We had the weekend to go visit his very first orphanage and spend time with a family member. Jeremy and I got to enjoy a beautiful drive about six hours south of the capital to an area that was closer to where Judah was originally from. We stopped one time to eat lunch and I just couldn't. Not because I was afraid of the food, but because my stomach was in knots over what to ask his family member. We arrived at the orphanage and I was in tears the moment the door opened. We were introduced to the family member and were then taken into a small, dark room where we sat down to talk. We recorded our conversation. I cried asking the family member some very hard questions. I wanted Judah to have as much information as he could for later in life. At the end of our conversation the family member told us that they had prayed to God and we were the answer to their prayer. We didn't have much time together, but the time we did have was priceless.
We left there and went to our "hotel" to get ready for supper. We ate at another restaurant where we sat outside. It was a beautiful night, but I still had a hard time eating. I ordered french fries. Our social worker was afraid I was not eating enough. I assured her I was okay. We left there and went back to the hotel to try and sleep. Anyone who has traveled there will tell you that you don't get much sleep. The beds are hard, there are roosters crowing, and there are many people praying outside at dawn. After maybe 2 hours of sleep we got up and headed out to go back to the city. We stopped and ate breakfast. Again, I didn't eat. I did drink some tea. It was good. Later when we got back to the city and had lunch I was finally able to order something. Our guide told us later that our social worker had told him she was so worried about me not eating. I guess that is how she will remember me.
The following day was Monday, October 10. We arrived at the orphanage and headed downstairs to attend Judah's going away ceremony. It was beautiful. The children sang songs together and then we ate cookies and drank pop to celebrate. Judah was dressed in traditional clothing. He seemed so shy at first. He wanted to sit on Jeremy's lap while we ate our cookies and drank pop. This was followed by many hugs to say goodbye. It was such a hard moment. Judah had spent months with some of these kids and nannies.
We soon headed out the door for the last time. Judah climbed up in the van and off we went. His eyes were so big as he peered out the window. It's still so fresh in my mind. I wondered what he was thinking the whole time. I was so worried how our first night would go. I'd heard of tantrums for hours. I'd heard of hitting and biting. But, Judah just went with the flow. When we tucked him in that first night he had us laughing. We had heard the orphanage left lights on, so we started with that. Jeremy and I were laying in bed and Judah would just peak over at us and laugh. So, we decided lights out might be better.
We had a great week in Ethiopia with him. He instantly fell in love with Jeremy's ipod (something we now wish we would've waited to introduce). By the end of our time in Ethiopia he was understanding a lot of what we said to him, but we also took notes from the owner of the guest house we stayed at on certain words we knew we might need. We ended up recording our sweet friend telling Judah how he was going to get on a plane, land, get on another plane, land, and get on one more plane before he would finally meet his brother and sisters. It is a video I treasure to this day.
Before we headed to the airport on our last night we stood together with the other family that stayed with us and prayed with the owner of the guest house. She prayed in their native language and even though I couldn't understand what she was saying, it moved me to tears.
When we embarked on the plane I didn't know what the future would look like. I was just happy to be beginning our new journey together as a family of 6.
And, two years later I am in awe of how far we've come. Judah has been a blessing to our family, even on the hard days (and there have been hard days). Those first few weeks home I felt like I had a newborn. I wasn't sleeping well (jet lag hit me hard that trip), Judah was into exploring everything, and I was just exhausted. But, we found our groove. And, it's been good. Two years later I can see beauty that has come from some hard stuff. I think of the song Beautiful Things by Gungor when I think of our adoption of Judah.
I just want to say thank you to everyone for loving us through our adoption of Judah. We are forever grateful for the support!
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