It's not that it was overwhelming...although there were overwhelming moments.
It's not that it was uneventful.
It wasn't horribly emotional....
Neither was it dispassionate.
It's just the cycle of life, I suppose.
When I started this blog, an adoption was barely on my radar. Oh sure, it was fodder for sweet conversation of the future, but it was certainly nothing close to a reality.
But lately, my desire to write has be dwindling...Making it hard to put into words the precious trip we made to meet our sweet Marvel. I'm not certain yet if this is simply a "writing lull" or if this season of my life is finished....
But nevertheless, I have decided to press through today.
Lucky you.
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Traveling to Ethiopia was a difficult trip. Or at least it was for us. We left Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. at 11:15am...which means we flew all day long (trying desperately to sleep). But due to the time-change we arrived in Ethiopia at about 8:00am.
Morning.
Again.
Leading to overwhelming exhaustion.
But arriving in Ethiopia, there was only one thing on my mind.
I needed to see him.
I wanted to get the
I wanted that part behind me so I could thoroughly enjoy meeting and getting to know my son.
So we did.
And it was.
Completely uncomfortable, that is.
Thank the Lord in Heaven that we had no visions of meadows and rainbows and love at first sight.
Because I was nervous. And exhausted.
And he was wary. And being pushed towards us against his better judgment.
The poor kid just wanted to play with his friends. I certainly couldn't fault him for that.
And really, we wanted him to have the chance to slowly warm up to us anyways....Watching him play with the other children was exactly what we were hoping for!
So us and the kid? We were totally on the same page.
The caretakers, on the other hand? Made him come sit with us on a couch....and longingly watch all his friends play. and play. and play.
His first impression of Mommy and Daddy? Those boring people who made him miss outside playtime.
Fantastic.
Definitely don't want to set his sights too high, afterall!
But in spite of all of that....His eyes shined. His smile stole my heart. His cute little laugh took my breath away.
The exhaustion?
Those awkward moments?
They were totally worth it.
Stay tuned. Part II is coming out sometime this century.
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| Our first few moments together....still not sure about us |
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| Warming up a little thanks to my handy-dandy photo album! |
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| And finally, on the couch where playtime went to die. Which also became a couch of cuddling and tickling before the week was over =) |
3 comments:
"the couch where playtime went to die." LOL!!! We sat on that same couch while our guy looked wistfully at his playing friends too. It's not like they just handed us an infant to hold. "Don't talk to strangers, but go ahead and sit on this nice lady's lap while the strange man takes pictures." Awkward! It won't be so weird on the second trip, I promise.
Thank you for sharing your story with us. It's precious to get to see God weave your lives together.
I sense everything u are saying from those photos. a little sad, but also a glimmer of hope :) I'm sure it is a bit hard for him, something we don't always think of first when we think of a child being adopted. We just think of the roses and butterflies and forget this is a huge change in their lives with virtual strangers(currently). I hope the awkward moments lessen and the joyous ones increase :)
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