Happy Birthday Esmée Noel...You are truly Much Loved!

Our precious Esmée,

Today is May 16th, 2011. Today is the day we are celebrating your birthday! We realize there is only a 1 in 365 chance that this is truly the day you were born, but also realize there are some things we just have to wait to find out until we all get to our forever home. Your real birth day is just one of many things we don't get to know and understand this side of Heaven, but we have peace through our all knowing God that surpasses all understanding.

We are celebrating the day you were born on May 16th for many reasons. One reason is that this is the day that is listed on your paperwork. Most likely you were born in the rural countryside without a nearby hospital, so there is not an official record of your birth. However, your orphanage must have documents proving you exist. We are so thankful for your beautiful existence sweet girl! The paperwork says that you are turning 12 years old today, though it is also unlikely that is actually your age. When I first held you in my arms last April and discussed your case with the orphanage director, I asked him what age he was going to put on your paperwork? He asked me, "What age would you like her to be?" After I got over the shock of this question, the answer that finally came out was "8"..."please make her 8 years old." I came up with this age for a few reasons. One being that it was at that time April of 2010 and I didn't want you to be turning 9 in May, which would now make you 10. Last April you weighed only 38 pounds and were smaller than my then 5 year old Ethan. Your had never been to school and only knew your A, B, C's. You couldn't tell me your birthday, but said you were "9". I figured you could just be nine for a really long time. I asked the director if there was something significant about the date May 16th. He shook his head yes saying, "I do believe this date holds some significance"...and so it does. I later asked David Birdy who knew about how you came to the orphanage and a little of your background, how old he thinks you really are? He asked me what date was listed as your birthday, and I told him "May 16th, 1999". He began to laugh. I asked him why he was laughing and he said, "May 16th is my birthday!". I thought, "oh how sweet that Esmée shares her birthday with David Birdy who shares part of her story"...but couldn't quite figure out why this was so funny. David then proceeded to tell me that he was helping out at your orphanage after the earthquake and was entering the children's data into computer files. When he came to Belinda Noel he knew your story well enough to know that there was no way to know your real birthday. He didn't know what to enter into the computer, so he just entered his own birthday. This is the story behind why May 16th was chosen as the day to celebrate your birth, but there are also other special reasons why we want to celebrate it today!

Esmée's Profile Pic

I remember staring at the first picture we received of your sweet face. I gazed into your paper eyes and made a connection that I couldn't shake. My heart told me from that moment on that you were my daughter. When I held you and connected with your real life eyes a few months later, I knew my heart had been right. May 16th is special because that is the date we saw printed next to the face that I looked at hundreds of times before I saw you in person...before I took hundreds of other pictures to hold until we would hold you again.

Our family was excited that your profile listed May 16th as your birthday. February (Elita Marguerite's b-day month) and May are the two biggest birthday months celebrated in our family and extended family. We believed this was yet another confirmation showing us you and Marguerite were meant to be in our family.

May 16th is also very special because it is the day that our friends traveling to Haiti delivered our dossiers containing our official adoption paperwork. One year ago today we knew our adoptions would officially be able to begin. One year ago today we knew we had kept our promise to you to do everything we could do to bring you home.

We are celebrating you today Esmée because we believe that one day soon we will bring you home and you will officially become our daughter. You know we call you Esmée because in those first weeks of staring at your paper face we didn't know your name, but oh how we loved you! The profile picture said "Belinda Noel" next to your face, but we were told right away that this was not your name. We were later told your name is Delenda, and have been given other names (Melinda, Berlinda) as well. We know there is no way to know if Delenda is the name your birth parents gave you just as we don't know your age or the real date your mother gave birth to you. We think that your birth father's last name is "Noel", and we want you to keep this name too. We called you Esmée because it means "Much Loved" and because you are much loved. God's word tells us that while we only "know in part...when the fullness of time comes, what is in part will disappear. Now we know in part; but then we shall know fully, even as we are fully known"(from 1 Corinthians 13:9,12). In light of eternity, it doesn't matter if we know your real name or the day you were born. What really matters is that your Heavenly Father gave you precious life, and you are "fully known" and much loved by Him. We are so blessed to even know you "in part"...and we love all the parts we do know about you. Our favorite part is that we know you love Jesus, and that your faith and hope in Him have carried you this far. There was a time this past year that it seemed our Lord wanted you home with Him even before you come home to us.

Esmée when she was deathly sick Oct./Nov. 2010

We are thankful that He has granted us more time with you, and we cherish each day of your life. Happy 9th (or it could be your 10th, 11th, or even 12th) birthday! Someday we will live together in our forever home where age and time will fade away and all that matters is that we are His...that He loved us so much that He sent His Son...that He is preparing our forever home even now. But for now "these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love"(1 Cor. 13:13). This love "always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres....and never fails" (13:7,8). We pray this love over you today, and every day our much loved girl!

Healthy and very happy Esmée in March 2011