This girl

We've been fighting a bug that had Elli, then Mike pretty sick. Then yesterday, Layne got it. My Layne doesn't have the ability to throw up- thanks to a much needed corrective surgery when she was an infant- most of the time it's a great thing, except when she's sick. It's the saddest thing ever, as her little body says it needs to vomit and she's not able. It hurts, she hurts and then we all feel so horrible for her, as we watch her struggle. This morning was one of those mornings. Her tummy HURT and so we made the decision for me to stay home with her instead of watching the kids run in Glasgow today...

THEN, my sweet Leah didn't eat breakfast- you see she was sick too, but is so SWEET, she didn't want to take anything away from Layne. After the runners left, I crawled back in bed for awhile and my two L girls snuggled on the couch for a movie. When I came in the room, Leah flashed me this huge smile. Did she feel better? NO- she has a fever, headache and tummy ache, BUT, she has a Mom who loves her and takes care of her. She has a home where she can rest comfortably in when she's sick and she has a new little sister who adores her.

The picture above shows Leah smiling like she always does. It doesn't matter what she's doing, she smiles. She told me, "Leah don't know sad or mad. Leah is so happy." AND SHE IS!!

However, these words didn't describe Leah even a few short weeks ago. Whenever someone met her in Ethiopia, they would report back at how sad she looked. They would tell us she was kind and extremely shy. Well, she is still kind, but there is not a shy bone in her body. My girl will walk up to anyone (smiling), stick out her hand and say, "My name is Leah." What a difference a month makes. What a difference a family makes. Steven Curtis Chapman's song, "When Love Takes you in" is so true..."When love takes you in and says you belong..everything changes."


Now I wait for the phone to ring to tell me how the runners did....