As we prepare for our trip to Ethiopia... the packing is easy, donations came flowing in with AMAZING generosity, we've gotten all of our gadgets figured out for the picture taking, video making, emailing, facebooking... Documents notarized, Amharic words and sayings printed out to study and learn so we can speak a little when we are there. We have an itinerary of places we will go, things we will see for the few days before we MEET our DAUGHTER...
This is where our preparation takes a twist... Like a tornado straight to the man upstairs! We have seen our little girls picture, we have prayed for her, dreamed about her, thought about her every minute of every day, decorated a room for her, bought clothes for her... and NOW we will be meeting her!! WOW! We are so thankful GOD has placed this little girl in our lives FOREVER and EVER and we are SO excited to be her Mommy and Daddy! We talk to God a lot about 'M' and her little life and how both of ours lives will never ever be the same since she has become a part of it.... We are so excited and so happy to have another beautiful daughter in our crazy lil family.
Little 'M' will be ONE year old when we see her. She got to Hannah's Hope (the transition home affiliated with All God's Children International - our adoption agency) when she was 9 months old. An awful lot has happened in her little life so far! ...we will essentially be the 4th place, 4th caretakers, 4th ones in her life that she will meet to take care of her and LOVE her. We believe she will be very cautious, apprehensive and scared of us... She has four special mothers that have been caring for her beautifully - THANK YOU LORD for these sweet women - and so I'm guessing it will be confusing for her to separate from her special mothers and spend time with us...
I am working on my 'library voice' because it doesn't come very easily for this loud momma! :) I have got books and books on my kindle to read on the plane for 18 hours and during our 4 hour layover in Frankfurt... I have read blogs, advice, tips, emails, suggestions, different adoption websites, talked to other adoptive mommas... all on preparing for the day we get to meet our little girl... But mostly I am talking to God praising Him for 'M', asking him for His guidance, patience, to help give me the words and actions that will be best received from our little 'M'. ...just the BEST way to show her we LOVE her...
We are praying and preparing our hearts for our 'MEETCHA' Day with little 'M', every minute we will be able to spend with her and then having to leave our sweet little girl there and come home...
We didn't anticipate Adoption to be...
Easy
Cheap
Unemotional
Not Self Sacrificing
God placed adoption on our heart and we were not going to ignore it... however old we were, however much money was in our bank account, however emotionally challenging adoption can be, however many sacrifices we needed to make to bring our daughter home - we were on board! ...and by the Grace of God - He has placed this sweet little girl who would not have had a family to LOVE her, to care for her FOREVER - has one now and for the rest of her life! ♥
So... here we are, just days away from seeing our daughters face for REAL, touching her little hands, being able to feed her, change her, dress her, put her to sleep, play with her, hold her, tickle her, read to her, show her pictures of her sisters, tell her stories, talk to her, laugh with her...
How do you prepare for something as AMAZING as this? We GIVE IT TO GOD and know he is at work within us and within our little girl and His will WILL be done...
We are SO excited for the little Miracle God made and we are SO excited He chose us to be her parents.
We are coming 'M'!! See you really soon girl! We can't wait! WE LOVE YOU more than words can say!
Oh Darc! thanks for the morning cry! That was beautiful and honest. I will be praying for your first moments with your sweet girl. It's so crazy to think that of all the mommys and daddys in this huge ol' world He picked you! He makes no mistakes! Maybe she will be cautious and reserved in the beginning but I can't wait to see her in due time...taking charge and having to be shushed because she carries the spunk of her mama! The Lord started this looooong ago and will prepare you all for that time! Love you!
ReplyDeleteLOVE this!!! Praying for your time with M and praying for her little heart... that God will be preparing it to feel safe, loved, and comfortable with you!! I am SO SO excited for you!!
ReplyDeletePS - I haven't made it to the post office, so my box of donations and pictures for the special mothers will have to be for trip #2! :)
Hey Darcee, great post. When Eva got to HH she was 9 months also. On our 1st trip she also turned 1 year old. If she has attached properly to her special mothers, then yes, there will be confusion and she will cry A LOT. That was our situation with Eva. In fact, we expected it and actually welcomed it and thanked God for it. It told us that Eva knew how to attach and that she had stranger anxiety, which is excellent. Please be very patient. I'm sure you will be :-) Eva has properly attached to us. We know because to this day she still will not let anyone hold her. She has allowed less than a handful of people hold her for even a couple of seconds. God is so good. He is preparing everything to work just perfectly for your little "M" and your family. All the best!! Safe travels and all that go along with it. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post! I am sooooo excited for you!! Enjoy the moments with your sweet "M" at HH. God is good and will give "M" the peace and comfort she needs to get to know her mommy and daddy. Can't wait to hear all about it!!!
ReplyDeleteBig Hugs and prayers for safe travels!!!!