Ellie's Auntie Nhu Doll

This week we had a very special package arrive in the mail....it had Ellie's first dolly in it.  And what makes this an extra special dolly is that it is one that we are calling "Auntie Nhu."  I thought it would be a great way to introduce Ellie to Nhu, even though Nhu is on the other side of the world.  It may be a type of doll that she won't be able to play with for a while, but we can still take it out and teach her who Auntie Nhu is.

The next doll we wanted to get her is one from the Philippines that we will name "Melissa," after the girl we have sponsored through Remember Nhu for the last few years.  Melissa is a part of our family in our eyes too.  We hope one day to meet her in person.  But in the meantime, we want Ellie to know who she is and learn to pray for her too.  My Aunt Kathy told me that she is going to try to find the doll that my Dad brought back from the Philippines for her when he was in the navy.  That would be amazing! If she can't find it, we will order a different one.

The other reason why I thought this idea was so great is that we want Ellie to love and help people all around the world.  I have prayed many times that she will be a woman who helps those who can't help themselves.  Whether that is going around the world and helping those who are mistreated, hungry, or alone.  Or whether that is helping her own neighbors down the street who need groceries or just need a friend...I just hope she loves people radically.

At church on Sunday we sang a song that got me thinking....

We must go live to feed the hungry

Stand beside the broken, we must go

Stepping forward, keep us from just singing

Move us into action, we must go

To act justly everyday

Loving mercy in every way

Walking humbly before You, God

You have shown us, what you require

Freely we've received

Now freely we give

As we sang, I was praying Ellie would grow to be a woman who does just that.

Also, Caleb and I really hope to adopt one day.  (That is a story in itself.)  We have committed that to Him because we don't know exactly how that will look time-wise or financially...but we have entrusted that dream to Him and hope one day to have another little kiddo in our home with us.  Who knows, maybe from US, or maybe from across the world.  So we hope to instill that love in Ellie from early on.

All to say, it was fun having the package arrive.  Hopefully it is one of the first, of many lessons, we can teach our little girl.