Love

Love really does transcend all else--at least when it's God's love that he puts inside of us.

I just got done with a spontaneous Skype call with my children, their social worker, and my mom. They got to meet their abuela today, and she can't stop gushing. It's precious to see this pure love she already has for them. Ruth and Emmanuel were all smiles. When Ruth told my mom "I am happy" in perfect English--with a huge grin--I'm not sure if the first happy tear came from my mom or from me. We're learning every day that some things will always be priceless.

Texting with Ruth this past hour is another gift beyond price. Whether she's asking about Papi, telling me she loves me, calling me Mami and Mama, asking how soon we're coming, or helping me figure out how to use the emoticons, it's all the perfect conversation. They make me laugh. Smile. Feel protective. Want to burst out of happiness. Want to never forget how incredibly good and faithful God is. THIS is love. This transcends an emotion.

We are so impressed with our kids' social worker and all of the staff at Casa Viva (whom I got to meet via Skype today). They obviously really care about the kids and only want the best for them. THAT is love.

I'm understanding more every day the sacrifice God made in letting go of his son. That is the ultimate love.

I'm in WA with my parents because I'm seeing a doctor here for my foot. Despite the physical trials hitting every day, I am confident that I have experienced and now can give this real love--his real love.

Moving Forward

At the bank signing our acceptance letter

We are about to mail the immigration papers. It is hard to describe how it feels to complete a visa application for your own children...knowing that God has given them a new home--forever. Since Costa Rica requires families to begin the judicial process prior to travel, we might still be here another few months. There is one other family adopting from Costa Rica ahead of us in the process, and they waited about four months from the time they mailed their immigration papers.

But in the meantime we get to email our kids every day, and we'll get to see and hear them again tomorrow on Skype. This is an amazing journey, and God continues to show us the verse that says he does so much more than we could ever think or imagine.

The Gibsons (minus 2)

Our friend Paige just posted some pics she took of me and Barak a few weeks ago, and she told me she can't wait until the next Gibson photo shoot--that it might be a lifetime favorite. The Gibsons: family of four. :)

Life

Yesterday marked two days in a row of Skyping with our children...life is so full. There are moments when I feel like my heart might explode, but it's a happy explosion--like there's too much love to contain. We learned yesterday that Ruth's favorite color is blue, just like her mom. We also learned that her favorite thing is...being with us. That was a moment that will last a lifetime.

We also got to meet the foster dad and talk with both him and his wife for a few minutes. They and their 20-year-old daughter are super special and all obviously love the kids so much. That means the world to us. They are surrounded by really good people--God's people.

On Friday when Barak got to share a few minutes of the Skype call with the leaders and youth on the trip in New York, we received an email shortly after from our good friend Gwen. She wrote, "I have been crying since I saw you two talking to each other and then to see the kids just touched me so deeply.  The verse from proverbs (13) came on my heart... 'Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.'  That's what I feel...a tree of life worth of love and blessing from how God is writing this story."

Gwen, you said it perfectly. We are experiencing a tree of life. God continues to write this story, his story.

Time

Ninety minutes.

That’s a short amount of time to change your life forever.  It’s also how long we got to Skype with Ruth and Emmanuel for the first time. And most definitely, our lives will never be the same. There truly aren't words to describe how we feel... It was perfect. God's plan is perfect. As a friend wrote us, this is the tree of life he is giving all of us--a miracle, a testimony to who he is.



B Sykping with our kids for the first time
Check out his big smile!

They are all smiles and full of love. They asked lots of questions and shared some of their fears too. We laughed, cried, and even prayed together. We met their foster mom and social worker, such special people who truly love them and want the very best for them. The social worker told me later that they have all been praying for us, and they know we've been part of God's plan all along. B got to show them some of the youth from Selma that we work with. (He’s on a trip with them in New York.)  And when he got teary-eyed at one point, it really touched Ruth to see how much we love them. They asked several times how quickly we'd get to see them, and Ruth asked if we could come in the morning. :)

 At the very end B and I had to hang up separately  due to the technology, but I believe Ruth's words--said with a big smile--say it all: Adios, Mama.

 They asked us to call them again in the morning, so we have 11 more minutes until seeing their hopeful, joyful faces once again. Nobody wanted to say goodbye yesterday, and what is so beautiful is that we never will. This is forever. As our kids say, una familia para siempre.  A forever family.

