When God Gives Hope and a Future

Last week after I posted "Waiting with Hope" I found out I was going to be doing that, literally. I'll explain in a minute. To help with the wait, God reminded me of two verses He gave me for our sweet baby girl, Aster.

One is Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Last Thursday God gave me the most precious gift that ties to this verse. He literally gave her a "Hope" - Hope TerKeurst that is! Hope, the oldest daughter of my dear friend Lysa, is in Ethiopia and she got to see, hold and love on my soon-to-be daughter and baby girl.

I was in the car for six hours traveling with two friends to see another friend. While we were driving along LeAnn and Holly were texting and calling to tell me Hope was on gmail and had just gotten back from visiting Aster at the orphanage!!! I was about to die because I was in the middle of nowhere and couldn't get online.

But I got to listen to LeAnn squeal about Aster's cuteness as she opened the photos in an email. And then LeAnn took a picture of them on her computer screen and texted them to me!!!

Next, Holly called to say she had Hope on gmail chat so I could talk with her in Ethiopia via Holly in Charlotte, NC while riding down the highways of SC and GA. And my friend Marlo got to listen too!

I was so glad I wasn't at home to have this precious conversation all alone, but I got to share it with my girlfriends. I also asked Holly to copy each question I asked and Hope's response so we could save it forever. I didn't want to forget one word of this precious conversation. I've been wanting to share it with you too!

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Holly: Tell us all about her. Were you able to hold her?

Hope: She is small in length but her cheeks are so cute, and they are chubby.. and she doesnt have mch hair but its straight not curly! I held her and I was feeding Aster too

Holly: I am on the phone with Renee and I am going to type her questions for you.

Hope: Aww. What is she saying?

Hope: Aster was gazing into my eyes the WHOLE time! She never cried even when I set her down and gave her to jo (Hope's friend). She would just look at her and not look away. She would mold to your body and rest her head on my chest!

Holly: Did she smile?

Hope: Yes, when you tickled her. She would also smile when I kissed her cheek. Her feet are ticklish! It was soo hard for me to put her down. I want to bring her with me!

Holly: how much time you spent with her

Hope: About an hour. then took the tour for an hour

Holly: Cool! Wow, you held her for an hour!?

Hope: Well me and Jo. But yup we never put her down! I couldn't she was too cute!

Hope: The people were so nice! Ivy was great! The room had ten cribs in it. It was kinda small but each baby had their own crib. There was plenty of room for them to lay on the floor and play. There were atleast 2 helpers in the room at all time. Every baby is hand fed.

Holly: What other interesting features did you notice on Aster? Details about her.

Hope:She has soft and gorgeous skin. Her body's not chubby, her cheeks are. Sshe has LONG beautiful eyelashes. Her eyes are the best part! They are so adorable

Holly: What color are her eyes?

Hope: They are a deep brown

Holly: How can we be praying for Aster?

Hope:Pray that everything goes smoothly with the adoption. She had a little cold so pray that she gets better.

Holly: Have you had any power outages? How about shortage of water?

Hope: Yes lots, even at the orphanage there was one. yes very short on water. Power goes out lots, there are certain times you can use the water.

Holly: What was Aster wearing?

Hope:She was wearing a cute blue flower dress thing

Hope: oh one thing is every baby has a photo album of their family.. so she should send one for aster. Ivy said thats one thing they do

Holly: This is so fun! Isn't it amazing?

Holly: oooh, interesting

Hope: yes! I was like so in shock when i met her! i seriously cant say it enough.. i fell in love

Holly: Do you want to go shopping with miss renee when you get home? What size is Aster?

Hope: i would love to! but i dont know what size she is. mrs. davidson said she is prob 6-9 months in clothes

Holly: ok...thanks! Was her nose runny with her cold? That is so cool that you got to hold her Hope! What else did you do with her? Did she laugh? Was she coughing?

Hope: no her nose wasnt and she coughed like 2 times and she did have a little congestion

Holly: Did she smell pretty?

Hope: she did but her food was GROSS! it looked like throw-up

Holly: How many babies were at the whole orphange?

Hope: there were 160 kids total. i would say like 30-40 babies, her crib is nice

Holly: She doesn't look too thin

Hope: isnt her outfit cute, no shes not thin

Holly: were her legs bowed or straight?

Hope: shes smaller then an american 8 month baby. and she did both with her legs. she cant hold her self up yet but is trying

Holly: i meant bowed as in...bent

Hope: do you mean like bent as in staying that way the whole time?

Holly: yes

Hope: cause she did both with her legs - she would straighten them and bend them in

Hollyi think we have to go... thank you soo much for this hope...I saved the whole conversation for Renee to keep forever and put in her baby book

Hope: aw ok! awesome!

Holly: love you lots honey! Renee said thank you so much and hugs to you! and her love too!

Hope: love you too! and your welcome. i loved doing it! Also, Jo says her baby is beautiful and had a great personality!

I wish I could show you her photos too. But I can't until she is ours. She is the sweetest, cutest little punkin' I have ever seen. Oh my goodness I want to hold her while she's still so little.

Praying hard that we get to go bring her home in August!!!