The first time I met you, you were asleep. It was naptime and all the infants at Hannah’s Hope Ethiopia were swaddled all cozy in their Moses baskets in the common area. Except you. You were too big. So there you were in that miniature crib on the end, sleeping all soundly. I knelt down next to you and touched your face. And I marvelled at those impossibly long eyelashes.

Should I wake you up? I longed to hold you. But I do not believe in waking sleeping babies unless you are saving them from an emergency like a fire or tornado.

So I waited, trying to soak in the moment. (Which was smart because it was the last time you would sleep that soundly for about two years. *wink*) Then I heard it. Here in this place where I was so far from my world… where everything felt so unfamiliar… I heard these familiar words playing softly on a nearby radio.

Every blessing you pour out, I’ll turn back to praise
And when the darkness closes in, Lord, still I’m gonna say
‘Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your name.
Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your glorious name.’
You give and take away… You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say… ‘Lord, blessed be your name.’

This song, of all songs! This, I knew, was His gift to me. This very song… that was on our lips and in our hearts through every step of your adoption process. When we wanted to worry but sang instead. When we wanted to fear the unknown but worshipped instead. When things we held so dear seemed surely to be lost… and by His grace alone, we learned how to praise His name in the storm.

It was one of two moments that week that I felt God’s presence in a way that I simply cannot explain in words.

Then because Daddy and I could wait no longer, I picked you up and held you close. Slowly, those big brown eyes opened… wider… and wider… and wider. And for about six months or so, that was your signature ‘look’. Eyes, wide as saucers, taking in the world around you, all the while clinging tightly to Daddy and me. And, us clinging, too… clinging so tightly to Abba Father. (Eyes mostly drooping from lack of sleep and delirium.)

As I sit here today in this quiet place and remember these things I have ‘treasured in my heart’, truly all I can think to say is this… Blessed be your name, Jesus.

________________________________________

I am a recipient of amazing grace. I’ve been married 11 years to my husband, Scott. We had 2 children, Isaac and Zoe. Then one day God met us both in the same moment and broke our hearts and filled them with love for orphan children. In 2008, we brought our son Beniam, now 3, home from Ethiopia. We are currently in the process to adopt a little girl named Mei from China. I am a Florida girl who loves sunshine, water, and sand. I enjoy almost anything you can do outdoors, especially in the mountains. When forced to stay inside, I love to read and write.

Three years ago, Kevin and I began pouring every last second into thinking, researching, and praying about adoption. We became more and more certain that God was calling us to adopt a child from Ethiopia. As the journey progressed, we found out He intended not one but two sweet boys to be our sons and a certain verse became my theme:

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by faith.

2 Thessalonians 1:11

As our adoption journey drug on, I became more and more aware of how necessary God’s power would be to bring our boys home. We knew He had prompted us by faith to adopt these children and so, in faith, we continued to trust that His power would prevail and the boys would one day be our children. On July 21, 2011, we stood in a family court here in Louisville, Kentucky to finalize our adoptions, and we saw God’s good work fulfilled. The proceeding was more of a formality than anything else, but for me, it was a moment to worship. My amazing God, the God of the universe, called little ole me to travel across an ocean and make two boys who were not my own my beloved sons. He purposed, He called, and He fulfilled. Oh, how I love Him and how I praise Him for His power and His beautiful ways.

________________________________________

Most importantly, I am a Christian, saved by God’s grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. I am also happily married to a truly great guy, Kevin, and we have four adorable kiddos, Mikias (7 years), Molly Kate (4 years), Miles (3 years), and Madden (15 months). I”m a home school mom but in my spare time, I love reading, running, cooking, and interior design. In the year 2010, we went from one to four children in a matter of four months. While we would have never planned it that way, I am so thankful that God”s ways are higher and better than mine. Everyday, I can see how God designed each one of us (biological and adopted) to fit together in the most wonderful way. My prayer is that our family will always be a sweet aroma of the love of Jesus to those around us. Come on by and visit us here.