Something beautiful

It is always fun calling Ethiopia.  After four tries, I finally got through to my husband this morning.  He said the flight over was great - the best one of the 7 he has taken to and from Ethiopia in the past year and a half - and he had a whole row to himself.  He said it is raining there today - very different from the weather we have experienced on our other trips.  He has a long list of things to do in the next few days, but the most important one will take place tomorrow morning.  While we are sleeping tonight, he will be heading to the transition home to be reunited with our sweet little lady.  I can't even believe that in a matter of hours, they will be together.  It feels so surreal.  She is really coming HOME!!  We have a confirmed embassy appointment and everything. 

The adoption process this time around has been the exact opposite of our process with Sena.  We faced obstacles at every turn and it took 18 months to get her home- a long and painful 18 months that I didn't think would ever end.  This time, with the exception of waiting for a court date and waiting to hear from the embassy, the process was pretty painless.  The court to embassy wait, though, is every bit as brutal as it was with Sena.  It just stinks to be away from your child.  Period.  There is really no way to prepare for that, either.  Going through it once does not make the second time around any easier.  I am so incredibly thankful that the end is in sight and that we are about to embark on a whole new journey as a family of 7.  We don't know what that entails just yet, but we do know we have some challenges ahead of us that we didn't experience with Sena.  I trust that the One who set our feet on this path in the first place will give us exactly what we need to navigate this new phase of our journey.  A bunch of emotions are swirling around right now, but mostly I am just grateful that Addie is an orphan no longer.  She is dearly loved by her Creator and by our family and by a bunch of our friends who haven't even met her yet!  We serve an amazing God who is able to take the broken pieces of our lives and create something beautiful.