So Very Blessed!

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve posted an update, and so very much has happened since I last did.  On October 18^th, Billy and I headed off to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to meet a precious little girl for whom we had been praying for two years.  We arrived in Addis on a Friday night after nearly 30 hours of traveling.  We made it to the guesthouse pretty late, so we had to wait to meet our girl until the next day.  Knowing she was sleeping in her dorm, right outside the guesthouse, but that I couldn’t go see her, about drove me crazy. 

The front of the West Sands Adoptions Guesthouse

The dorms where the children who have been matched with a family through West Sands Adoptions live.
This is just one side- they wrap around and form a pretty little courtyard right behind the guesthouse.  While we were there, there were about 24 infants and many, many more toddlers and older children.

The next morning we were sitting with another couple eating breakfast, when the other girl said to her husband, “Brad, here come our kids!”  We all jumped up, and they ran to greet their sweet twins as I grabbed their camera and began to take pictures of this precious introduction.  Then I turned and saw one of the sweetest sights my eyes have ever beheld.  I remember gasping and crying out, “Billy, there she is!” as one of the amazing nannies walked up the front path carrying a little bundle that I had dreamt of meeting for months.  I was completely smitten from the moment I saw her.  She immediately came to us and within seconds was smiling and even laughing as I kissed her tiny hands.  That laugh was one of the greatest sounds I have ever heard.  She loved touching (and pulling J) my hair.  She studied our faces, and seemed to be so glad to finally be meeting us, too.  I must have told her a million times, "I'm your mommy!"- not to introduce myself or convince anyone, but just out of absolute awe and gratitude to our Father.  The joy that we experienced in those first moments with her surpassed all that we had imagined.  Our hearts were bursting.

Some people might ask if I feel like we missed out not having our daughter from the first moments of her life.  I am blessed to be an adoptive mom and a biological mom, and I can tell you holding your newborn right after you've given birth is an absolutely wonderful, life-changing experience, but it is no more wonderful or life-changing than holding your six-month-old (or six-year-old, I might add) child for the first time.  I will never ever forget the first time I saw her, held her, heard her laugh.  She was everything I had hoped and more.  Do I wonder about her early days and wish I had pictures of her first moments? Absolutely.  But we have the rest of her life ahead of us, and our very own memories to make with her each day from now on.  It was amazing to hold our child for the first time and have her smile at us and grab our faces.  Becoming a parent (even if for the second, third, fourth… time), whether through adoption or pregnancy, is an amazingly awesome gift from the Father.  Finally meeting our girl made every tear, every dime, every painful day of waiting, worth it.  How incredible to hold her, love her, kiss her, tell her I am her mommy and will be forever- to see tangibly now what we had been saying all along- God is sovereign!

That night I wrote in my journal, “Today I just kept thinking, ‘Lord, why us?  Why are we getting the blessing of this amazing baby girl?’  It’s so humbling to be given something so underserved.   Here’s the thing, though.  Aren’t all blessings undeserved?  What a good God we serve.  I have witnessed in living color His faithfulness to our family, and it floors me.  I know Mihret (Addie) was always in God’s plan for our family.  I do not know why He chose to make her a part through adoption, but I do know one purpose served- I love Him more.  I love Him more because I’ve seen in the beautiful display of adoption how much He loves me.  So very blessed!”

That evening we went to a traditional Ethiopian dinner that had musicians and dancers.  It was great fun to experience the culture of Addie’s homeland.  We were so blessed to have four other wonderful families with us and the most fantastic host/guide/liaison a person could ask for.
 

The following day (Sunday) was pretty much the same schedule as Saturday- We spent a few precious hours with our girl that morning, and the rest of the day we spent time seeing the beautiful country of Ethiopia.   We were eagerly awaiting Monday- the day the Ethiopian court was supposed to legally declare Addie to be ours…