Merry Christmas?

I've been looking for this video for awhile and finally located it. (See the end of this post.) This song applies so aptly to our lives this Christmas. It was written by a member of the group Third Day who was, like us, waiting at Christmas to bring his little girl home from China. It makes me tear up every time I listen to it and even more so after news we received from our agency yesterday.

I got a phone call from CCAI about 2:00 on Friday and my first thought was, "wow are TA's here already?" Sadly, no. Instead they were calling to inform us that they'd received some updated information about Ailah from the orphanage. The upshot is that she has been diagnosed with a "severe calcium deficiency" which they are treating with Vitamin D and colloidal calcium injections. At this point, with the very limited information they've given us, the only symptom we know of is that she cannot stand on her own. Since we won't be able to talk to a doctor until Monday at the earliest, we're relying only on what we've been able to find on the internet. Our research tells us that such a deficiency, also known as rickets, causes soft bones and weak muscles. Further research indicates that some level of rickets is extremely common in Chinese orphans though it often goes undiagnosed. So we are trying to hold onto the good news that they have diagnosed it and are treating it rather than letting the situation cause us to be overly concerned. I think it is that word "severe" that is disheartening. It is very hard to know about this and still have to wait to get her home and to a doctor. We know God will take good care of her but it's hard to know our child has a health problem that we can't deal with as we would if she were home. We appreciate your prayers for Ailah and for all of us as we continue to anxiously wait for our trip in January.

Merry Christmas everyone!