A Mother's Joy and Tears

This is a very special video for me. It brings me both tears and joy. OR should I say, tears OF joy. :)
It may not seem much to many to see a child of 10 swinging on an old swingset. But LOOK! Look closely! She is doing it all by herself! 6 years ago, she was in a bed, laying in a bed, laying all day and all night, just "left to lay", that is what they call it. By a miracle, she was transferred to an orphanage where they started to work with her. I met the woman during our last missions trip who taught her how to walk in cumbersome braces. She taught her to feed herself and talk. And I was able to tell her thank you.

Swinging herself though! This is a new thing. She is so proud, and I am proud of her.
She got all muddy swinging so I had to take her socks and shoes off. This is what I found!

They didn't have purple toenail polish in the orphanage either. :)

Erika has come so far. It will 3 years in April. It seems so long ago, like she has always been with us, yet it seems like yesterday when we brought her home forever.
So today I have tears of joy, just because a little girl is happy and can paint her toenails any color she wants.