Only God

On the plane ride from Paris to Niamey, I drudge sleepily onto the plane with a few hundred others. My friend Cindy asked if anyone that had an aisle seat to please switch with her. She was giving up a window, so I said I'd be glad to do it. I was desperate for some sleep. I made my way to the other side of the packed plane, and as I'm putting my luggage away, I see a young African woman go sit in my coveted window seat. Aw man. I get to row 34 and say "Bonjour, 34A" and point to myself (e.g. My seat) and "34B" and point to her (e.g. your seat). She says Bonjour, blah oui a un... (E.g Hello and something I didn't understand). Pause...ok, it's not worth fighting for. I didn't want to sit next to someone glaring at me for the next 5.5 hours. I took the aisle.

Soon we started chatting in her broken English and my attempt to remember the few French things I'd learned through Rosetta Stone. She asked why I was going to Niger, and I told her to sign adoption paperwork. She didn't fully understood. I got my phone out to show her my background picture of me and Leila in February. She looks at it and she says, "Leila?"  What?! My eyes get big. "Yes, this is Leila. How do you...?" "Samira is her mother (and I knew beforehand this was her birth mother's name)," she says. She pulls out her phone and shows me Samira and tells me Samira has lived with her for most of the past 7 years and is like a sister to her. She is her best friend. The rest went something like this.

Aissa: you are the American?
Me: yes, you know about me?
Aissa: yes, someone came to talk to Samira and she wants Leila to go to America.
Me: she does? She said that??
Aissa: yes. Leila will live with you? In your house?
Me: Of course. Yes! Like my other children. She will be in our family. (I could tell she didn't fully understand adoption)
Aissa: wow. And you promise you will love her? You will be nice?
Me: I promise. I want to take care of her, and I already love her.
Aissa: Ok. Wow.
Me: this is crazy! Me. You. Talking! Craziness.
Aissa: Yes. Wow. Leila said she wants to go to America. She told her mother. Her mother doesn't want her to forget her.
Me: I want Leila to remember her mother. I want a picture of her mother to honor her and when Leila is older I want to bring her back to visit Niger.

Aissa: Really?! Ok, I can get you a picture. (we exchange email addresses)

Throughout our plane trip of on and off napping, I found out Leila did not have any brothers or sisters, Samira is a mere 26, a Muslim and a Catholic (I don't know how that works) and currently is in Cameroon with her French boyfriend. Her parents are both deceased, and she could not keep Leila because she had no money, and she did not live in a place good for children (a brothel, maybe, given what I understand her occupation is?). I gave her a picture of myself and Leila together to give to Samira. She asked me if I wanted a tour of Niamey; she had a really good friend that would do it for free. I politely declined (I was a little nervous, and I had seen Niamey a few times...). 

Honestly, I still can't believe God orchestrated that. I mean, if you have doubts, this is the real deal. Only God could have done this. Put the hopeful mother-to-be next to the best friend of the woman that carried our daughter. It's too crazy to be a coincidence. He is so good. 

The rest of my quick trip was full and blessed. I spent 2 full days with Leila - thank you, Jesus, and thank you LINK staff for making that possible. I got to spoil her outside of the orphanage and take care of her like a momma likes and needs to do. On the first day at the LOC, we played dolls, colored, played foosball and enjoyed playing hide and seek with some others. I was able to let her take a warm shower, which she loved, brush her teeth, lather her in lotion and wash her very dirty clothes (thanks to Erica!). She ate scrambled egg and tried a few nuts. We tried to give her deworming medicine unsuccessfully - she spit it out (it tasted terrible). We enjoyed lunch with the summer youth team I traveled over there with, and I found out she liked pasta and bread with lots of butter. That's my kind of girl. It's wild discovering all these things just now and makes me sad that I've had little to no influence on shaping her life up to this point. I am thankful that I believe in a great God that wrote an amazing redemption story and will guide me in shaping her life now.

