Love At First Sight

Psalm 126:3 - The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. 

After a 13 1/2 hour flight, we finally made it!!!  A driver from our agency, Abraham (who we loved!), picked us up from the airport. We then went to our guest house (which is awesome & more on that later). And then, it was finally time for us to meet our baby boy...a day I had prayed & dreamed of for so long :) 

After about a 1/2 hr of crazy bumpy driving and an eye opening experience of a city in a 3rd world country, we pulled up to the orphanage.  We walked in, and I don't think anything could've prepared us for what we saw. Neither of us had ever been to an orphanage.  On top of that, we hadn't slept for about 24 hrs. which probably wasn't a good combo :) as emotions were running higher than the norm. It was very heavy & overwhelming.  Almost indescribable, but I will try.

 So many kids...dressed in any kind of clothing...a boy in a skirt, some kids with no shoes, a boy with food & flies on his face, clothes air drying on the ground, a sever special needs room with prob 20 kids in what seemed like survival mode. Just absolutely heart breaking, & I had to do everything I could not to just stop & weep.  I will say that these sisters (it's a catholic orphanage) are loving on these kids & doing the best they can with what they have...they just don't have much.

We waited in an office-like room with a social worker from our agency, for one of the head sisters, Sister Clementine, to go & get our son.  It was a wait that seemed to take forever :) We had asked our social worker, Elfanesh, to take pictures of us meeting him & I cannot wait to post them as they turned out just precious :) I had no idea what this moment would be like, but it was finally here!  Kind of surreal. Sister Clementine opened the door & brought him over to us. She placed him in my arms & I held him out so that he was looking up at both of us. We both said a very excited,"Hiiiii!!!" With the biggest smiles our faces could possibly make :).  Our sweet baby boy looked right back at us with lots & lots of smiles. It was love at first sight & like a fairy tale...really. I had mentally prepared that it might not be as I know it is not everyone's experience. I just felt like Hod went extra out of His way on this one to make this moment so special. Our world stopped as God lovingly gave us this moment...eyes & smiles met...& all of our lives changed forever.  All of the prayers, waiting, paperwork, tears, & preparation...so very worth it.  The Lord had done such great things for us...that we don't deserve, & we are overflowing with joy that He picked us to be a mommy & daddy to this sweet boy...a boy that he miraculously saved to be a warrior for Jesus in this world. 

We then visited with him that morning & then came back that afternoon. We toured the orphanage, looked at pics of his new family, played, sang Jesus Loves Me, took a thousand pics :), & showed him the book our family had recorded.  I have been praying peace & joy over him. He is exactly that. So very content & happy.  Sister Clementine told us he never cries unless he is hungry or tired.  He never cried once while he was with us...so amazing!  

I am reminded of what beauty God has brought from the ashes of going through miscarriage & infertility for a season.  It's a miraculous beauty that only God can bring. If you are going through this kind of season, please know we serve the God of miracles...the one who parted the Red Sea & died on the cross for our sins & then rose from the dead to save us. He is a healer & is near to the broken-hearted...even if you don't feel Him...please know that He is. He is ALWAYS good & works for the good in ALL things for those that were called according to His purpose. I would encourage you to cling to what you KNOW (Biblical truths) & NOT what you feel. 

From complete brokenness, He brought about revival in us as He drew us closer and conformed us to His image.   From complete brokenness, He blessed me with our Kasen Michael. From complete brokenness, He called us into adoption & now He has ordained a beautiful baby boy in another continent to be our son. No one can write stories as beautiful as our Jesus!  What an exciting privilege to serve a God that blows us away with his love for us. Thank you, Jesus!