We have been through three adoptions now, three unique and special “Gotcha Days,” to use an adoption term. All of them have been so special and so sweet in their own unique ways. Today is Mitiku Silas Watson’s Gotcha Day. Today he was united with his forever family and we are definitely the lucky ones.
It was such an amazing morning, and while Silas naps I will try to share a few of the highlights about the day simply because I don’t want to forget them myself. There is so much hustle and bustle in this process. We woke up early and met the director of Hannah’s Hope downstairs in the lobby. All the families (8 in all), picking up children today then went down to a ballroom in the hotel to fill out a bunch of paperwork. This isn’t anything really exciting, except to say that the families with whom we have traveled, two in particular, have already become such good friends! It is just amazing the bond that we now share. But sitting at that table today we really just had the best time laughing together like we have known each other for years. It was a special part of the gift of this journey.
After filling out the load of paperwork we then got ready for Hannah’s Hope. I had a slight momentary melt down b/c as I was getting my stuff I realized for the first time, different from our previous adoptions, my family would not be with me on this first day of being with Silas. Remembering that I had found a cardigan that my sister left at my house, and that I had decided that the “finders keepers losers weepers,” law applied, I grabbed that cardigan and through it on. It smelled like Shelly and there was a strange comfort that helped me with that emotional moment.
We then drove to Hannah’s Hope. We turned off of a main road onto a literally crushed up gravel road and turned out of nowhere into a beautifully gardened gate. Hannah’s Hope, Ethiopia is a beautiful place. We all piled out of the two vans and immediately assigned someone to video and to photo our first moments with our kids. Almaz, the director of HH, called us each one by one and introduced us to our children. Walking to Silas in that little courtyard was such a surreal moment. I didn’t cry, I was too happy to cry I think. It was more like just plain joy and surprise and I don’t know what else. After visiting with him for awhile, one of the workers of Hannah’s Hope (they are called Special Mothers), came out and asked if we would bring him Silas up so that they could say good-bye. Nothing could have prepared me for the emotion of this next 20 minutes. We walked Silas into the room and immediately this tiny little Ethiopian woman takes him and begins feeding him, crying the whole time. She spoke no English, but one of the others did. She explained to me that Silas is one of the most special babies they have ever had at HH. She said that every worker of HH has a photo of him in their phone. In fact one of the male workers came up to me and showed me all his pictures. At one point, Daniel had gone down to get the baby carrier and there was no one but myself and 4 of the non-English speaking Special Mothers in the room. They started talking to each other in Ahmaric, they each said something and then all simultaneously began to cry. They cried and cried. The male English-speaker came back in and noticed. He then proceeded to further explain to me how attached to Silas they all are. He said he is considered a miracle child, that they are daily reminded of how amazing God is when they are with him. Silas’ life has been a direct witness to each one of them. He said that HH wants to open a medical clinic at some point and they plan to name it The Mitiku Clinic b/c he was such a miracle. Not long after, someone came in and said it is time for us all to go. I kissed and hugged each Special Mother. They all asked me to send pictures. How loved has this sweet boy been? How lucky are we to be his parents? How could someone not believe in the God of the universe after a day like this? He restores us all and he uses the biggest, ugliest and saddest of tragedies to show us how much he loves us and how blessed we are.
And now we have spent the afternoon laughing and snuggling with this big bundle of joy. None of his clothes are gonna fit! He is so laid back and yet so full of personality. He is a total drool box with two teeth and I am assuming a few on the way. He seems in great health considering. He does have some congestion, but from what we understand this is common. He laughs and talks, rolls over and grabs at literally everything. We are SO in love. Atley and Ava are gonna love him. But truly, and I don’t say this lightly, the most odd thing about all this is that it is like he has been with us all along. I am chalking it up to it being just another amazing thing about God’s ability to bring about restoration to those who are seeking it.
Tonight we head to a cultural dinner with all the other families. I am sure there will be many more pics and thoughts to come! Thanks for being a part of this journey with us! God is faithful, he hears our prayers and he answers them with immeasurably more than what we could ask for or imagine.
Enjoy the pics by clicking here!
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