After lunch, we enjoyed watching Ratatouille, and she laid in my lap and rested. That melts a momma's heart. We also went swimming at the Rivas pool, which she loved! She jumped right in, and despite chattering teeth she didn't want to get out of the pool. I really got to hear her laugh at the pool and see her have fun like all kids should get to do. So sweet and beautiful. We returned to the LOC for more foosball and hide and seek, where I got to see her get competitive and excited. She seemed so innocent with her excitement for little things and squeals when her hiding place was discovered. After dinner, I rode back with her to the orphanage where she fell asleep in my arms about 5 minutes into ride. When we got to the orphanage, I walked her over to where Pouhin and a group of kids were. She immediately handed all the goodies I had brought for her over to him. They were definitely not for him. Ugh. I pray he gives her back at least the photo album. 

The next day, I was able to see her again! The orphanage is about 20-25 minutes away, there was a team in town and not just anyone can drive in Niger. So, it was really a lot for Rodrigo to go get her and Manou again. It was Sunday, so we went to church (covered but outdoors) with Juanita, Nathan and Kaila. It was a looooong service (very African and typical), and she fell asleep in my lap. after the sermon had gone on for more than an hour, Juanita and I escaped before the kids completely lost it. We enjoyed tunafish sandwiches, chips, watermelon and pineapple (Leila ate it all). I decided my girl needed a nap, so I took her to rest in my room where after a few minutes playing a letter game on my phone she fell asleep. And she slept and slept. I had to wake her up after 3 hours because the mission team arrived at the Rivas house for pizza, ice cream and pool time. She was eager to get in the pool again, ate pizza pretty well and was not interested in the ice cream. We'll have to work on that! Though honestly, I'm thankful she's not interested in sweets - this will protect her teeth, which by the way, look amazing. I have been praying consistently for them since I left in February and saw the decay on her front teeth. Decay no more! I'm serious. God has healed and is healing it. I saw no decay, they were whiter, and though they could use a good cleaning and she's a definite candidate for braces, they looked so much better. Wow. "O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me." (Psalm 30:2)

After dinner, it was time to say goodbye. I took the trip to the orphanage, had Rodrigo tell her that I loved her and that I would not be able to see her tomorrow, but that I would be back as soon as I could to bring her home. She said she understood. I cried, but I didn't let her see. 

Amidst these 2 glorious days of visiting, I did get the document signed and meet with the attorney that will represent us in Niger. I saw while signing the documents there was still a missing signature and soon discovered Leila's great-uncle hadn't signed yet. Oh brother. They said, "Today or tomorrow. Don't worry. No problem." This really means, I don't know when it will get done. Thankfully, Rodrigo pushed and they went and found the great-uncle and secured his signature. Geez. I only had a minor panic moment!

A lot of you want to know the timeline from here, and we do, too! No, really, it's a natural, normal question, but because this is not a normal adoption (is there ever such a thing?!), we really don't know. Our dossier (the packet that is now done since I've signed which contains her birth certificate, orphanage information, consent from birth mother, etc.) will go or has gone to the lawyer who will submit it to the court system. He will receive a trial date for the case where the judge will say whether or not we can adopt her. Let's pray he says yes, and then we wait another 2 months to see if anyone wants to challenge it. If no one challenges it after 1 month, the lawyer can ask to end the waiting period earlier, at which point they would then declare us legally her parents in Niger (not the U.S). At this point we could move her out of the orphanage if we have friends or someone recommended that can take her and Manou (we'd like to keep them together). This would be huge and would be a great start to getting her in a better school, set up for English lessons and just taken care of in a way that a momma would be at peace with. Meanwhile, we will submit anything and everything you can imagine to the U.S. who will then need to give us the go ahead to be able to go and bring her back. I am unsure how long this takes as we have seen them request information they initially didn't need, which only extends the process. Whew. 

Ok, this is getting long, so enjoy some pictures!

Leila as a baby! How cool that I have a baby picture from my lovely hostess and friend, Juanita, who has known Leila since she arrived at the orphanage. 

Making rubber band bracelets.

Inside the LOC compound. Sweet, sweet girl.

Holding Kaila. As soon as she heard her cry, Leila jumped up to get her a toy, entertain her and pick her up. She learned those nurturing skills young at the orphanage.

Selfies! This might be my first selfie. 

Dinnertime.

Splish splash!

I see swimming lessons in my future!

My poor attempt at foosball. It was still fun, nonetheless!

The kids playing foosball. Leila did so well with all the other kids, even with the language barrier. She is full of smiles, so friendly and really a joy to be around. 

Love that smile.