HGTV’s Jenny Marrs Gets Emotional on Anniversary of Major Family Milestone

Jenny Marrs was in her feels on the 11th anniversary of the day she and husband Dave Marrs brought their adopted daughter, Sylvie, home. The HGTV star marked the occasion with a post on Instagram.

“I wasn’t there on the day she entered this world,” Jenny shared. “I wasn’t privy to the miracles that took place that day half a world away. I don’t know what her first days and months and years looked like. There is so much I just don’t know. Looming, gaping holes from her earliest, most formative years are painful reminders of all I have missed.”

The Marrs’ family first came across Sylvie’s adoption file in 2012. They finalized the adoption in August 2013, but before they could bring Sylvie home, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government shut down. Sylvie was unable to leave the country, even though she had been legally adopted and had a passport. It wasn’t until July 2014 that the family could finally reunite with their newest addition.

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A post shared by Jenny Marrs (@jennymarrs)

Along with her post, Jenny shared a photo of the emotional moment when Sylvie raced into her arms at the airport. Dave was in tears as he looked on. “What I DO know is on this day, 11 years ago, I bore witness to a miracle,” she continued. “An honest to goodness God-sized, Red-Sea-parting kind of miracle.”

She then recalled what she and her husband went through to have Sylvie join their family. “Hope had nearly been lost,” she admitted. “Despair had slowly seeped in. 602 days of waiting, 602 days of praying and pleading and calling Congressmen and Senators and flying over the sea to beg the US Embassy to help. Emails and letters and phone calls with no traction toward getting her home left us depleted.”

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The Fixer to Fabulous star continued, “Make no mistake – a battle took place to bring our daughter home. The exhale that took place when she was placed back into my arms on US soil was echoed in heaven. The spiritual battle that I couldn’t see during those long days and nights was finally over.”

Jenny said that she shares this touching photo with Sylvie every year because she doesn’t want to forget “the way the Lord fought on our behalf,” adding, “The things He has in store for Sylvie must certainly leave the enemy shaking in fear or else he wouldn’t have worked so tirelessly to keep her from us.”

She concluded her message by wishing Sylvie a “happy family day” and said, “You are deeply loved and cherished. We are the lucky ones, my girl.”