Day 2

Day two dawned very much the same as the day before. Beautiful sunny weather and a wonderful breakfast. There was even more anticipation leading up to my driver coming to pick me up and take me to Eden. Would she remember me? Would she seem more comfortable today? I arrived at the orphanage and went into the visiting room. There were two other families already in the room and I was pretty sure they were waiting to meet their little people. They were from France so we were able to communicate on a limited basis. I found out they were in fact waiting to meet their children - one couple was adopting a 4 year old little girl and the other couple was adopting a 3 year old boy and 4 year old girl. Eden arrived first and seemed just as comfortable with me as the day before. I felt so proud holding her and showing her to these people I had just met. She of course settled in and fell asleep on me - same as the day before. In the meantime, I was privilege to watching these two other couples meet their children. I of course sat on the couch cradling Eden with tears running down my cheeks. These little children were so excited yet very unsure of what was happening. They of course new it was mom and dad but there was a caution to their excitement. I felt so many, many emotions. I have some really sweet pictures of them but decided not to post them since I didn't ask them first. I got to spend the next three days watching them interact with their little ones and I observed many different emotions. The children would vacillate between excitement and mourning. They were so happy to finally have a family yet they were very aware that they were leaving what felt safe to them. Again, the differences in their personalities was fun to watch. The one little girl in particular was so amazingly sweet. Her parents gave her new toys and presents upon their arrival and she promptly turned around to share them with the other two children in the room. She was a very giving child - more than I have ever seen in a little person before.

Also, on this day I met another man that was there through our adoption agency. He and his wife had been in Addis approximately 9 months ago picking up their little girl who was 8 months old. While there he spent a lot of time with the older children at the orphanage. He was drawn to one little girl in particular. He was under the impression that you could not specify a particular child to adopt so he felt confident that he was safeguarding his heart. As the week went on he and his wife decided to see if there was any possible way to bring her home as well. They found out that you can specify an older child since their chances of being placed in a family are very slim. So....long story short he was back in Addis to bring his second daughter home. She is nearly 10 years old and absolutely beautiful!!! She has the sweetest spirit and just radiates life!! I fell in love with her as I spent time with her over the week. It was a joy watching her interact with her new father. She would show me pictures of her momma and her baby sister that were waiting for her. Fast forward to Friday of that week and I watched her say good-bye to her sister and two brothers. They are all older and no longer "adoptable". My heart completely broke watching them. I had to leave and take Eden to another part of the complex. Her older siblings showed nothing but gratitude and appreciation toward her new father. This little girl had been in the orphanage since she was three so I am assuming that all three of her siblings probably spent some time there as well. Seven years of watching your friends come and go and it was finally her turn! I am sitting here getting tears in my eyes just revisiting this experience. There was so much joy yet so much sorrow for me as I thought about the injustice of it all.
This is the darling girl, two of her siblings and her new father. Their story made an incredible impact on my heart.

These were some of the older children being lined up to go back inside after playing outside for a while. They kept waving at me and wanting me to take their pictures. They love having their pictures taken. They say, "photo, photo", wait for you to take their picture and then immediately want to see the results. They start clapping and yelling upon seeing their pictures.

This is Eden with my driver Wendi! He would come to pick me up at the end of visiting with her, promptly take her from my arms, kiss her and talk to her in Amharic. It was so precious. Ethiopian people absolutely adore children!!

This is the house that Eden lived in. I believe it was only infants and toddlers in this house. There were approximately 60-65 children housed here.

One of the guards at the orphanage. He would open the door when we arrived and Wendi beeped. He was such a gentle soul. The little girl on the left followed me around for a few days. She liked to hold my hand and rub my skin. The yellow box the man is holding was her treasured possession. It had a few random things she found on the ground and she held onto it pretty tightly. She opened it for me so I could see what was inside. In my eyes nothing worth saving but in her eyes they were valuable. I guess it is all about perspective.

I came back to the guest house that evening just contemplating my perspective. What do I value? I had spent time today with quite a few precious children who were dirty from playing and had worn the same clothes for a few days in a row. Yet somehow I knew these were the very children that Jesus was talking about in scripture when addressing his disciples from with-holding children from him. I caught a glimpse of God's heart in a way that I had never experienced it before. Everyone of these children was precious, priceless and every bit as special as my girl resting in my arms. My heart broke that night as I looked at pictures back at the villa of my boys at home and realized that all the little people I had played with that day had at one time had parents that loved them every bit as much as I loved my boys. Didn't they also deserve to have parents? Needless to say my heart was heavy as I fell asleep. Not in a guilt ridden way but just a new awareness after being among these orphaned children.