How can I ever thank you all enough for the advice you shared about bringing home Hailee and Harper? Thank you to every single one of you who took time to share your thoughts and experiences with me. I still have so many emails to get through. I am so glad that I posted about my little dilemma–you guys have shared things that I never even thought of. You have given me so much to consider. Thank you for all the wisdom you so openly shared. I appreciate it more than you can know.
A few of you asked whether Anthony could do the latter part of the trip so that he could come home with me and the girls. The answer is no. There is no way that can work. Unfortunately he has to be there for the first two and a half weeks so that he can go through the court process with me. Once that is done, he is free to leave. He absolutely has to get home so that he can go back to work.
I will have to stay for about a month. Heavens, I have no idea how I am going to manage being away from my family for that long. I have never been away from them for a long time. Ever. It definitely is one of the negatives about adopting from this country. The travel is l-o-n-g. I know the Lord will take care of all of our hearts. When He says GO, He takes care of all the little details and the things near and dear to our hearts, doesn’t He?
An entire month in country will give me lots of time to bond with Hailee and Harper. Though I cannot take them out of the orphanage, I can visit them in the orphanage. I’m sure the three of us will have lots of time to get to know each other before we journey home. My prayer is that by the time we get on the first train to head home, that they know I’m their mommy!
Some mentioned the possibility of taking our oldest son with us. Connor is only ten years old. Yes, it would be possible to take him. But, his Grandpa (my Dad) is coming from South Africa to take care of him, and the rest of his siblings while we are away. I think that would be way more appealing to him than spending a month overseas. It is so hard on all of us not having close family around–so when they do come and visit, it is a big deal for my children. They make the most of every minute they have with extended family. I am thrilled to leave him here just because I know he will have the best time with his grandpa (whom he misses something awful). My heart smiles at the thought of my son spending quality time with someone he loves and rarely gets to see. I just couldn’t take him away.
I am so deeply touched by how many of you said that you would gladly meet me there to fly home with me and the girls. Oh how I appreciate that you care. You guys are so sweet. Really. Though you cannot go with me, it is so comforting to know that many will be praying us all the way home. That’s good enough for me.
I really am okay with flying home alone with Hailee and Harper. There are far more difficult things in this life that God could call me to do. I honestly do consider it a privilege to be able to go and rescue these two girls from certain death. If it means doing the trip home alone–then so be it.
I did get some emails where some expressed concern about me traveling alone with my girls. I do appreciate your concern. But, the way I see it is that if all I ever did was look for the easy road in this life (the uncomplicated, smooth sailing path), I would rob God of opportunities to show Himself faithful in my life. This is one of those times. I don’t have a choice, friends. It’s do it this way–or not adopt Hailee and Harper at all. Those are my choices. Well, the latter is just not even an option.
If it means that I have to sacrifice, be a little uncomfortable, dig a little deeper in my faith, lean on my Savior a little more, go for an extended time without sleep…so be it! Every sacrifice will be so worth it. I know that the Father will enable me and equip me to accomplish the task He has laid out before me. And do it well. As far as I know, nobody ever died of sleep deprivation, or traveling alone with two children with Down syndrome. I think I’m gonna live to tell the story right here on my blog {grin}.
This is one of those times in my life where I know that, “I CAN do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Oh, before I forget, someone asked me about Hailee and Harper’s hearts. Both girls have heart conditions. From what we know, Hailee’s is worse than Harper’s. But we’re not positive. We just know that they both have heart conditions. We’ll only know the severity of it once we’re home.
Soon they’ll have sweet little bodies in them. And I can hardly wait.
