Skip to main content

Leaving on a Jet Plane . . .


"Promise me you'll always remember--You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." Christopher Robin to Pooh
I have lived in a perpetual state of nausea with the uncomfortable feeling of an impending panic attack very since Thursday. That is the day we decided that I was leaving for Rwanda, by myself, in 2 days. No big deal, right? I've left the country before--all the way to the Bahamas! So, I cried the better part of the way from Houston to Charlotte and I don't think the tears are depleted yet, but as I told Brooks, sometimes we do things we don't want to do because in the bigger picture, they're the right things to do.
So, here I sit on leg one of the journey in the Charlotte airport. I head to Dulles soon and from there will head to Addis Ababa and onto Kigali, Rwanda. Unfortunately, my touch down in Rome on the way won't allow for sightseeing!
No, we didn't actually get the referral, but we did get enough encouraging news for us to pray that it will be ready soon. Whoever our son is, he has waited so long for his very own family. We decided that if I can make the moment he knows that he has a family come any sooner then we should do that.
So, I will be hanging out in Rwanda. On Monday I hope to meet all the people at the Ministry who work so hard on all these adoptions.
I do not know the length of this trip, nor do I know what exactly I will be doing there. This is a leap of faith, something that we feel we need to do for our son. Of course, even after we find out who he is, there will be court dates and other official steps to complete, but this way they will be done while I am near him.
Please pray for us:
* That Brooks and Chris and I can bear the separation. Chris and I haven't been apart for more than a week since we started dating over 17 years ago, and until last week I had never spent even a single night away from Brooks. There was sobbing all around at the airport.
* For safe travels and good decisions. Please pray that helpful, compaasionate people are placed in my path at the monents I need them.
* That the referral is ready quickly so that I can stay in Rwanda through the entire duration of the adoption proceedings. That my presence is received well by the Ministry. That they understand my motivation to be near our son.
* For health and well-being--physically, emotionally, and mentally.
By the way, if you were planning on coming to Brooks's b-day party Saturday, it's postponed.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Will you do this for me?

Image
It has been 9 months since we decided to adopt a little girl. It has been 3 months since we were matched with our daughter. I have no idea when she will be home.  It's a long process, but we are moving steadily forward.  Many of you have asked about the process, and I know that some of you regularly pray for our daughter as she waits for us in China. Many of you know me, and any process that takes the control out of my hands makes me very anxious. I like to fix and control my world, so this is tough for me. I decided to write this post to specifically ask for your help.  I would like to ask you to pray for our adoption in some specific ways.  Would you pick an item on the list below and let me know in the comments that you will pray for that item regularly. Several people can pray for the same thing! 1) That our LOA/LSC (the next step in our approval process) will come quickly. Specifically, I would like to have it by 6/15 so that I have a chance of getting a care ...
Read more

"Look kids, Big Ben!"

Do you remember the part of the movie European Vacation where Chevy Chase and his family are in the car stuck on a round-about in London. He keeps saying, "Look, kids, Big Ben!" That is how the emotional cycle of waiting for this referral has been--a seemingly endless round-about, where I experience the same emotions over an over with no end in sight. Eventually, we, like the Griswold's will move out of the round-about, but I don't know when. Here is the cycle:
Read more

Cyprien Mugisha

I met our son. He is beautiful, scared, shy, affecionate, perfect. His official name is Cyprien Mugisha. I have been calling him Spree. We have not decided what his final name will be. Peter picked me up Tuesday morning and we headed out to the Minstry where he was to drop me off so I could wait and see if the letter would be ready. Before we arrived we found out that the letter was signed and ready! I had been praying all morning that this would happen and it did! So, we went directly to the orphanage where they brought him out to me. He was very shy, but he didn't cry. He came to me while looking around at everyone--he seemed to be wondering why he was the center of everyone's attention. He made eye contact with me a lot and sat and looked at me. I told him about Daddy and brother and showed him pictures. Finally he cuddled into me and fell asleep. It was obviously one of the best days of my life. Just as with the birth of Brooks, I feel exhausted, excited, numb, ...
Read more