Living Life To The Fullest

Saving abandoned children and seeing them start living life to the fullest is one of the greatest thrills in my life. The joy comes not only in seeing our children flourish in their new lives with their forever family, but in seeing the huge magic of transformation in the lives of the forever parents, grandparents and so many others. This is certainly the case for Mike and Donna Arnold who only last month got to take their forever child, two year old Ming Yue (now Carly), home with them. Donna recently wrote:

Dear Christian Action Family,

Words cannot express the gratitude we feel for the work that you do with the children of China. When we married 10 years ago never did we imagine where our lives would have led us 10 years later. Little did we know that our paths would cross with more meaning and love than some people experience in a lifetime.

"She has adjusted to her new life so well. We believe that is due to the amazing care she received with her foster family and while in Xining Children's Home”

Our adoption journey has had ups and downs. However, from the moment we saw our daughter's face we knew God had a plan for us and this beautiful little girl was meant to join our family. Words cannot adequately express how much we love our daughter, Carly. She is thoughtful, helpful, kind, clever, sensitive, strong willed, determined, and loves to make people laugh. Above all, she is loving and generous in spirit. She enjoys learning how things work, loves to see animals, and enjoys playing outside. Carly has an infectious laugh and the cutest giggle we have ever heard. She sometimes sings herself to sleep - even in the car!!!

Carly is so loving and open to her emotions. She loves to sit on the front porch and wait for her Baba to come home from work at the end of the day. When he arrives she runs to him with hugs and kisses!!! During nap time, she loves to hold Mama's hand until she falls asleep and always wakes up with a smile and a hug for Mama. She has adjusted to her new life so well. We believe that is due to the amazing care she received with her foster family and while in Xining Children's Home.

Due to her repaired cleft lip and her un-repaired palate, Carly is considered a "special needs child." We just do not see it that way. She is certainly special, but we were the ones with the "need" to have her in our lives. Her medical issue is a non-issue to us. We are ensuring she receives the best care and according to her doctors she will recover and her speech will be caught up in no time at all. We cannot imagine our lives without her and we are so grateful that we were guided to consider medical issues. If we hadn't, we would have never been blessed with the opportunity to have her in our lives.

I hope that everyone at Xining Children's Home, Christian Action, as well as her foster family, knows that we are humbled and honored by the love and kindness shown to Carly and all of the children under your care. You set the example for all other orphanages which has encouraged us to advocate on behalf of children in need.

Our experience has been so positive. We wish to adopt again so that Carly has a sibling with a similar background and hopefully in the same province, if possible. The greatest joy that can be experienced is seeing life again through a child's eyes. Eyes which are filled with peace, hope, faith and above all else - love.

We feel forever bonded to you all. Our family will ensure that Carly knows she has always been loved, no matter where she lived. She will always know her culture and one day we all will return to China to meet again. Until then, we will keep in touch and we will keep you all in our prayers, and in our hearts.

Love and Blessings,
Donna and Michael Arnold

Thank you Donna and Mike, for allowing us to share in your joy and for your precious encouragement! We will continue to help many more lovely children like Carly.

Lots of love,

Siew Mei

Comments

[Janice Howard]

This is such a heartwarming story - one soul at a time for Jesus!

Praying that more people will champion and support this wonderful work!