My life is changed forever!

I write this as I sit on the plane headed home. This 11 hour flight is giving me plenty of time to reflect on what has happened this past week. I’m sorry to wrap the whole week into one blog, but our remote location and the fact that I was dead dog tired every night gave me no time to write. After my face decided to get back to normal we were off on a wonderful adventure, which I never imagined I’d be blessed to be a part of.

The welcome that we got at the orphanage was amazing. We arrived at recess and were immediately swarmed by the kiddos, all wearing the most amazing smiles you have ever seen. The moment I stepped outta the van I had a 3 year old boy in one arm and a 3 year old girl in the other. I also had a 5 year old boy on one leg and a 7 year old girl on the other and approximately three 6 year olds on each shoulder with a 12 year old hanging from my neck and a 10 year old hugging my waste. I wore this glamorous coat of human beings throughout the whole week even though it was in the mid to upper 90’s. We began this journey with great hope that we would have the opportunity to meet our new daughter.

We went, knowing that either our daughter was the girl with the burn from the abuse or her story would bring us to our daughter. When we got there we found the girl with the burn to be thriving and doing so well. My wife and I felt that she was exactly where she needed to be. That made my heart so happy. I have dreamed about her, and worried about her for weeks now, so to finally see her in person and loving life was amazing. So knowing that she was doing well let us know that our daughter was yet to be met.

Mostly our time was spent during the day at the orphanage playing with the kids and helping the teachers during class time if needed. I was amazed at how advanced these children were. I haven’t been to many orphanages, but I can tell you from what I’ve seen, this one is at the top. The children were so proud to show us their work. I even had them bringing me their academic achievement certificates during recess. It was so easy to fall in love with each child there. They have seen so much adversity in their lives already, yet they are thriving and succeeding in life to the fullest.

Our down times in the evenings were typically spent having dinner and maybe exploring the town. We both fell in love with the town of Hohoe and the culture of Ghana as well. The people were so nice and accommodating. The food was pretty much amazing and we often found ourselves just walking around and taking in all that surrounded us. The lifestyle here was really laid back and simple here, very similar to island life. Hohoe is located in the Lake Volta Region close to the Togo border.

I met my daughter the very first day, and I knew it immediately, the Lord just had to work on momma a bit. Her smile was amazing, and that was only topped by her eyes. She wanted me to carry her around continuously, but I felt that it was important to spend time with all the kids, so I put her down and awwwww it broke her heart. Seeing this melted my heart and let me know that she knew I was her daddy as well. That night as my wife and I talked about our day I brought up the little girl and my wife said she wasn’t really sure. It was a hard time for my wife because the fear of the unknown was trying to creep in. I didn’t want to push anything so I just decided to wait it out.

The next day brought the beginning of my wife seeing the inevitable. This little girl had me in her sights and I had her in mine. More importantly, this is what the Lord had chosen for all of us. We were sitting in the younger children’s class watching them sing when Adrian pointed her out as if she was seeing her for the first time. My heart just raced and I reminded her that she was the fit thrower from yesterday. That afternoon we had an appointment with the director of the orphanage and we were asking about her. He told us that she was a complete orphan, meaning that she had lost both parents. He went on to tell us that when he first learned that we were coming, he immediately thought of her. He said that had we not been able to make this trip she would have been his referral. I left feeling like the Lord had confirmed my feelings that she was my daughter. He went on to tell us that her grandmother lived in the next village over and he thought that it would be good to meet with her, because she was hoping that her grand-daughter would be adopted before she passed, and she hadn’t been in good health. My wife was still not sure, and this was a role reversal for us because coming in to this she was the one who was so sure about everything. As we went to bed that night she said that she prayed that if this was our daughter she would have a sign tomorrow. Well guess what…..that next morning as we got to the orphanage she ran right to my wife and jumped into her arms. This was abnormal, because normally it was my arms. Through the rest of the day she was attached to my wife, taking her in to show my wife her clothes, and her bunk and wanting to have her picture taken with all her stuff. That afternoon my wife said she was sure. Once that decision was made, everything seemed to change. We asked that she not know yet because we thought it would be hard to leave, but it was if she knew. There was really no fussing as if she was content knowing the Lord had put us together, and we would soon be family. She would have a daddy, mommy, big brother, and big sister.

One of the most amazing things in my life happened on our last day in Hohoe. The director had told us of family in the area. We got to meet her grandmother our last day and learn some family history. She told us how happy she was that her grand-daughter was being adopted. I got to tell her how her grand-daughter jumped right into my arms as if she knew just like I. Then I asked what her name meant and she said, “God has heard you”. She then went on to tell us her Christian name is Gifty. She then told us that God had heard our prayers and here is the gift of your daughter. Getting the blessing of her grandmother was one of the most emotional situations of my life. How’s that for confirmation…..God is so good!

Leaving was hard, but her not knowing made it easier. As I sit on a plane getting farther away by the minute, the aching in my heart grows more. I will continue to hold on to his confirmation. I also pray that he fills her heart daily with the joy of knowing that mommy and daddy will be back soon, and then she can be with her brother and sister. Please pray for a speedy process, so we can all be together. Oh and by the way, she was the very first child in my arms when we got to Hohoe…:-)