What Love Can Do!

It's time that I share a sweet story from my time in China..  

This story is about a little girl we call Charlotte...  She had just joined Pearl River Outreach one week before we arrived in Changsha..  She replaced adorable Cayden who is now happily home in the Untied States with his forever family..  I will admit when I first saw Charlotte I thought she was a new boy in our program..  An easy mistake with the way she was dressed...  She was very shy during our time at the park..  Really wanting nothing to do with me/us..  She stayed safely close to her Foster Mama...  And, then something very sweet happened as we were getting ready to leave...  I got down to her level, and motioned at her to come and say "hi..."  She stared at me for a minute.. And, then she looked at her foster mother.. With her approval, she came closer to me..  I said the Chinese word for "kiss on the cheek."  Again she looked at her Mama..  Again she got the "ok" to come closer to me...  Instead of giving me that requested smooch, she pulled my face to hers and rested her forehead against mine... Her gorgeous brown eyes stared deep into mine..  And, that is when the tears came... from me...  To this day I can't explain it..  I guess I was overwhelmed by her story... their stories.  This was a quiet, sweet and innocent little 3 year old girl who just 7 days ago had been in an orphanage..  Most likely she has spent the first three years of her life without a lot of smooches, hand holding, peek-a-boo, and attention directed solely at her...  And, in just one week's time, she had started to learn to take sweet baby steps towards trusting another.    Charlotte symbolizes all the work we are doing at PRO.  She is the reason we work so hard to keep our kids sponsored.  She is the perfect portrait of what love can do!

The series of photos below were taken by me when Charlotte was given her first pair of sunglasses.  Paige was there to make her new accessory a fun game..  Seeing her face light up with her adorable smile just made our day..  Another picture of what love can do!

One day, Charlotte will be adopted.  Her special need is bilateral cleft lip (repaired) and palate.  And, I know she will do great..  Because she will understand how to accept the love of her forever family!  I look forward to that day!  That family will be so blessed!!

Thank you Charlotte for trusting me enough, to give me a memory I will never forget!

Because..   "That's what love can do!"