We’ve had a great Christmas season this year...a nice balance between keeping busy without being frantic. But the holidays—which I expected to distract us—have only made the separation of us from our child more prominent. I imagine that anyone who is celebrating without certain family members being present can feel that pang as well. We are joyful yet there is always a sense that someone is missing.

For us, it was a stocking that remained empty and an ornament with a blank spot for a name. BUT!!! We know that this is INDEED the last Christmas we will have without our little girl, and that is something to celebrate!

The lyrics to a song by Third Day (on their Christmas Offerings CD) sum up how we feel:

Merry Christmas
There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for mama's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
Where the forgotten are 

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine 

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
So tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in His arms
And tell you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas 

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white
And make angels in the snow 

But half a world away you try you best to fight the tears
And hope that Heaven's Angels come to carry you here 

Christmas is the time we celebrate the Holy Child
And we celebrate His perfect gift of love
He came to Earth to give His life and prepare a place for us
So we could have a home with Him above 

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep, I'll hold you in my arms
And tell you from my heart
I'll tell you from my heart
I wish you Merry Christmas