Monday,
December 10, 2007
A year ago today….
Our family received one of the most incredible blessings. Jin
Hong Le was placed in our arms and became Sarah Joy Le Harris.
We had no idea how quickly we would come to love and adore her.
I still remember that “Gotcha” moment like it was yesterday….so
hard to believe it was a year ago, and yet it feels like she has
always been a part of our lives.
We are so thankful for the gift of joy that He has given us
through this precious child. She melts our hearts with her deep
belly laughs and smiles. I love nothing more than to hear her
say “Mom” and “Thank you”. I cannot get enough of her kisses.
And I still adore her sucking her thumb (I know, we will pay for
that one later!).
This has been quite a year for our family. Before we left for
China , Mike and I had accepted a call to become full-time
missionaries with Life Action Ministries. Not only were we busy
getting ready for our trip and new daughter, but we were also in
the process of sending out our first support letters. Well, a
year later, we are still raising the rest of our support, but
God is clearly providing the path for our family to move from
Georgia to Michigan and begin full-time work for Him there.
Along with raising our support, selling our home, living with my
parents during transition, trying to find a new home in
Michigan, etc….we have had many wonderful times with Sarah Joy.
We saw her take her first steps. We experienced her cutting lots
of teeth. We took her to the beach twice. We took her on her
first “mission trip” to Ohio . We went to the mountains for a
fall trip. We took her house-hunting with us in Michigan . We’ve
listened to her name all of her body parts. We have watched her
be a “little mommy” to real babies and her baby dolls. We have
fed her grits for breakfast almost every day for the past year
(yes, she is a southern girl!). We watched her have her first
sucker after many shots at the doctor’s office. We watched her
put things in the trashcan that didn’t need to go in the trash.
We admired her choice of clothing from the dress-up chest as she
always put on the cowboy hat and purple high-heels. We watched
her jump on the trampoline and swing for the first time. My list
could go on and on, but you see, we have been blessed beyond
words!
As our final post to this website, I have several people I would
like to thank…
• My Savior, Jesus Christ, for
giving me the vision and passion for adoption and for adopting
me into His family.
• My husband, for being so open to
love another child and for being the best daddy ever!
• Graham and Grace, for accepting
Sarah Joy into our family and loving her like crazy!
• My parents, for the influence you
are to me and our family and for going to China with us to
experience this miracle.
• CCAI, for providing excellent
service both in the U.S. and in China.
• Our church family and Sunday
School Class, for praying for us before, during, and after our
trip.
• Joe and Jen, for providing
incredible service to us while we were in China and for giving
us such a beautiful website.
At this time, we do not know what the future holds for our
family. We are excited about the plans that He has for
us….whether that includes going back to China for another child
or not. Thank you for following our journey and for praying for
our family as we begin yet another journey!
All my love, Leigh Ann |
A God Thing
A true princess
Beautiful
Checking out other adoption websites
CHEESE! |
