HE'S FINALLY HOME WITH HIS FAMILY!!

Finally - they are home under one roof, and their entire family is together! 

This story started a little over one year ago, when Robyn Davidson emailed me with some incredible news!!!  (Robyn and I went to high school together and she was good friends with my little sister.)  It was nearly 8 months later, on July 1, when she posted this blogpost and I got goosebumps when I found out how she had awakened one day, with everything feeling normal and content with their family of four, and a few hours later, in tears, she knew that their family would be welcoming home a child from Ethiopia - and they would become a family of 5!  (I get goosebumps even typing that!!)

Here is Robyn's post from July 1, 2010 when they were 8 months into the paperwork phase of their adoption and announcing their plans to family and friends ... "We were very content with our family of four – one girl, one boy. Samantha, our oldest, is 11 years old now. She will be going to middle school this fall. Toby, age 8, will be in 3rd grade. I felt so smart and in control with my 1:1 parent to child ratio. Throw in a family dog. We were complete.

Then…while catching up on Facebook one day last fall (yes, I do feel like a teenage girl saying this), I came across a link to a friend’s blog titled “Family from Afar”. Without much thought, I clicked on the link and was surprised to learn that friends from our hometown of Clear Lake, Iowa had adopted two little boys from Ethiopia. After reading a few entries, I was so intrigued with their story, I had to start at the beginning. I sat still and read their entire blog. This was more than a little bizarre for me, since I rarely sit still for that long and I had never read a personal blog in my life.

By the time I had read half way through – maybe less than that – I knew that one day we would be traveling across the ocean to bring home a little brother. It was suddenly and completely obvious to me. I was overwhelmed to realize that there was a little boy in another part of the world that would one day be a part of our family – a son, a brother. I had woken up that day entirely satisfied with our family of four and was now unexpectedly aware that we would someday soon be a “party of five”."

Adoption can be a tumultous journey that is filled with heart-wrenching waiting (it tests your patience in unbelievable ways - but it incredibly expands your heart too!) and unknown delays and it only gets more challenging when you finally see your child's face for the first time.  At that point, your motherly protective instincts kick in and you just want your child home! 

After living though this experience ourselves, the most comforting advice I can give to friends in the process is this ... "Once your child is home, safe and sound in your family, the waiting and the delays and the worries will all instantly fade away and every heart-breaking moment will be completely and totally worthwhile.  God already knows the exact day your child will be home with you, and He's known it since the beginning of time." 

It's tough to find comfort and peace in those words during your adoption, but it all makes sense in the end.  (If only we knew the exact day everything would have come together, it would have made the waiting so much easier! :)

Robyn and Dave, and their kids, Samantha and Toby, first travelled to Ethiopia last November for their court date.  During that visit, they got to spend a few days with their son (and brother), and it was a difficult time.  Trey was afraid and tearful during much of their visit.  And as normal as this reaction is ... it is still heart-breaking.  (I got to meet Trey in Ethiopia the week after his family first met him, and he was wary and distant and I could not get him to smile.  It's hard to imagine what he had been through up until that point.)

Trey arrived home with his daddy, Dave, last week - and was met at the airport by his very anxious mommy, brother and sister.  Robyn just updated her blog with photos and an update - and Trey is a happy, affectionate little boy who is adjusting well to life within his family. 

An orphan child in Ethiopia last week - and home in America this week with his mom, dad, brother and sister - THAT is the miracle of adoption!!!  For a heart-warming update - please click over to Robyn's blog at http://davidsonpartyoffive.blogspot.com/ and read her update from May 3!!

Trey, home with his big sister, Samantha. 
Samantha is the inspired blogger behind the blog
Little Goody 2 Shoes  (http://littlegoody2-shoes.blogspot.com/)
who has been making bottle-cap necklaces to provide shoes
for HUNDREDS of children at our care-points in Ethiopia!