Book - Pages 36 & 37

Ian didn’t sleep much on the long flight. His stomach started hurting and he was just antsy. He watched 3 movies. The monitors had destination times. It said we were going to be in DC at 7:30am. It was 5:30am when he noticed this. He was pretty excited that we only had “two” hours left. The only problem was – due to the 8 hour time difference, it stayed 5:30am for about 6 hour! It was continually dark and Ethiopian Air believes in feeding their customers. They were feeding us chicken at 3 in the morning. It must have been a long flight for everyone because when we landed in DC, the plane erupted into claps and cheers!

Needless to say, by the time we got to DC, Ian was dead on his feet. We had a 6 hour layover. Then, our flight was delayed even more. Eventually, when we got on the much smaller plane to go to Charlotte (crazy, I know) Ian was in an aisle set beside a man. He fell asleep so deeply that I had to hold his head up across the aisle for almost 45 minutes. The man beside him was about to climb up the window. I think he was scared Ian was going to lean on him. The man behind us asked if he was breathing. I assured him he was, he was just sleep deprived. 

Due to the layover, when we landed in Charlotte, our plane to Raleigh was already boarding. Of course, our gate was across the airport. We sprinted through and made it just in time. I was worried about our bags. Ryan asked the attendant and she said they had 8 minutes to get it over. Luckily, 7 of our 8 bags arrived and they delivered the 8^th the next morning. We decided if they were going to misplace any of our bags, we would MUCH rather it be on THIS side of the pond!

We were so happy to see the landscape of Raleigh come into view.

In the end, we returned irrevocably changed. While we joked that we couldn’t wait to be able to flush toilet paper, no longer had to fear squatty potties, looked forward to our own bed and Chick-fil-a, we all knew and understood that home would never be the same. How could it be? How could we be discontent when we have so much? How could we squander our talents when we have an abundance of opportunity at our fingertips? How could we take our family, friends, and community for granted?

Because of Aiden, our lives, our family will always be linked with Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. One of the main questions we have been asked repeatedly on this journey has been “why not America?” Until now, I didn’t really have a good, explainable reason. We had reasons, just not simple answers and now we do; it was because our son was in Ethiopia. Right after court, Solomon and I were walking down the street and he asked me why I was sad. I told him that adoption makes me sad. Another mother had to lose so that I could gain. At that moment, I was feeling the pressure of raising a child from a different culture, a beautiful culture, as my own. The sin of my of my perfectionistic nature was whispering, “what if I fail?” And Solomon, a born and bred Ethiopian said, “No, Adoption for you is nothing but a blessing. Ethiopians had their chance and they didn’t want him. You prayed, waited and waited, and came all the way here – with your whole family (I didn’t stop to remind him that Emily wasn’t with us) just for him. No other reason, just for him!”

I don’t know what role Africa will play in the rest of our lives.

I do know that we opened a Pandora’s box for each of our children by exposing them, both physically and emotionally, to Africa, to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

I had this epiphany standing in a church whose congregation resembled what I imagine heaven looking like – all races, cultures, and Christ-based denominations coming together to worship. The song? It was Desert Song by Hillsong. My closing remarks will be the lyrics of the song. Does it speak to you? What are YOU going to do about it? What is YOUR prayer?