Welcome to the United States

Hello Family and Friends,

WE ARE HOME!!!

For those of you who have been anxiously awaiting my next post, I apologize from the bottom of my heart! It's been a good 2 weeks and MUCH has happened, so let me get right to it and catch ya'll up. . .

We went to Kampala, package was there, we waited, and waited, and I got to hand in everything. The consular told me to come back the next day for Visa pick up at 9am--I was thrilled--and even though my flight was leaving at 9:15am the following day, I told him I thought I could reschedule, for the 4th time. Hey, I wasn't going to push it, the guy was basically telling me that Adam's visa was going to be approved and I could go home!! What's another couple days?

Friday I picked up that Visa--woohoo!! and got to show it off to all the sweet mamas at the babies home. They get so very excited at our progress, every step of the way they are our cheerleaders and encouragers--these ladies are awesome.

Saturday, Adam and I said our goodbyes. Aaron and I had decided to buy the mamas a kilo of rice and sugar each before I left, so I was able to hand all those out which was a lot of fun. I took pictures of Adam with each of the mamas (unfortunately most of them are of Adam, tears running down his face, mouth wide open and arms reaching towards me) I think he must have thought that I was leaving him. Sad.
Mama Susan, the head daytime mama, gathered all the women together for a time of singing, prayer, and blessing to send me off. I held Adam as the women stood in a large circle and sang "Amazing Grace". After this, they prayed all at once, their own unique prayers in their own unique dialects with arms outstretched to us. I was completely in awe of God's goodness and faithfulness-- to stand there and hear these heartfelt prayers for Adam and the rest of our family, even though I couldn't understand a word, none of that mattered. God was being praised I knew that much.
Mama Susan went on to explain how it is with broken hearts they give Adam to us. They have loved and cared for him and now they give him to our family, entrusting us to take care of him and love him with impartiality. She spoke of how we are to bring him up to know the Lord and be a man of God. There was much more, but I just have to say that the floodgates finally opened. There had been emotion in their built up that I didn't even know I had. Most likely all the subconscious stress from the past month with a mixture of pure relief is what poured forth in those moments. I know these feelings well. It is a very real sense of being carried, as though on a cloud, but by God's complete grace. You are almost surprised when the tears come because you were not really even aware that they were in there. THAT, is how you know you are being carried. God carried me through Aaron's deployment for one year, and He absolutely carried me through my 6 weeks of not knowing whether I would be saying goodbye to this baby boy who had been growing in our hearts for over 2.5 years, because of circumstances outside my control.

God's plan was for me to come home with our son, Tuesday, September 23rd.

I honestly didn't know what to do with myself after immigration "okayed" Adam's Visa packet. I said, "where do I go now? upstairs?" They man laughed and said, "if you go upstairs you'll be in LAX forever. You leave, go out the door". So weird, I almost couldn't believe it.
We were picked up by the rest of my family outside--Shannon and Adam in new carseats side by side. The boys were in the back, and my hubby and I up front. =) So good to be home.