Written yesterday, July 28th, 2013
Today we heard some almost unbelievable news. I say "almost" because we serve a God that answers prayers, a God that says all things are possible, and a God that has a plan for each of us. So, nothing should really be unbelievable! Today, though, we learned news I admit I was not sure we'd ever hear - your birthmother and your orphanage director gave their blessing for you to come home! Thank you Jesus!
I want you to know that once the news sunk in I just cried. I cried tears of joy and gratefulness. Was it really true? The sweet little girl we'd been praying for, dreaming for, planning for - would she really be coming here? To our family? To be our daughter!
We received the call from Paige, the adoption coordinator with The LINK. We were still in church talking and my phone was in the car. She called and texted several times to try and reach us because we had just spoken in church about you, and how we were both just praying and believing and trusting. The last thing we spoke about was God's timing and not ours. Coincidence? I think not.
When she got in her car after service, Paige had a message from Michael (Zalika's Daddy) saying that Leila's birth mother wanted to move forward and that they would begin getting all the paperwork together on the Niger side. The orphanage director that you have known all your life agreed, as well. You may not realize this, but that in itself was a miracle. WOW.
Later this evening we received a call from Michael who is in Niger right now (just a few miles away from you). In fact, he saw you yesterday, and he said you looked better and that you'd gained some weight. Another prayer answered! He delivered the good news again and shared that we should get moving with our homestudy. And when he said how special it would be to allow Zalika (your life long best friend and his daughter) to be at the airport to greet you when you arrived, I just couldn't hold it together. More tears. To picture the two of you being reunited and with one another again felt like the sweetest thing.
How humbled we are to be a part of your life, sweet Leila. Every day I think about you. Where you will sleep, what kinds of food you will love, how we will teach you English, if you'll like to sing and dance, what a wonderful big sister you'll be, what you already know about Jesus, how I will do your hair, when we get to take you to Disneyworld and all the other things a momma thinks about.
We know there may be obstacles ahead - to get you here and even when you're here. But we are ready with open arms. Until we meet again. Oh that sweet day.
We love you,
Your forever family
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