Our precious Meron loves books and
stories. She loves anything read to her but her favorite story is
when we tell her “Ethiopia” story. I start way back at the
beginning and no matter how many times I tell it, her eyes sparkle at
the same spots every time.
We talk about how we prayed for a
really long time that God would find just the right children for our
family. How we knew already that we would love them even though we
didn't know who they were. She almost bubbles out of her skin as we
recount the first time we opened the file with her picture. How
Mommy cried and cried and we couldn't stop saying how beautiful she
was. She reminds me about their name tags pinned to the front of
their shirts and how she did not have any hair.
(Our referral pictures...It was love
at first sight...They were ours and they were CHOSEN!)
But we couldn't go see them right
away...we had to wait until we finally got the call with the go ahead
to buy our tickets to Ethiopia....
Our adoption would require two separate
trips...the first to meet the children and finalize their adoptions
in the Ethiopian Court and the second to be processed through the US
Embassy and bring the children home.
When we arrived at the orphanage for
the first time most of the kids were napping. We were told that we
would have several one hour visits with the kids during the days that
we were there. We would also spend time sightseeing and learning
more about the Ethiopian country and culture. We had packed crayons,
snacks and bubbles for all the children as we prepared to go spent
time with two little ones that we had only ever seen in pictures.
NO AMOUNT of preparation, reading
adoption blogs, or talking to other adoptive parents could have ever
fully prepared me for the moment we first laid eyes on them. Shawn &
I and T & Jean were first escorted into the room where the
younger children slept... we were directed towards a little yellow
bunk bed where the two youngest boys slept. They were snuggled
together under a blanket, fast asleep as we entered the room. Jean
and I walked together towards the boys and knelt beside each other at
the edge of the bed. Tears poured from our eyes as we stared into
the faces of two of the most precious little treasures...blessings
from above...trusted into our care from a heavenly Father who gives
only good and perfect gifts. I can only imagine what went through
those babies minds as they were awakened by the nanny and looked up
into the faces of two blubbering white women. The boys immediately
let us pick them up and the smothering from Mommies and Daddies
began.
Meron and her oldest brother, Kaleb,
were brought to us soon after meeting the younger two boys. Meron
grins now when we talk about how terrified she was to be near us
initially, but she was notgrinning then. It
was obvious right off the bat that any preconceived ideas I may have
had about a prefect first meeting would need to be filed in the
“guess God didn't mean for it to be like that” folder. She was
absolutely terrified of us and would keep her distance as much as
possible. We could not hold her or touch her and only a couple times
in that first trip did she interact at all with us while blowing
bubbles or playing. Her little world was totally turned upside down.
The loss these children had already experienced in their short little
lives is unfathomable. Adoption does not happen without
grief...it is not all easy...it requires sacrifice and loss on many
levels.
But it is a beautiful thing. I
often tell people that adoption is for the orphan, and I believe it.
But just as importantly, adoption is for the benefit of the church.
Deuteronomy 14:29 says “ He blesses those who provide for the
orphan”...the orphan is blessed by a family, but the family is
blessed to experience just a glimpse of Christ's love for us.
Did I say that nothing could have fully
prepared me for this experience? Nothing could have prepared me for
the love and emotion that overflowed in me as I held the stinkiest,
snottiest little boy ever! The one wearing pink crocs and
girl pajamas, with a sores on his body and signs of malnourishment
undeniable...who from the first moment has forever captured his
momma's heart.
Nothing could have prepared me for the
unconditional love we have felt for our princess, who made it clear
from the beginning that she did not need this loving. Who has, since
coming home, opened up and learned to express her fears and losses in
beautiful detail...giving us glimpses into our children's history and
story.
Nothing could have prepared me for the
fulfillment I would sense in seeing my husband and biological kids
accept these two into our family without reservation. They don't
look like us, don't talk like us, but they couldn't be any more us.
Are they blessed to
have us? Maybe... Are we blessed to have them?
Absolutely!
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