Somebody loves you, Miss Hazel.

Have you ever read the book called "Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch?"  It's about a man who seems invisible to the world. No one cares that he exists, and he's grumpy and sad.  Then one day, the postman brings him a huge box of chocolates with a little note that says, "Somebody loves you."  He put the box of chocolates on the coffee table and tried to do some dusting, but every time he left the room, he had to keep peeking to see if it was still there. As he dusted, the dustcloth seemed to whisper, "somebody loves you..."  At last he threw the dustcloth away and exclaimed, "Why, I've got a secret admirer!"  From that point forward, he no longer felt invisible. When he wasn't smiling, he was laughing, and when wasn't laughing, he was helping someone. He shared happiness everywhere he went from that time forward.

I thought of that cute valentines story yesterday when I found a tiny, pink note, addressed to Jeremy and I, in our pile of mail. I knew it was something special, like Mr. Hatch's note.  And I was right.

The person who wrote it thanked us for inspiring her and her husband with our story, then reminded us that our families are the only treasures that we get to take with us into the eternities. She told us that she was honored that we would allow them to help us gather part of our family from another land. Then she signed the note and tucked two folded checks into the envelope. One made out to Jeremy and one to me.

Written in the subject lines: "For Hazel :)"

I thought I was dreaming when I saw the amount for which the checks were written. The combination of those two checks far exceeded anything we would have imagined. They completely covered our agency fees.

Somebody loves you, Miss Hazel. Somebody loves you.

This adoption has been a huge trial of our faith. We've felt like Hazel is our daughter from day one. But the financial burden was like an enormous cloud looming over our heads.

That cloud has now been lifted and our hope is bright.  We now have enough to cover our agency fees, and with another amazing donation that came in today, we'll have enough to cover our visas for two trips.

Just like each and every one of the orphans who live in this world,  our Heavenly Father knows all about Hazel. He created her perfectly.  It's important to Him that she is set free!  This I know with all of my heart. I hope you who have donated...no matter how much or how little, know of our gratitude.  We can't really put our feelings into words, but know that we are grateful not only for your generosity, but also for way that it has helped us to know that God has this all right in the palm of His hand.

We'll do the drawing for our giveaway this weekend. There were only a few entries, so those of you who donated have a great chance of winning.  Stay tuned!