from this to that :)

last night at a thai restaurant as we sat at dinner with a large group of new friends, we found ourselves surrounded by a group of young cute chinese people dressed in skin tight lime green clothing and belting out songs of the beatles, elvis, and saturday night fever. ah-ah-ah-ah-staying alive staying alive. chinese style :)

and for whatever reason, it hit me, hit me hard -- abigail heming's life has been radically changed. part of it was probably seeing yesterday the setting where her life had been spent and part of it was probably seeing her sitting there, with mouth open, like she had never seen chinese people in skin tight lime green clothing singing american songs :)

in just a few short days, she has gone from sleeping in a metal child crib with a rattan pad to sleeping with a down pillow and comforter; from never knowing a father to a baba who holds her hand when she crosses a street; from congee and rice in a cafeteria to gourmet buffets; from no family to a brother and sister to swim with and be goofy with continually if she likes; from a caregiver (a very sweet one i might add) to a mom who paints who nails and stares at her alot trying to see her thoughts; from her possessions totaling a very small sack of pictures we had sent to a suitcase full of cute clothes, shoes, and accessories; from no one who had ever prayed to a family who worships the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

she has been adopted and her life has been put on a new course.

one of the people we have met and enjoyed immense company with is a young pastor from the state of washington. his wife and him have two small kids, just adopted a toddler from ethiopia and then got a referral for the little girl they just received. when they were in ethiopia, he was asked to preach impromptu and so he spoke of being 'adopted' into God's Kingdom. i know sometimes i land at various blogs not really sure how i arrived (okay, i clicked on a link but you know what i mean :) and so i realize there may be someone reading who has never been adopted spiritually-speaking. if you are wondering if that is you, please seek out someone you know whose life speaks for Christ and talk with him or her. the things i listed above regarding what abigail has 'gained' are nothing in comparison to the riches that Jesus Christ has in store for you.

Lord willing, tonite i will post several pictures of our trip to her orphanage. from what i can sense, it provided closure. it was her day to shine and have hope...

Hope is Fading from Allan Rosenow on Vimeo.

Allan Rosenow: This was my capstone Senior project at the University of Cincinnati. The animations were for a site that doesn't really exist, but would have promoted adoption.