We Have to Believe...

(This image was found on the web. It is not Hanna...at least not that we know...)

Three years ago today Hanna was found at a marketplace in Shan Wei City, Guangdong Province, China. She was lying in a paper box, wrapped in a towel and wearing white baby clothes. We have to believe that the woman who placed her there did it with the utmost love and hope for her baby. We have to believe she held her for about two days. Looked in her eyes, swaddled her, stroked her cheeks, gave her soft, sweet, kisses. She did all of the endearing, amazing things a mother does. And then, she said good-bye so that her baby could have a better chance. We don't know the reasons behind the painful decision this courageous woman made. We have to believe that if she could, she would have held her baby in her arms forever. Instead, now, she only holds her in heart. The politics in China are unfathomable to us here in the US and other developed countries. But for the people in China, the politics and policies are a way of life. They are poor. They are hungry. They are hard workers. They are people who make sacrifices every day. They are honorable. They are bound by tradition. And, they press on. For whatever the reason, we are so grateful. God had a plan for that baby, placed loving for someone to find, and she is a dream come true.

Motherbridge of Love
Once there were two women who never knew each other.
One you do not know. The other you call mother.
Two different lives shaped to make you one.
One became your guiding star; the other became your sun.
The first one gave you life; the second taught you to live it.
The first one gave you a need for love; the second was there to give it.
One gave you a body, the other taught you games.
One gave you a talent. The other taught you aims.
One gave you emotions; the other calmed your fears.
One saw your first sweet smile; the other dried your tears.
One found a home for you that she could not provide.
The other prayed for a child; her hope was not denied.
And now you ask, of course you do,
The question others ask me too:
his place or your birth place--which are you a daughter of?
Both of them, my darling- and two different kinds of love.
~Anonymous

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