God is unbelievable!!! We are So excited!!! :0)

Phil and Niki Smith are proud to announce that they are zealous parents of an 18 month old girl!!!!!!!!  :0)
What can I say, but WOW!  God is so Great at all times, but we are in awe of Him right now!  Our entire family is SO happy!  Her name is GiGi Dahl (silent h - pronounced Dall; not everyone seems to be familiar with this name) Smith.

GiGi is 18 months old and was abandoned when she was 5 month old in the bathroom entrance of a plaza.  She has been in the orphanage since. She has been diagnosed with Scoliosis and is missing a few ribs.  Dr. Marta (our pediatrician) says her scoliosis is moderate.  LeBonheur Children's hospital (about 1 hour from us) specializes in this and does a surgery with titanium rods for children with scoliosis. And every 4-6 months, the rods have to be lengthened since children grow so quickly.  GiGi also may have to have a titanium rib placed, but we will really not know exactly what all she will need until she gets here to the U.S. They sent x-rays and pages of medical information, but until a doctor her can see her and look at x-rays done here they don't know for sure.

GiGi's diagnosis is a little more than we had originally planned on taking with a child & we were going to adopt 2 children with one trip. After many, many prayers GiGi is our child! Since she will possibly  have several surgeries a year, we will  not adopt another child at this time due to time and possible extra finances associated with her medical. I know not everyone understands why in the world we would adopt a child with medical conditions like this and it's not for everyone. A lot of people praise us for what we are doing, but we honestly don't see it as that big of a deal to adopt a child like GiGi. She is our child  and we all take care of our children. It's not exactly a choice and sure you want your kids to be healthy in all ways, but it is our calling and she is our baby girl. We have been blessed with 2 biologically beautiful healthy intelligent children and now blessed with a child born in our heart!  We always wanted to adopt a special needs child that can lead a normal life with the needed medical intervention -> surgery/medicines/therapies/etc. that we can provide for her. This child will be no different than Colt and Macy Jade are to us  now with our love, care, etc..  Did I mention  - We are all excited! 

We still have to get all our information translated in Chinese and wait on approval from the Chinese government to invite us to come get her. This is the HARD part! How do we leave OUR child in an orphanage for months? It breaks our hearts!!!  Colt and Macy Jade cried for her!   However, we knew that we would have to wait on her when we started the road to adoption and it's not in our hands!  Our adoption agency told us that it would likely be 3-6 months before we travel to China to get our GiGi angel once our Dossier is completed - we are so close to being there!  PLEASE PLEASE pray for GiGi!!!!  We cannot stand the thought of our child in an orphanage, but we have no other choices!

I'm so very proud of Colt and Macy Jade!  They were the very first ones to claim her as "ours".  Macy Jade came to me asking about her baby sister.  I tried to explain that at that time we were still in prayer to make sure she was our child.  Colt overheard and demanded she was his baby sister too!  I think this was the answer to our prayers speaking the loudest!  They had never claimed any other child as "their sibling".   They immediately loved her as they do each other even with only seeing her picture!  They talk about her all the time and pray for her each day!  Macy Jade has asked for a Chinese babydoll for her birthday.  She said it would be her GiGi until we were able to physically get her!  Macy Jade explained how she would take this baby doll around and sleep with her to feel closer to GiGi!  They are amazing kids and I know GiGi has wonderful role models to follow in their footsteps!  She is going to be so rotten! 



I think GiGi will fit in perfectly with our family! I've never seen our kids so emotional and immediately in love as they are with her! They HAD to have a picture where they were on the page and GiGi was on the page so they cut and pasted picture of them and GiGi on a page.  I cannot post pictures of her on the web yet until we get clearance from the adoption agency.  Her little face is just precious; we love her so much- of course we do; she is our child! Macy Jade said "Oh mommy she has my nose!" :0) How could she NOT be our child??? We love her; we love her; we love her!!!!!  Praise be to God!  THANK YOU! and Thank you to all of you for all of your prayers!  Please continue to pray; we would LOVE to have GiGi before the year is over!  What better Christmas gift????

I wanted to share to you all our excitement!  Thank you for all of your support!


Love In Christ!
Niki

^"Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.  But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.  And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence."

Matthew 19:13-15 (KJV)

"FILLER"

We all have a story. Everybody. We have "a story of us". Most folks won't have their story made into a movie (not even a Lifetime movie!- though Sara Gilbert could use the work) The Biography Channel probably won't even notice. The vast majority of us will play-out our story and it will be quietly put on society's shelf with the zillion of other biographies placed their to collect dust. And so will be the story of your life. Seems insignificant, doesn't it. You are not all that important in the grand scheme of things. Your actions are fairly pointless.

