Happy Birthday, Masha

Today, Masha turns seventeen. That’s with a one and a seven. Yeah, 17.

Now before all of you leave a million comments saying “How can that be? Mark and Christine look barely thirty themselves,” or “Has it been that long?” or “Hmm, I think we’re out of coffee….,” let me say this: it really was just yesterday when we met Masha. At least it was just yesterday in “God Years.”

Masha first stepped into our lives in the middle of a a hot August night, five years ago. Since that time, we’ve watched her grow from a tiny, scared, hurt little girl into a gorgeous, vibrant, bold young woman destined to thrive and change the world.

People told us we were crazy, jumping into the teen years and hormones and craziness with no experience. But as we have wrapped gifts and put another candle on her cake, I am awed by the life impacts that she is already making.

If it wasn’t for Masha, we would never have met and adopted Lena. I don’t even want to imagine what her future would have been. While her character is strong, the opportunities for her in Ukraine were nothing compared to where she can go and what she can do now. And it was through Masha’s love that we fell in love with Lena.

That’s not all. She has already participated in two short-term mission trips…that’s two more than I did in the first half of my life. She has allowed our pastor to use a video of her adoption story to inspire and encourage others at our church. She challenges and changes Mark and me daily. She makes me a better me.

Right now, our culture is so caught up in conflict and debate, focused on the problems of the day, of economy and war, of materialism and arrogance. These things are real and the deserve our constructive attention, but too often they blind us to the joy and love that is present in the most surprising places; they blind us from the way God works through unexpected situations and hurting people. Who ever would have thought that a scared little 12-year-old Ukrainian kid could bring such bold love to a country that “has it all?” But she did.

I can’t wait to see what the next five years brings! Happy Birthday, Masha! We love you!