Flat out miracle.
Few people know the actual reality of it and even I am going based on what I've been told and have read, but the place where Ellie Kate spent her first 20 months wasn't great. Not just because it was an orphanage. But so much more. Lack of funding, lack of training, lack of resources, lack of man power in general, put over 80 kids, all with varying degrees of special needs, in the care of less than 10 nannies. She was in one of the lowest tiered (for lack of a better way to explain it) orphanages in her province. It's just the truth of the situation. No ones fault. Just how things were.
I'm definitely not knocking the nannies who took care of her during that time. Actually eternally grateful for those women because they didn't have to. But think of the stress you'd be under with over 80 kids with major needs and no way to adequately take care of them. Every. Single. Day.
Not an ideal situation.
Not only are the orphanages responsible for supporting financially and caring for these kids, they also have to prepare the files of the children for adoption. And that costs money. Money her orphanage didn't have. I've been told there were only a handful of children (maybe 3 or 4) even adopted from there last year. What made someone chose the file of Ji Xisha to prepare for adoption over the next kid is only the beginning of God's plan for her tiny little life.
Then to add another level of amazing-ness, kids who have hearing loss aren't typically identified until much later when in settings like she was in. Even in a top-funded orphanage, she could have gone years without someone realizing she was deaf. Heck, in situations even in America, many kids go undiagnosed! Until they don't pass milestones they should be and it makes you think twice....you don't look at kids and just know they are deaf. It's just not one of those things that you pick up on right away unless they fail a newborn screening. And I would bet money on the fact that she certainly didn't have one of those. To look at her file and see her first hearing test confirming she was bilaterally and profoundly deaf at just under 15 months old is craziness.
I have a million questions. What made them test her? Who noticed she wasn't responding to that precious name? How long did they know? What did they try to do to see if she was hearing them? Who took the first steps to figure it out? What did they find out? Did they try to learn to communicate with her? Did someone comfort that precious child, knowing at night when it was dark, she now had lost two senses?
On June 24, 2013, the tiny human given to us to care for during her time here, was already beating the odds of most kids in her situation. The Lord had chosen her to be a Cook. He predestined her to be ours. And hopefully one day His.
Forever.
She was almost grey. Her hair felt like straw. Her skin was just slightly softer than sandpaper. She could barely sit up, but had this stand on her head trick she did to show off her pending skills. She wouldn't eat and let nothing but a bottle pass those lips for months. Her arms were like toothpicks attached to her frail 13-pound body. She could hear nothing and barely made a sound other than just cooing for months. She didn't know how to play, she didn't know how to be loved, she didn't return affection....it was like we had a 20-month-old newborn.
But she threw her whole being into trusting two perfect strangers and I can't even attempt to put into words how seeing her grow and be stretched into who she is only a year later makes me feel.
Miracle.
The redeeming part of this short story is that in the middle of Kentucky lives a tiny 19-pound Asian toddler with an attitude who has been hearing for 6 months. She curls herself into the crook of my arm each night as if she was actually made to fit there. Her little arms fling tightly around my neck in excitement even if I'm out of her sight for only 5 minutes. She dances a little jig and runs as fast as those stubby little legs will take her when Daddy gets home from work each day. She squeals in excitement when brothers come home from school each afternoon. She waves to almost everyone we pass and gives kisses to family and friends...as long as she still has a tight grip on Mommy.
So many things had to happen at just the right time and place to ensure that she was ours. How can you deny there's a God when He can orchestrate the lives of multiple people to collide at just the right time??
You can't.
Our last 4th of July began in a hotel in Hong Kong and ended 36 hours later at Louisville International Airport as a family of five. And surrounded by our closest family and friends. It's an experience I've been blessed to be a part of twice now and it's hard to put into words....but one I'm willing and eager to repeat...
You're one of my favorite American citizens. Happy ONE year home, EK.
PS...In January of this year, a well known organization named Half The Sky was able to finally gain access to EK's former home in Huazhou. The stories and transformations of the kids that remain are nothing short of their own tiny miracles. It's amazing to read about. Check out the story that was so compelling, it was picked up in a series of stories HERE by Huffington Post. It's hard to read and know that's where your child came from. But I can only pray that conditions continue to improve at Huazhou.