Unexplainable

Our social worker recently received Ruth and Emmanuel’s birth certificates, so hopefully we’ll be able to file the I-800 soon. We were told to prepare to have to wait another six months before travel…which feels crazy but is yet another opportunity to remember that God’s timing is always best.

His judgment is always best, too. I’m learning in a very personal way that people’s judgment is not.  Let me give you an example. A couple of weeks ago I was speaking with a coworker I know well. Her excitement for our kids is really special, so I wasn’t surprised when she told me we should have lots of kids because I’m so good with them. It made me chuckle for a moment because she’s only seen me with college students. But I appreciated her comment and told her that Barak and I couldn’t be happier about the kids we have—our kids. Then she said that she hoped I would get pregnant. Ok, I’ve heard that comment a lot the last two and a half years, but this was the first time since “meeting” our children. I could feel it hit something in my heart…something that reminded me that people might make similar comments to our children, making them feel like they are second best. I again assured her that we couldn’t be happier with the family God has chosen for us, and that this is our FIRST choice. That didn’t stop her, however. She added that she was going to pray that I would get pregnant. I couldn’t believe it. So I decided to let her know why that was impossible, figuring that would end the conversation. Nope. That is when she added that she believed in a God who can do miracles. I politely told her that I do, too, and that our family is one of the happiest miracles I know—and promptly left the room.

Ruth and Emmanuel met with their new social worker two days ago, and Ruth, who had commented a few weeks ago about how much we love them, asked why we love them so much. It’s hard to write that statement without feeling the tears creeping up. The best part is that last night our social worker told us we could write them an email. So we made a letter/card complete with pictures and bright colors. We also answered Ruth’s question: It’s simple. God put an indescribable love in our hearts for them, and we knew instantly that they are our kids. Para siempre. Forever.

Life’s most precious gifts are simply unexplainable.

Familia

God promises to complete every work he starts--and our family is living proof.

Let me take you back a few weeks to January 27, 2012--the day we "met" Ruth and Emmanuel. That is the day we began a new normal, the day we received a phone call that there were two beautiful children on the Waiting International Children list that matched our description. I raced home, and my husband and I quietly and breathlessly read through every page of their referral. It wasn't until the very end that we finally spoke. And we knew...simply knew that God was giving us these children.

Since then we have moved forward by faith. That Sunday we had a huge celebration at church, complete with a beautiful video a friend made for us to help introduce our church family to our children. Everyone exploded in applause, and we shared many tears and hugs.

The next day we found out that there were actually multiple families interested in adopting Ruth and Emmanuel. Yet we believed by faith that God had spoken to our hearts about bringing us together as a family. So we drove three hours to IKEA and bought a new bedroom set with each piece chosen specifically for our children. We wrote in their journal, our friends' nine-year-old daughter decorated a box and filled it with her Barbies to give to Ruth, another friend began a quilt to give them, we made Ruth a card on her birthday knowing we could deliver it one day, we showed their pictures to all of our friends and spoke about them regularly...we plowed in home.

Then came the call. Even though we were expecting it to come at some point, nothing could have prepared us for that exact moment when God intervenes, when he completes the good work he began. Twenty-four hours later, we are completely amazed at his perfect timing. Ruth and Emmanuel already know about us (which seems to break every adoption rule we've heard), and they even read the letter we wrote the Costa Rican government in January expressing our intent to adopt. Ruth said she can tell we love them, and Emmanuel asked if he could call us so we could come the next day to meet them.

This morning we mailed our acceptance letter. Yet we OFFICIALLY accepted over a month ago. It is hard to explain how we feel about these children--how much we love them. We want to provide them with a stable, loving, nurturing home where they will know they are free to be themselves and to discover their strengths, passions, and abilities. They will be an instant part of our family, including our extended church family who are all so ready to support them however they can.

It is a time to celebrate.  God is completing his good work--but in some ways his good work is just beginning.

Inspiration

Some of life's greatest moments are those that inspire us, that challenge and encourage us. One such moment for me came several weeks ago when a friend shared a link to a video clip from Australia's acclaimed X-Factor. If you are an adopting family, this story will grip your heart. But I'm confident it will have the same impact on every mother, father, brother, sister, grandparent--anybody who deeply cares about helping people overcome life's obstacles. I don't want to spoil the remarkable story, so please check it out yourself. But don't forget the kleenex. Here's the link: Emmanuel Kelly