Rachel

It's been a while since I wrote anything about my sweet little girl. I can hardly believe she is almost finished with first grade. This has been such a wonderful year for her. She has thrived in school and we regularly hear good reports from her teacher and other parents. But besides growing in maturity and academics, it has been a joy to watch her deepen in her faith and understanding of world events, missions and basic Biblical knowledge. The other night before bed we told her she could pray for whatever she wanted. She prayed, "Dear God, we pray that you would end the wars that are going on in the world and that the people would be happy and have peace." I have no idea where that came from!

A few weeks ago she had a bad eczema attack, which we suspect was an allergic reaction to something she ate. We have an appointment with an allergist next week to see if we can have her re-tested and find out what she is allergic to. We haven't had her tested since she was a baby.

At school, all the kids refer to her as "Little Red." There is a 3rd grader who also has red hair and she is "Big Red." Rachel loves her nickname. And the other day she came home very excited that her substitute p.e. teacher had called her "Carrots." I'm so thankful that she likes the nicknames and is not embarrased of her beautiful red hair.

And one more very special thing that happened last week. Like every other elementary-aged girl, she has been wanting an American Girl doll for as long as I can remember. She has read almost all of the books and most of her friends have them, but I would never spend that much money on a doll. So a year or so ago we had gone to the home of some missionaries here whose kids go to ECA. They have a teenage daughter who had the Josefina doll. Rachel had so much fun playing with the doll while we were at their house. The other day, the teenage daughter called to say that she had been thinking about her doll and how she had outgrown her and really would love it if she could give it to Rachel. Of course, I said that Rachel would be thrilled. So the next day, Hannah brought her Josefina doll to school along with several sets of clothes and doll accessories.

I told Rachel how special it was that Hannah had given her the doll, that it was so much more meaningful that it came from someone she knew and who had already loved Josefina for all those years. I also told her of God's faithfulness to us, yet again, and how when I was pregnant with her I remember wondering how in the world we were going to afford a baby, and yet I looked around our tiny house that was filled with everything we needed and knew in my heart that if God provided all this for us, how much more would he provide for his little child. And he did provide. We were overwhelmed by the blessings he poured out on us and had everything we could possibly need and more. And here is just one more example of his provision. Not only did he give Rachel the doll she had been wanting for so many years (at no cost to us), he added in the special benefit of a relationship with Hannah, a new bond between them and a special blessing to the giver.

God is so good.

Here she is with her new Josefina doll. Rachel is dressed as Felicity, another of the American Girls who happens to have red hair. Fitting, isn't it?