GOD...in IKEA

I am so thankful when the Lord speaks to us. No, I haven't ever heard his voice, and I don't know anyone that has, but I am confident he speaks to me. This can come in many different forms-sometimes the awe of his vast creation,  His powerful, loving words in Scripture, that worship song that says exactly how you feel, or through the mouth of innocent children. Throughout this journey, God has definitely used amazing friends and family to comfort, encourage, and speak his words of grace and love to me. These people have been a reflection of the face of God for our family-and I am forever grateful for them.

One day though, God actually used the fantastically priced, home super-store IKEA to reach out to me. Unfortunately, we do not have an IKEA in Nashville, but Jonathon has had to go to Atlanta a couple of times this summer. Emory and I tag along so we can enjoy time as a family and take advantage of a good hotel swimming pool! This last time we went, I was having a rough week. When we got the call about Baby G, they thought it would take 2-3 weeks for our paperwork to come in. We were on week 5 and still no word. I was growing more anxious by the day.

We had done the thorough tour of IKEA and all of its ginormous self in our last trip to Atl, but they had been out of the one item I was looking for. I had seen these spice racks they sell used as book shelves that I really wanted, but apparently they go like hotcakes! I checked online and they were in stock this time! Don't worry that's not the God-thing I am writing about!

When we got all of our pics of baby G a lot of them had a baby doll beside him. It was like they wanted to give us something to compare him to for size purposes. That only works if you are familiar with the item it's being compared to!

Emory and I ran to IKEA for the sole purpose of getting these spice racks. We weren't looking for anything else, and she definitely wasn't in the mood for me to be browsing. But if you have ever been in IKEA you know you can't just run in and out! After we got our spice racks (wohoo) we were following the maze to get to the checkout, and we had to go through the children's section to do that. Emory's eyes lit up as she was taking in all the cool kids stuff they have and I was trying to rush through, when I saw the doll...THE DOLL. They have 4 or 5 stuffed dolls, and one of them was the doll from all of the pics with baby g! I thought I was either going to burst into tears or run through the aisles telling everyone!

Now ikea is all over the world, but NOT in Africa, and definitely not in Ethiopia! The same doll from a little orphanage in a tiny village in Ethiopia, was now right in front of me. To many this may seem silly, but I know the Lord was using this doll to reach out and comfort me that day. When you are in the position we are, you want so desperately to be connected to your child on the other side of the world in any way possible!

Of course we bought the doll! The African-American guy that checked us out, definitely gave me a funny look like-"you do know this is a black doll right?" But I didn't care, I was on cloud nine, amazed by our new discovery! When we bring the baby home, he'll have at least one familiar thing in his room!

We Got the Call!

We got the call!!! The one we had been waiting 18 long, hard months for!

It was Wednesday, June 27th, and I had just picked Emory up from her Mother's Day Out program. On the way home, I got a call from a number I didn't recognize. Usually I just let those go to vm, but for some reason, I answered it-and I am so glad I did! The voice on the other end was our agency director, and she said those precious words we have been longing to hear..."we have a baby for your family."

I was so shocked that a lot of what she said after that was kind of a blur. At this point I had pulled over on the side of road. I do remember her saying that she would be emailing us pictures in the next few minutes. When I got done with her, I immediately called Jonathon. I held it together on the phone with the agency, but I totally lost it when I heard Jonathon's voice. I am sure it completely freaked him out when he answered the phone and heard these loud sobs! By this time, Emory was crying because I was crying! I quickly told him everything was okay and explained the thrilling news we had just received.

He left work to meet us at home. Believe it or not, I actually had the restraint to wait for him to see the pictures of this sweet baby for the first time together! It was a moment we will always cherish.

Unfortunately we can't share a name or pictures online because it could interfere with the adoption. For now, we will call him "Baby G." Yes, that's right, it's a BOY!!! And another surprise for us was how young he is. When we got the call, he was only a month old! We were thinking we would get a child 1 1/2 to 2 yrs old, we couldn't believe how little he was. In fact, we actually have pictures of him before his cord stump had fallen off! If you know much about adoption, especially international, this is very rare.  An unexpected blessing.

Why we waited so long to tell you? When we got this call, we wanted to shout it from the rooftops! But, there is a reason we haven't said anything. Baby G's paperwork isn't ready. When the agency called, they expected it to be ready in 2-3 weeks. It has now been 7 weeks. And it still isn't ready. Lately, if you have asked us how it has been going with the adoption, we probably answered that we are still waiting. That has never been more true. The waiting has been more difficult than we imagined. Now we have a name and face, but still an uncertain future.

We wanted to share this with you now, in hopes that you will join us in praying for this precious little boy. Our heart yearns to be with him, show him love, hold him, and take care of his needs. Right now, all we can do is pray and trust-leaving him and our family in the Lord's hands.