process can't start till 6 months has passed and she is declared abandoned.

So, some of you are probably reading this with your mouths hanging open. So take a moment to close your mouth (the fly thing), swallow so your throat isn't sore, and continue to read and I'll tell you how God is making our family complete. :)

We were called by God to adopt Jonas in April of last year. I've shared that story in my very first blog entry. After accepting the call and being obedient even when everything around us said-crazy, we learned the peace and joy of God in that obedience.

By September Todd and I both were asking ourselves would we ever consider adopting another one? Neither one of us knew we were thinking about it. We finally talked to each other and to both our surprise we agreed that "if" God called us to adopt again, we would say yes. So together we prayed and offered ourselves, and our family size to him.

And until this past April we didn't think anything else about it.

But GOD knew. It just took me a little longer. ( no laughing ladies from my prayer group!)

As you know Jessica and I went to Haiti April 16-23. While there we were blessed to spend a majority of our time loving on the kids. We were introduced to several new children to the O. One captivated me. But amazingly enough I didn't realize it till the last day.

The last day Jonas was running around like any other day (he hadn't quite realized I was leaving), so I took that time to go upstairs to the baby nursery one last time. Cathy and Alyssa were up there saying their goodbyes to Manthania. I didn't want to interrupt so I decided to go around the room and offer up a small prayer for all the kids. I walked from crib to crib and laid my hands on each one. If they had forever families I prayed that God would let their wait be short. And if they didn't have a family yet that God would bring their families quickly.

When I got to Daphkaline I looked down at her, she looked up at me and reached her arms up to me. Beckoning me to pick her up, hold her, love her. I picked her up. She wrapped her little legs and arms around me and snuggled into my shoulder. It felt like she was hanging on to me for dear life, like she didn't want to let go. I realize a lot of the children do this, but this was different. I just didn't realize how much. I held her and cried. I didn't want to say goodbye either. Jessica came up and asked me about it. I told her I just was having a hard time saying goodbye. About that time Jonas appears and I sit down and he crawls up on my lap too. All of us sat there awhile, me, Jessica, Jonas, and Daphkaline. Jess took a picture.

Then it was time to leave. I put her back into her crib and headed downstairs to say goodbye to Jonas. We left. And I couldn't stop thinking about her.



I didn't share with anyone, OK Cathy had a clue. But I didn't say anything about what I was feeling. Todd had said if we adopted again he wanted it to be another boy so Jonas had a brother. So a girl wasn't an option. Well one night Todd and I were spending some quiet time together after the girls went to bed. We were just talking and Todd said, "you know I've been thinking. I don't want another boy. Jonas and I have a really strong bond and i don't want anything to change that." WHAT? Did I hear right? So I said, "OK...what about another girl?" His reply, "if God called us, yes."



So I did what any woman would do at this point, I spilled my guts. He knew. Evidently I had been mentioning her name. We both said we needed to spend some time in prayer about it. So we spent the next few days to pray. Todd knew this was God's plan. I on the other hand allowed fear to set in due to circumstances around me. It would take me a little longer.



Two nights ago I was struggling BIG time. I knew I was sinning by allowing my fear to rule over me, instead of choosing faith and hearing what God was telling me. I was in the van by myself and started praying. I confessed to God I was afraid and needed his help to get me out of fear and into faith. I asked him for a confirmation on adopting Daphkaline. I confessed I was hard headed and needed a DEFINITE sign. I wasn't sure what that would be and didn't ask for anything specific. But even though I didn't ask for a specific sign, in the back of my mind I thought if I could just hear her name, the name we would give her, and not just her name, but the way we would spell it. Not more than an hour later we were sitting waiting for the preschool graduation to get over to start taking pictures. A friend of ours was in the lobby with us and she was talking about her nieces. Yep...you guessed it...the name was said. I asked her how they spelled it...yep 2 for 2. I got my confirmation. But I was still living in fear.



What happens when we live in fear? We are miserable. What happens when we live in faith?



Phil 4:6-7
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."



PEACE! The peace of God. That's what my heart soooooo desired.

It wasn't until today that I finally laid down my fear and put on the peace of God. It took a great deal of talking thru things today with some dear, trusted friends. Friends who have taken the time to understand that I process things verbally. In other words I think out loud.

They were patient with me, loved me and helped me process everything and funnel it thru scripture, God's word, til I could see, hear, and believe what God had been trying to tell me all along. She is our daughter.



The peace flooded over me and I can't get over how different I feel. In less than 24 hours I have peace like a river. Thank you to my friends. But mostly thank you God for not giving up on me. For hearing my prayers and seeing and KNOWING my heart in all it's ugliness and still loving me anyways. For still calling me your beloved child. Thank you for entrusting me with yet another one of your precious children!

Now as I look back over my pictures from my trip I see it loud and clear. I have many pictures of this little girl. But to my surprise I have another picture of Jonas, Daphkaline and I. I don't even remember it being taken. But there it was.....


And now last but not least...her name is Ellie Daphkaline Burnett.

It will be awhile before I get information on her and how her process will proceed. in the meantime Jonas's process will go on as normal. He should be in IBESR any day.

So, that is my family in it's God designed completion. 7 total. Amen!

Hugs, Kristina