An AVI STORY...

It was asked of us..."Why do you want this child when there are so many others that don't have such severe special needs - you could adopt one of those?"

An AVI STORY - Avigayil is the name that we gave our sweet precious adorable much loved and cherished going on 6 years old daughter. Avigayil is the Hebrew for the name Abigail and means "JOY OF THE FATHER" If you would know Avi's WHOLE story this name has even more signficance. We call our Avigayil Avi for short...it fits her perfectly! It fits the petite curly dark haired wonder as perfectly as a name can fit! She is our Avi! She is our treasure from the LORD! The LORD surely blessed our lives when HE gave us Avi!

Avi has spastic quadriplegia and was adopted 16 months ago. Avi will turn 6 years old. Upon picking her up at her orphanage she was at the developmental level of a newborn baby and completely unable to pick up her head, roll over, sit or even focus with her eyes. Avi had spasms in her body that would make her entire body quake and shake. Avi had a urinary catheter for a feeding tube. Avi was unable to be held on your hip like a young child because she had no ability to hold her body,neck or head and had no way of knowing how to be held and carried.

NOW...after 16 months home...
Avi went to the beach for the first time 1 week ago and here is a moment in my life that will forever be etched into my mind and heart! HERE is a small glimpse of heaven through the life of Avi...

We unpack 3 little girls under our beach umbrellas...complete with chairs, food coolers, toys, lots of lotion and LOTS of sand.  The girls are all dressed in their adorable little swimsuits.  Avi's suit this time was the blue one with the little flowers and the ruffle.  She and Lina take turns with who gets which suit...usually decided upon by big sister Ellianna who thinks she knows what each younger sister could possibly want.  Actually earlier in the swim season Ellianna even thought it should be her suit because it was the newest one and she promptly left us all know that she would fit into it...she tried and it stretched and it fit but she soon learned that her suits surely did feel better and it was the last time she decided the pretty blue suit with the flowers would be hers to wear.  Today it was Avi's suit...So...Avi is all suited up and all lotioned up...and ready for the beach and water.  It was to be Avi's first time in the Atlantic Ocean....

I pick up my precious dark haired treasure...complete with a cute little curly pony tail. I scoop her onto my hip and she now sits proudly - OH REALLY SO proudly on my hip...as if to say...I have a MOMMY that adores me and a Daddy that thinks I ROCK this world! She holds up that once limp neck and lifts her little nose in the air. She takes her hand that has cerebral palsy affecting it and curls it around the back of my arm and holds on enjoying the gift of life! She begins to laugh and giggle as she does when riding so proudly on my hip...something she was unable to do less than 1 year ago.  I smile at the delight I feel in giving my daughter such a simple joy...little did I know in that split second that it would get even better!  Little did I know that a Joy so complete could flood my soul and spirit in a tiny fraction of a moment.  Little did I know that I'd glimpse a piece of heaven in the next step.

WE walk towards the water...something she was terrified of less than 1 year ago. She smiles even more broadly and giggles and throws her head back. She seems to sniff the air...she seems to sense the breeze...she seems to notice the waves...she seems to hear the sea gulls...she seems to hear the laughter of other children...she seems to feel the sun warming her body...she seems to breathe the salty air...she seems to hear the waves crashing against the sand castles built just moments ago...she seems to do this all in the blink of an eye.

The smile and joy that began to radiate on her face is worth more than millions of dollars... I caught a glimpse of heaven in that moment...when this child...my daughter...lived life to the fullest in that moment. She was a "normal" child...at the beach...in her mother's arms...proud to be a daughter...worthy to be loved...she knew it and she gave me a piece of heaven that will never leave me...every time I look back to that one radiant joy filled smile I see JESUS...
 
WHO knows MAYBE she saw HIM walking on the water that moment...telling her how proud HE was of her and how special she is! It was a moment of awe! She took more in with that one moment than we sometimes take in with thousands of moments and with tons of technology!

That is why we would want this child! She is a gift straight from heaven and given to us to love, to cherish! She is our daughter!

This is my AVI story!

Pray for AJ!

Pray for every child that longs to be some one's gift from heaven!

Be a voice for the voiceless!

stephanie.carpenter@lifelinechild.org