My daughter, Breleigh Michelle, is a miracle.

Breleigh ("Bre-lee") is four years old; we adopted her from China when she was an infant; she has brought us endless moments of joy.

She's also brought us many moments of unadulterated heartbreak. Breleigh came to us with serious medical problems involving her heart. She was in and out of the hospital; there were times where we thought we were going to lose her; we have had to call for an ambulance when her heart threatened to stop on her.

Because of her precarious health, Breleigh doesn't go to daycare. Instead she is homeschooled: that way, we can keep an eye on her, lest she should happen to get sick unexpectedly.

Breleigh is a pretty little girl with long, silky jet-black hair, almond shaped eyes of dark brown, a round, moon face, and a quick smile. She is very smart, rather shy in nature; she will quickly befriend a person once she gets to know them better.

Breleigh is the youngest of six children we have adopted (and the only one who's disabled). Our other children are Burleson Michael (15), Brooklyn Mariah (13), Brandin Todd (11), Bridge Garrison (9), and Briana Josefina (7). They were adopted either from South America (Briana, Brandin, and Brooklyn) or China (Bridge, Burleson, and of course, Breleigh). We couldn't have children of our own, so we turned to international adoption--and we haven't regretted it for a second!

Breleigh is very much loved by all of us, and by those who know her best. She can be shy, as I mentioned earlier, but she's a little ham. We feel blessed to have her in our lives; she's the true epitome of the word "courage". Nothing, not even major heart surgeries, slows her down for long. In fact, the last time she had surgery on her heart (last year), by the time the first week was up, she was already asking to go home--and at the time she was sstill in Intensive Care!

Now how courageous is that??