Meeting my Abraham

So many emotions are coming out of me tonight at midnight here in Addis as I sit in my bed. The sights and sounds of Addis I hope will never fade from my memory . From the wild dogs "chatting" all night to the smiling faces who are always eager to help. the joyous laughter of orphanage children playing a quick game of soccer or peek-a-boo......how did I get here? Little me. I am finally in my son's country.
This is a time I have longed for for 3 years and it is happening now. If you want to feel every emotion a human is capable of feeling, then adopt a child. Come to Africa. Touch these orphan children with your own hands. I saw "it" in everyone of the kids at the orphanage. Each of their faces tells a story. These are God's special children. Because even though they have lost everything dear to them, when I look into their eyes I see hope. I see the fight in them. They believe that all things can and will get better. None so much as the first time I gazed into my son's eyes. So many times in this adoption process I wanted to give up. The wait for him hurt my heart too much. The time frame kept expanding. Why was this adoption seed planted into my brain? Just one look was all it took to wipe away any fear, any pain, ANY timeframe. This was our perfect time together. This day. Not in November when I so desperately wanted to go on our first trip. This was my day. January 14 2013.
I didn't sleep much the night before. Much like the night before I gave birth to my daughters. My mind would not turn off. So finally the alarm went off signaling me to move. I have never got ready so fast in my entire life. Today was our turn.
We went down stairs for "BIG" breakfast as we like to call it. The woman who cooks at our guest house is amazing. Plate after plate kept coming out of the kitchen. It was quite funny to see all the dishes at the end of our meal. it looked like 10 people had eaten. They must know Americans eat a lot.
So after big breakfast we went upstairs and waited for our driver to pick us up. He arrived at 9am. I have been told all about the adventures you can have while driving around Addis. There are big people, little people, goats, cars, buses, horse drawn carts, you name it its out there.....and no real rules. I thought I would be afraid but I kind of found it fun. I told Justin it felt like Go-Kart driving. But I think a better description would be bumper cars without the bumping. You can go as fast as you want, go in any direction you want, honk as much as you want, the only requirements are you that you hit nothing and you do it all with a smile on your face. Some how this system actually works and its crazy fun.
We finally turn down a cobble stone street and pull up to these huge black gates. With one little beep the doors swing open and we have entered up until now my dream world. My palms are sweaty just typing this now as I remember all of the emotions of stepping out of the white van into that court yard. Clothes were drying on the line but there were no children to be seen. I heard them before I saw them. The little ones (ages 2-6 years) were all in a room. I think it was school time or something. They were all in these little green plastic chairs. A man went into the room and picked up a child. This was my day! This was my child! He brought him down the stairs and set him on the ground. At first he was hard to recognize because he was wearing a pink ruffled shirt and jeans with leopard print trim. Oh and he had absolutely no hair! I stayed back and watched as Abraham made his way, unafraid I might add, over to his daddy. It was a sweet 30 second reunion I wanted my turn. I handed the camera to Justin. Abraham walked right up to me. I picked him up and my heart melted into a big old puddle. He was so precious and took to me right away. I had him smiling in no time. My perfect little missing puzzle piece was finally found. I had my son.


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