Sadly, this has been MY attitude for....well...... most of my life. What could I REALLY do? I'm not in a high position of authority. I'm not surrounded by "yes men" all day telling me how cool I am. I don't own a Fortune 500 company. I haven't written an Oscar winner. I can't even find my flip-flops! And I LOVE THOSE FILP-FLOPS!!!

It is so easy to get caught up in the "it is other people's job" to make an impact, that we (I know "I") forget that nothing that happens on God's earth is unnoticed. It is all important. That is the cool thing about life. You are shaping the outcome of things and you probably haven't even noticed. Now, that is a BIG THOUGHT. The challenge comes with the "what will I do with this?"

I love movies. Always have. Ever since seeing Star Wars at the Skylark Drive Inn in the 70's, I have been hooked. I love a good story. I can always get "lost" in the lure of film. They say that the sign of a solid screen-play is that every scene is critical to the conclusion of the film. Have you ever seen a "boring" movie? Sure, we all have. Chances are that the STORY was not boring. Believe me, to get a screen-play made into a feature-length film takes more hoop jumping than a poodle in the Shiner's Circus. The problem, more than likely, lied in the writer putting in scenes that were not critical to the outcome of the movie- or FILLER. Filler is bad! It's main purpose on this earth is to simply take up space- to eat away at the clock! This is the way the movie business works, but this is not the way life works. What we think of as "Filler" is really having a huge impact on the outcome of our life's movie.

Look back on the last 10 years of your life. What happened in your story that did not effect where you are now? Did some things that seemed trite (at the time) determine the course of your history? The chance encounter, losing your cell phone, missing that appointment. Did it all sorta work together to make you who you are now? Entire marriages have been built on a bad cell phone bill (I'll explain later!)

The cool thing about the Bible is that everything that is induced is absolutely critical to the overall outcome of it's message. Some parts seem insignificant, but a real story lies in each passage. A really cool guy opened me to this reality tonight and for that I am eternally thankful. So much of life has passed me by without my notice. Learning and understanding have been at my fingertips all along. I just have not reached for them. Unlike the movie biz, life has no "filler". Life is sorta like an early Eagles album. Each song has legs and could be the career hit of a lesser band. And sure, some days are our "Hotel California" and some other days are our "New Kid in Town"s but they all play a small part in our very being. We don't hit a home-run very often, but, ever move has it's place.

It has taken me until now to realize that the concept of middle ground doesn't exist. The people I meet on a daily basis are either led to do good or led to do nothing (which is BAD!!) by my direct influence. No man is a "neutral" influence. I have entertained this concept in the past, but I have come to the conclusion that my actions will influence someone. If I am not a GOOD influence, I am a BAD influence. The harsh reality is that there are people who never came to know Christ because of my unwillingness to share the Gospel (or Good News of Christ's sacrifice) with them. Some I'll never see again. Some have gone on to meet their maker. Point is, the opportunity is gone. And I bear a portion of the responsibly of where their soul lies tonight.

God is working with the world now, but he is working through US as his children. He doesn't send his "GODNESS" on those he sees fit. It that were the case whose fault would it be for those who never come to know him? He doesn't pick and choose the hearts he works on. He want's all men to be saved, but it is up to us to be his hands and feet while here on his earth. It would be easy to say "its is someone elses responsibility" or God will work on him; But if we are really honest, we know that is not true. If his word is not spread by us then.... It won't be spread. Simple. Critical. It is a big responsibility. And I lothe responsibility. But, it is what we are here to do if we claim to know him. I am not "preaching" to you, I am "preaching" to me. I am in no position to cast a stone. I need to work on ME (as far as I know, that is the only person I have a proof-positive impact on!) I am trying to get my life in a position in which I can make this world a better place.

I know it is often hard to get to the places we feel comfortable given our colorful pasts. We sometimes feel so inadequate. I know that my story is not filled with great chapters that I want the grand-kids to read, but I am concentrating on the words that are written today and learning to make the most of the ones already written. I've been reading the works of a guy that was a murderer in his youth, been in and out of prison most of his adult life, been beated half to death, and been the government's public enemy #1. His life has had a pretty bid impact on me. Matter of fact he wrote a big portion of the New Testament. His name was Paul, and if God could use him, what could he do with us?

Phil~