one healthy heart and another in the making

Within the last month Daniel has developed a new sleepy time ritual.  As he begins to get drowsy, he pulls up his shirt, grabs my hand, and places it over his chest.  Then he'll press my hand down tight over his little heart, close his eyes and slowly drift off to sleep.

For me these few moments of him winding down for rest have become somewhat of a sacred time, both for the sweetness, but also because they give me two glimpses of his little heart.

In the emotional sense, it seems to give evidence that his broken heart is on the mend.  He doesn't have the vocabulary, but his "old soul" seems to communicate with this gesture that we are now connected, that I am a guardian of his heart.  His newfound peace and comfort with our relationship gives me great joy!

And in the physical sense, feeling the rhythm of his little heartbeat while my hand rests upon his uneven breast bone reminds me of what a gift his life is.

Nearly three years ago he would have been listed on New Day Foster Home's "Surgeries Needed" page as he waited for his open heart surgery.  The blessing our family was given ~ long before we knew of our sweet boy ~ is that his surgery was fully funded by generous donors who believe in the ministry of New Day.

Now as a grateful parent, it is my turn to give back and encourage others to catch the vision and participate in both physical (in the form of surgery) and emotional (in the form of tender loving care) healing for a little girl named Wendy.

**You may remember reading about her in this post. **

Two adoptive NDFH parents have pledged $2,500 each for a matching grant drive.  That means that if $5,000 is donated toward the surgery fund at New Day Foster Home, $10,000 will be raised!  And that $10,000 will cover sweet Wendy's  ~ as well as tiny Asa's ~ surgery.

So jump on over to Scarlet Threads and get more details about the matching funds drive.  As of today $960 has been raised.  We have until January 4th to see just how generous we can be this holiday season.  I'm sure Wendy's future forever family would thank you...