While those of us in the United States are wrapping up our evenings, my beautiful travelers will just be boarding their plane for the 24+ hour journey HOME. . . I have prayed about and imagined this day for almost a year and now that it's here, I don't quite know what to do with myself. The house is clean (as in, spotless . . . cleaned by a neurotic woman trying to fast forward time with every stroke of the mop), the dogs are groomed, the closets are organized and a couple of casseroles are in the fridge for our Friday family brunch. I even did my nails, tweezed my eyebrows and loofah-ed. I have rehearsed the "hello" a million times in my mind - do I hang back and try not to overwhelm him or do I give in to my natural instinct and just throw my arms around him? When Ezekiel came home, I was not a part of that trip, having decided to give my seat to Lemuel so he could see his biological brother. I decided prior to the "hello" that I would definitely hold back. Ezekiel was a timid little boy and too young to understand what was happening. He was reportedly afraid of "white people" and did not like a large amount of noise or activity. I was prepared to shake his little hand, maybe touch his hair, and wait for him to give the green light. Yeah . . . right! I ended up practically running down the jetway. I grabbed him from my husband's arms and squeezed the stuffing out of him!! It was a force of nature. There was no way I could have held back. I'm sure tomorrow, the same phenomenon will take place. I PLAN to play it cool but as a Mama who has waited a looong time to finally see this young man face to face, I can't make any promises!
I skyped with the family just a few hours ago and they were all very tired. They have gone from place to place all day on this trip, visiting family, sightseeing, shopping, eating out, riding public transportation just for fun, etc. I believe they will need at least a week to get over the jetlag which suits me fine. A week of napping teens might just provide me the time I need to do all the laundry from this trip! It doesn't matter, just to have them home . . . all under my roof, all sitting around my table at dinner. THAT is the answer to a thousand tearful prayers. With adoption #4 almost under our belts, we can confidently say that God provides. He delivers. He hears our prayers. He cares. He loves to give good gifts to His children and to answer the desires of their hearts. He does all things for our good and for His glory. He uses the weak. His grace is sufficient and His plans can not be thwarted. All of those character traits of God that we studied as children have shown themselves in this one loving act of allowing us to adopt Francis.
Lord, you are extravagant!
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| (l-r)Francis, Ariel(Lem's big brother), Elliana, Aaron at Children's Garden |
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| After days of sightseeing, my boys have had enough! |
