Exactly one year ago today, my sister/best friend Jeanie was awarded legal custody of her daughter Lizzie.

On this day, I’m resharing their story.

Lizzie was born with a chromosomal abnormality and has severe special needs. She was abandoned at birth, without even a name. The nurses dubbed her “Elizabeth” and we affectionately call her Lizzie. My friend Jeanie fell in love with Lizzie the moment she met her, the day she arrived at My House at two weeks of age. Jeanie was Lizzie’s devoted caregiver throughout countless hospitalizations, and visited her nearly every day of the five long years she lived at My House. Jeanie and her husband tried to adopt Lizzie in 2006, but through a very unfair and unfortunate series of events, they were denied. Instead, Lizzie was placed for adoption with a couple who abused and neglected her for seven years. Horrible things happened to Lizzie during that time, many of which we’ll never know because Lizzie cannot talk. One of many ways Lizzie suffered is that her femur was broken at the hands of her adoptive “mother.” She now has permanent bone/muscle damage and deals with pain on a daily basis. Lizzie is currently in a body cast, after spending nearly a week in the hospital following a surgery related to her broken leg that was never addressed properly by her previous adopters. Many, many people have let this child down — her birth mom, her first adoptive family, DFCS, and other agencies who should have helped but only caused more hurt. All the while, Jeanie never wavered in her love and devotion to Lizzie. She continued to care for her throughout all of those years when Lizzie had been forgotten by everyone else who was supposed to love and protect her.

But God promises us in His Word that He will restore the years locusts have eaten. In this case, Lizzie’s adoptive mother died, leaving her husband to eventually ask Jeanie to take full custody of Lizzie. Today, many years of heartache and sorrow were finally redeemed. Lizzie was officially adopted by Jeanie and her husband. A whole group of us who have known and loved Lizzie were there to celebrate this joyous occasion. She will forevermore be known as Elizabeth Siubhan “Lizzie” Kirksey, and I am confident that she will know nothing but love for the rest of her days.