Praise the Lord!

I don't know any way to celebrate Rachel's 3 years with me other than to say "Praise the Lord!" Yesterday was the anniversary of the first day she moved in with me. It's sort of crazy how a life that seemed full of risk and challenge has slowly just developed into our family. God has done so much healing, far beyond what I could have imagined!

One small example of how far we have come happened today. It represents a million such moments I am constantly experiencing. I was on the phone with Rachel's bio-mom Anita. Anita told me that she ran into Rachel's dad yesterday, who is a very creepy and bad man. She went on to tell me that she remembered something from the past that Rachel had told her about how he had threatened to kill Rachel in her sleep if Rachel told anyone about the abuse that was going on. Anita said, "no wonder she is always so scared at night." It is true. Rachel has been a restless sleeper and is very easily frightened at night, but the last month or two she is starting to change. She gets up much less during the night, she can fall asleep without me shutting every blind in the house first, and she was even able to stay home alone while Linda and I went for a walk tonight even though it was dark out. She feels safe here in her home. God is so good! Above is a picture from that first week. Wow! It feels like a lifetime ago!