And we met...

What do you expect when meeting four new children whom you have only previously spent 1 hour with and who have never known you as father and mother? On the plane ride here we had many moments of random thoughts such as "What if they run away?" or "Will they want to be touched?" or even "Do I hug them?" And yet with a single encounter all of those questions get wiped away. The first encounter with our children as mother and father went extraordinarily well. They recognized us and ran to meet us. We had Aha moments like "They remembered us!". They wanted to call us mom and dad. We cycled through the books we had previously made them and named random people such as "Graham, Wil, Jasmine, the dog, Mom, Emmy, etc." One by one they would repeat after us the names of the people with their interesting little accent. Foosball was a favorite and so was high five. It wasn't all rosy. There were awkward pauses due to inability to communicated in Amharic. Lapses of time where nothing was said and nothing was communicated. How do you communicate with someone you can't speak to? There were thoughts of what do we do next? One of us would say, "Let's look at pictures on the phone." or "Let's see their beds." We finished the day with all of our questions from the plane answered but new ones had arisen. The sense of peace we were striving for was balanced with new questions of language and communication. Fear was beginning to rise in our minds again! How is it that we can go from fear to momentary peace back to fear again? When we find our calling in life we want to be able to believe that we will walk through it with peace and courage. Yet it isn't always that way. We have good friends in Papau New Guinea who have been missionaries for many years who have been open to share those struggles. Other friends whom we currently share our life with who have remarked of their struggle with isolation in the midst of their calling. I am reminded as the Bible tells us that "the battle is in the mind". How easy it is to let my mind drift back to thoughts of fear or as we sometimes rename it, concern. And if I let my mind follow that rabbit hole I will become disempowered and worthless, giving glory to only myself which in turn just proves how unworthy I am. There is an alternative though. God had just answered all of our questions with a resounding "Do not be afraid!" And we blinked and almost missed it. What if I were to stay in the moment and give God the glory and praise, not giving in to my fear? There is such power there. Power only because God is source of that power, not me. "May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you..." Colossians 3:11-12 We still have many questions and hurdles to endure. We are visiting the kids every day. As the Lord brings us to your mind please pray for our growing relationship with the kids, the birth mother interview to go smoothly as well as the embassy date. It will be in God's power not ours.

As I write this we are sitting in the hotel in Washington preparing to travel to Ethiopia. There have been many challenging steps in this process from the court document to a delay in turning in paperwork to the US embassy. How do you wait on the Lord with patience and peace? In this we haven't been the greatest example as we have struggled and been stressed through the process. This has taken a toll on our family and even our relationship as the frustration rose to excessive levels. But God has begun to fill us with encouragement from friends, family, and strangers. Most of those words have been in the form of scripture as we are reminded of God's patience, power, and control. There is a possibility that we wouldn't be able to bring them home this trip. There are there are 3 steps that need to occur before we can bring the "fource" home. The embassy needs to interview the birth mother; we need to be cleared to bring them into the United States; we need to have our meeting with the children and the US embassy. We pray and hope this will occur over the next 3 weeks so the adoption can be completed. If not we must be prepared for the possibility of leaving them remembering that God is in control of their movement, not man. The most challenging of these steps above is the birth mother interview. For this we are dependent on the agency and orphanage. Our goal is to help facilitate this even if that involves being a little "squeaky". I write this remembering the above statement, God is in control of their movement, not man. Even the timing of this trip is a challenge. I, Matt, will be coming back to the US with my mother and mother-in-law in 10 days. Chandra and her father our staying for 3 1/2 weeks as there was no way to get out of the country with 6 people until that time. But knowing this was the right time, she was prepared to stay to facilitate the kids coming home. In our eyes they have been in an orphanage long enough. Up to this point our focus has been so intense on the steps to bring them home. Today our focus changes as we are going to meet the children. We need to focus on that relationship and nothing else, them meeting us as strangers and excepting us as parents. So as God brings us to your mind please pray for the above. The birth mother interview, Chandra being in the country for 3 1/2 week, but most of all the relationship with the kids.