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.