Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Home

It is incredibly hard for me to believe I have been home with the boys for three weeks now!! Talk about time flying!! Just to recap, I spent one day short of a month in Liberia trying to finish the adoption of Gborlee and Isaiah. They spent a couple of weeks with me in the hotel in country, and I could never have made it without the help of my sweet friend,Christina, and my new friends Brian and Lindsay. I am so grateful for the ways God met my needs each and every step of the way and that will be a story of length for another time! Now, we are diligently pushing for every service we can find to help the boys. Through some earlier connections with the other kids, we have been able to get evaluations done for the boys for physical and occupational therapies, along with speech! They will be attending the developmental clinic at Riley Hospital for their delays and cerebral palsy issues. We are excited at how quickly it is all getting put into place. My oldest daughter says they had to wait so long to come home that God knows these next steps need to go quicker! I think I finally feel normal again. The flight and time away from home took its toll on my body, but I am back to my normal! I am thrilled to see the boys already learning new things! Gborlee has taken to army crawling and getting all around, and Isaiah is learning to lift his head and hold it up to look around when he is on his tummy! They are interacting and learning to be a part of a family. A family who loves them very much! We are backing up to celebrate Easter and Christmas with the boys this week and then next week we celebrate Isaiah's 2nd birthday!! I think that means a big event is coming up soon! We were at dinner the other night, and as our typical arrangement, the little ones sit closest to mom and dad while the older kids settle in at the farther end of the table. A kind young mom came to our table to ask if any of the kids were foster or adopted. We spoke for a few minutes and she told me her story of being in foster care and then being adopted with her younger brother. She thanked us for what we were doing. It warmed my heart, and I find a lot of people are supportive and encouraging. As we were preparing to leave, the waiter told us our bill had been paid in full!! The family quietly paid for us, and left with smiles. We were not able to thank them, but what a precious gift! Our bill, for "fast food" was over $80. I was speechless, and the kids were amazed that a stranger would do that. I believe it to be another blessing in a path that has been full of blessings with the building of our family! I am looking forward to hearing from our oldest son on the next child to come to our family through adoption. Scott and Britt are waiting for the call for their referral on a baby from the Congo. What an exciting time for them, but also for us! Grandparents have the best of both worlds!! I know they will have stories to tell of their journey to Africa too! God has been so faithful to our family and I watch my newest angels in our home, grateful for the opportunity to be their mom. It's such a beautiful gift to be a mother, and families grow in many different ways. I love the way ours has grown, and we have our perfect dozen! Thank you for all the prayers! We are blessed!