Loving it!

It's amazing how God works in our hearts to bring healing.  Without us ever realizing it, little by little, He chips away at hurt and mis-trust and replaces it with caring and acceptance.  All during our hosting, Rita never once said she loved us, never called us mom and dad (or even host-mom/dad), and rarely ever gave us a hug.  In emails and phone conversations, there has not been an acknowledgement our our "love ya's".  But last week, all of that changed.  I received an email from her and she signed it 'Love, Rita'!  Then, a phone conversation ended with 'I love you too'!  Such sweet words, reassuring us that the connection we feel to her has not gone unnoticed, but given time, will grow into a relationship that will last forever! 
Tomorrow is Lera's birthday!  I still haven't heard if they have received the package I sent them.  One thing they have been having fun with is deciding on new names!  Rita quickly picked hers:  Rita Jessica.  I looked it up and Rita means 'Pearl' and Jessica means 'He sees'.  I immediately thought about the story in Matthew 13 of the merchant who found a pearl of great price and sold everything he had so he could purchase it!  When I emailed her that meaning of her name, and told her that God sees her value and her beauty and has shown it to us, she emailed back with 'Wow!  That's cool!!!'.  Lera wants to completely change her name and has chosen Vanessa which means butterfly.  It fits her!!! Now to find a middle name for her!  Any suggestions that I can send her?????