Hours ago, Lydia greeted Mark as he came home from work and told him about Teresa.
“Daddy, there was a little girl whose heart didn’t work and they gave her another heart and that one didn’t work and they gave her an electric heart and she died.”
“I know. I heard that.”
“Yeah,” she said sorta slow, “She was from China like me.”
“I know.”
I remember years ago when this precious one’s picture was circulated. Recognizing the severity of her heart condition, the office in China that handles adoptions did something unprecedented; they allowed people to advocate specifically for her and two other little girls in an effort to find them families fast and give them a chance.
Their efforts worked. The Barlinskis, a family who were not strangers to adoption, said yes to making her their daughter. Only a few months after we traveled to bring our daughter home, Teresa came home to them.
Ann, Teresa’s mother, shared about surgeries early on and more recently when Teresa received a heart transplant and the possibility of longevity on Earth. Ann invited people all over the world to pray for healing; and we accepted.
Today, Ann, Teresa’s mother posted again, “While we were not there when she took her first breath, God blessed us to be there when she took her last.”
And, just like that, nearly every member of the adoption community and others who have embraced this family from afar lost their breath.
The grief of strangers has been spilling out in words on screens over the last several hours. Her life ended too soon. Tragic. Heartbreaking. So sad.
Speaking as one of those strangers who have followed her story from afar, I feel compelled to thank God for every one of her 2,381 days and that her last days and many before them were spent knowing she was a precious treasure and deeply loved.
It was no coincidence that God introduced her to the world on Christmas Day. She was a gift.
Beautiful Kelly! Whenever I can’t find the words, you seem to find them for me ;) My heart is breaking for this family, but I’m praising God for the amazing legacy sweet Teresa has left behind. Even our little Giddy knew her name and prayed for her!
Thank you for the sweet tribute to a darling and blessed child. My prayers are with her family. When you lose a child, a piece of you dies. I weep for their pain and loss. So many of us wanted a miracle. We don’t understand, but we believe. May God wrap them in His comfort, for He is as real as He promises. Only He can wash their pain and grief and make it clean with hope and promise and comfort from Him. His amazing power will hold and sustain and strengthen them if they allow it. I am so sorry for their loss. Teresa’s family grieves. We all grieve for the loss of a child who already touched so many.
beautiful post, Kelly. Heartbreaking loss … praying this morning as I read this for comfort and peace for her family.
Beautiful honoring words.