A Thankful Heart

Mihretu and I just got back from 6 days in Maine visiting the family that adopted Sitota - his best little friend from Ethiopia. Sitota and Mihretu grew up at the same orphanage - they were together for several years in a room with many other kids. They were buddies. They still are.

Top photo - Oct 2012, Bottom - Aug 2013

I think it's totally awesome that in this great big world - Mihretu's mommy and Sitota's mommy both met these kiddos on a mission trip to Ethiopia and both ended up using the same adoption agency to adopt these two friends. That same agency connected us last year - two families from two different states - with two precious kiddos who were buddies. I'm so glad they did. Seriously, I can't even describe how glad I am. How thankful. And then the God timing of us having court the SAME week and getting to meet in person in Ethiopia this time last year. And then again - more God timing - we got Embassy clearance the SAME DAY. All the other families that were with us in Ethiopia for court all got theirs spread out on different days and some were weeks and months apart from ours. And we got ours on the same day. I mean - seriously - this cannot be a coincidence. It's truly a God thing. We got to go get our kids the same week and stay at the same guesthouse so that our kiddos could transition into their forever families with some familiarity - each other. What a blessing. And then when we came home - to be able to skype regularly with them, watch each others videos on facebook and then to be blessed to spend 6 days in their home with their family and watching our kiddos play together. I feel like my heart literally grew 3 sizes!! It was such an amazing trip.

I'm thankful that they invited us. Thankful that they welcomed us into their home. So very thankful to have gotten a glimpse into the beauty of their family. I learned so much about parenting from Megin and Rob. I seriously am so thankful for observing how they interact with their kids and praise them over and over again and getting to see how that lights a kid up. I wasn't doing that nearly enough. I was feeling lost and frustrated and so insecure in my parenting because many of the things I was trying were not working and I just felt so inadequate. I don't think any advice anyone could give me could ever be as great or as meaningful as watching it in action within a beautiful family. I'm so thankful to have seen it, to have gotten ideas and inspiration and to have had another mom to sit and share our stories and our struggles with. There's so much healing in that. I'm sitting here with tears streaming down my face as I write this. I just feel like this trip was such a gift. Yes, to Mihretu and Sitota but also to me. To encourage my weary mommy heart. And to help me find joy and peace and so much more love than I even knew I had.

It wasn't just a vacation - it was a God ordained trip. I don't know if they will every truly know how much it meant to me. Seeing our kids together brought so much overflowing joy. And it reminded me of all those months of waiting and how far we've come - all of us. Megin and I talked about doing this yearly and I really truly hope we do. I'm so thankful for that time we had together for 6 precious days in Maine in August of 2013!