The Moment

At exactly 3:00 today (according to the iPhone records), Brandy called me and greeted me with, "Where are you?" Her tone was too excited to be anything else, so I think I said, "No way!" in response. Regardless, she had just received the call from Natalie, our case worker, that we had a referral, but Brandy hurriedly loaded the kids up and brought them up to the office so we could get on the phone together and see his picture for the first time together as a family. As I waited for her to get to there, I bounced around the office like a school kid telling anyone and everyone I could that I was about to "meet" my son for the first time. As usual, Jim Wimberley, my boss, prayed a prayer of thanksgiving and for the salvation of my little boy while others cried and hugged me. As soon as Brandy got there, we got on the phone with Natalie and she emailed several pictures along with his information. He is AWESOME!! He is 14 months, in good health, weighs about 20 pounds and is about 30 inches tall. We fell in love, all of us. Brandy cried. Selah asked where the pictures were of her baby sister (she's almost as anxious for the next one as her mommy is). When we heard that he was suffering from some eczema and "asthma-like" symptoms, Josiah's face lit up and he said, "I have eczema and asthma too!!!" Connection made, although a strange one, but it was cool to the little man. I sat in awe!

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around, celebrating with anyone who was close to us, calling family and friends, thinking of baby names, and enjoying a great meal at our favorite Ethiopian restaurant, Queen of Sheba, with our friends the Tuckers. They received their referral a month and a half ago, and as we compared notes, we discovered that our boys were both from the same area, both placed in the same orphanage in that area, and both traveled from that orphanage to Gladney's foster home on the same day!!!! Crazy!!! By the time all is said and done, these two little guys will have traveled all the way from their little area in southern Ethiopia to Richardson, TX together . . . within blocks of each other. Mind-blowing!!!! We hope their journeys home won't be too far apart in time.

Everyone asked the same question today . . . "When do you get him?" There are a ton of variables in play, so the following information is educated guess at best based off of "normal" situations (which there are none of). Essentially, once we accept the referral, we wait 4 to 6 weeks to get a court date set and then another 6 to 8 weeks before the actual court date. Assuming we pass court the first time around, which is no guarantee, we will travel within a few weeks of that to go and pick him up in Addis and bring him home.

Lastly, I can't help but draw one parallel to my Heavenly Father in the midst of this. I was just thinking about how giddy (no other word for it) I was when I got the news, how my heart raced, how I practically skipped around the office looking for anyone to share the good news with, and how I know my face must have beamed with pride every time I mentioned, "My son." And I can't help but think about that day when my adoption that had been preordained before the beginning of time came to be in a moment of faith when I received His Son's sacrifice for me as means of eternal fellowship with my Father in His forever family. To think that His heart leapt, the Creator of the universe, for me is unfathomable!!! As great as this adoption day is for my son, I continue praying for him and all of my children, that they will experience an adoption day far greater than any I could offer with a far greater reward and inheritance from the Father of all the fatherless. He is Yahweh, the Great I Am, the Ancient of Days, the King of all Kings, and the Lover of my soul. "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen" (Romans 11:36).