The Start of Something New

This November marks the sixth month that Rachel has been with us. Her adoption also became final two weeks ago.

So much has happened in those past six months, and I finally finished a video made especially for her to reflect how much her being a part of this family means to all of us.

Rachel came to us with so much heaviness in her heart that was evident in the pain that we saw in her eyes. She had so much to get off her chest that many bedtimes were spent with her sharing about all that had happened in Ukraine. I could never pretend to know exactly what she went through, but I did tell her that I believe that her birth parents did the best they could given the poverty, alcoholism, and abuse that commonly resides in homes in Ukraine, and most certainly resided in theirs. With very few resources to address unemployment and addiction, families are most times left to fend for themselves. Without the hope that only God can give, Rachel understood that her parents probably didn't know how to provide better for her and her brothers. Though we will not find out the truth behind the reasons that Rachel was adopted (at least not on this earth), I am certain that because of this hope that her birth parents did the best that they could given their circumstances, she has been able to forgive them. She no longer feels like she did something wrong, or that she wasn't worth them fighting for her.

I mention all of this because as I made this video of her, I was taken back by just how warm and inviting her eyes are now. I usually have a knack for picking out just the right song for all of the videos that I make, but this time I had a request that made this task a bit more challenging. Rachel really wanted me to use a High School Musical song. After listening to all of the songs for both part 1 and 2 I decided to use the song, "Start of Something New."

If any of you have followed Rachel's story, I believe this song is absolutely perfect.