It feels like HOME

 3 years ago today this happened…..

After 6 months of waiting and working so hard to get this little girl home, and 32 days in a foreign country away from our other children, we finally came HOME! We had anticipated this moment for so long and it was even better then we could have imagined!

This video of her homecoming is one of my most treasured possessions because it captured these sacred first moments of love, the first moments when Mia finally felt like she belonged.

Mia had waited for this moment her whole life

We stepped off the plane and in an instant an abandoned, lost little girl, stepped into a world with friends, sisters, parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles, who loved her.

She had no idea how many people had rallied around her family to get her HOME!

I will never forget the overwhelming gratitude and love we felt that day as we witnessed the miracle of a little girl finally finding her HOME. 

“If you knew how lonely my life had been

 and how long I've been so alone,

 if you knew how I wanted someone to come along

 and change my life the way you’ve done.

It feels like home to me....

It feels like I'm all the way back where I come from...

It feels like home to me...

It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong.”

What greater way to celebrate this special day then to continue Mia’s miracle, and help another little girl come home.

This is the Enger Family.

Pat and I were friends in junior high but over the years lost contact with eachother until one day, not long before we started our journey to Mia, my husband started telling me about this new co worker of his, Pat Enger.

It is amazing to watch how the common threads of our lives weave together to create miraculous events in ways we could never have imagined.

Mia’s path has now led Pat and Tiffany on a road to Ruthanne.

Ruthanne also has down syndrome and was abandoned at birth to live out her life alone in an orphanage in China.

This is from Tiffany about Mia’s part in the road to Ruthanne:

“When the Cox Family first brought Mia home three years ago I was so thrilled for them. I was so impressed by the strength, dedication and faith they invested in ensuring Mia could be raised in a safe and loving family environment. I watched them in awe, and a little bit of envy, as I have always dreamed of adopting a special needs child but lacked the knowledge and courage I needed to make my dream a reality.  I saw this sweet family do what I always knew in my heart I wanted to do, and they gave me the knowledge and the strength of faith to move forward with adopting a child in to my own family.  I think I was afraid of the unknown, but seeing first-hand the process of adopting a child with special needs and watching this beautiful new family bond and grow over the past three years has inspired me beyond measure.  I don’t think I would have had the courage to start my own family’s journey towards adoption if I had not been so inspired by Mia and her family.  I believe with all my heart that there are others who have also been inspired by Mia’s story, and I pray that others will be inspired by my story as well when it is completed.  The true and lasting love story of an adopted child with special needs and her family touches the lives of so many in miraculous ways, and spreads joy whenever it is shared.  I feel so blessed to have been able to be a part of the beautiful story of Mia and her family. Now, three years later I find myself writing my  own similar story....”

The Engers are stepping out of their comfort zone and taking a leap of faith to bring this little girl into their home, and they need our help.

 We want Ruthanne to feel this same love that Mia feels.

We want Ruthanne to feel like she is home.

Let’s continue Mia’s miracle and make a difference in the life of another little girl and the family that is stepping out in faith to call her their own. Let's help another little girl  be able to enjoy the blessings of  family and freedom like Mia has.