Dedication

On Sunday, we had Sena's baby dedication at church.  It was an opportunity for us to express our commitment to raising Sena in the ways of the Lord.  John and I went back and forth on whether to mention something about her birth family at the dedication and we ended up deciding that we should.  I am going to share just a little piece of it here.  When we accepted Sena's referral, we knew that her birth mother had passed away shortly after Sena's birth and that her birth father was alive.  Due to circumstances beyond his control, he was unable to parent her and made the courageous decision to place her for adoption.  She was brought to a missionary in her village and she lived with her until the new orphanage was up and running a couple of months later.  It just so happened that a lady from Ohio was visiting her soon to be adopted children in August 2009 and she was there with the missionary when Sena arrived.  Fast forward to June of 2010 and I received an email from another adoptive mama that put me in touch with Jennifer from Ohio.  We talked for a long time and she told me all about her time with Sena.  What a gift that was!  On the day that I spoke with her, we had been in a holding pattern with our referral and to learn more about Sena's story and to receive a picture of her as a newborn was just the boost we needed at that point.  Jennifer and I have stayed in touch and though we have not yet met face to face, I consider her a friend.  And we will meet soon!!  She was such an encouragement to me in the final months of our adoption journey and I am so thankful that our paths crossed.  She told me that I was going to love Sena's birth father if we were able to meet him.  When we travelled for court in October, we were hopeful that we could meet him since he would appear at court the same day as us.  We were told our court hearing would be in the afternoon, so we headed to the transition home to spend time with Sena that morning.  After only a few minutes there, a driver arrived and told us we needed to be at court right then.  We got in the car and were on our way.  We walked into the waiting room where we met our attorney and he directed us toward some chairs along the wall.  That is when I saw him.  I knew when I looked into his eyes that he was Sena's father.  They were so expressive and full of light - just like Sena's.  He stood up and hugged us both tightly- four times.  Our attorney told us that meant it was extra special.  We sat with him and smiled back and forth.  We didn't have a translator, so we couldn't really communicate with him at that point, but a meeting at the transition home was planned for later.  We decided it would be a good time to give him the photo book we had made for him.  Another family with our agency sat across from us and told us later that his face just lit up when we gave that to him.  He kept looking at the pictures and then smiling back at us.  Before long, we were called in to see the judge.  Sena's birth father had already given his consent and then we gave ours, but did not pass that day because of a paperwork issue.  We drove back to the transition home where we were taken to an office for our meeting and this time we had a translator.  We told him about our family and he told us about his.  He told us that his desire was for Sena to be raised in a Christian home and he was so happy when we told him that was our desire, too.  He told us about his heart for sharing the gospel.  There was much more that we learned that day and I came away from that meeting with a very full heart.  Jennifer was right - we did love him.  There was something so special about him and I am grateful that when Sena is old enough to understand, we can freely share with her the details of our time with him.  He gave us two incredible gifts that day - his precious daughter and his blessing in raising her.  His exact words to us were, "I give this child to you and to the Lord."  At church on Sunday, John prayed a special blessing on her birth father and he was very close to our hearts as we dedicated Sena to the Lord.  I think of him and pray for him often and hope that one day we will be able to see him again.

So sweet in her dress!