Right now I am sitting in the airport after just saying goodbye to my family. My emotions are running high right now. I am so excited to be going and to get to see Mercy and make her officially part of our family, but it sure is hard to leave my family here. I think it’s especially hard because I’ve heard and read too many stories the past few months of people who thought they were just leaving for a few weeks to be stranded for months in Uganda. The thought of being away from my family that long makes me a bit sick to my stomach, but I know I need to take this step of faith and trust God’s timing and plan for all of this. Emma and Avery are being real troopers, but I know the next few weeks will be difficult. Yesterday when Cody drove Avery to school she told him that she felt like crying. He asked her if she was sad. She said, “Yes, I’m sad that Mommy is leaving, but that’s what she has to do to bring Mercy home.” Then she said, “I feel like my whole life is about to change. I’m not going to just be a little sister anymore. I’m going to have to be a big sister and a little sister.” Even a five year old understands the gravity of what will happen to our family in the next few weeks. Last night as I tucked Emma in bed, I told her she needed to be good for Daddy and for Grandma while I was gone. She said, “Maybe that’s why I’ve been in trouble the last few days… I was getting it out of my system.” Oh, I hope so! Pray for my girls (all three of them).
 |
| Last time as a Family of 4! |
We have literally been showered with love and prayers the past few days. I can’t begin to tell you about all of the phone calls, texts, emails, facebook messages, and hugs. Thank you so much. My heart is so full right now. Cody may not have to cook the whole time I’m gone. I found out Sunday that Mercy is only wearing about 6 month size clothing. I didn’t have anything that I thought would fit. I wondered what to do. I asked a few friends with babies around that age for a few hand-me-downs. Last night when I packed, I had too many clothes to choose from and they were all adorable. Amazing! Then when I thought I couldn’t cry anymore or feel more loved, my precious friends, Beth, Melissa, and Robin stopped by. A couple of months ago they asked about throwing us a baby shower, but I told them that I would rather wait until Mercy gets home, so we’ll know her age and size. So they told me that since they didn’t have a shower, they decided to throw us a “Prayer Shower”. They asked our church family, friends, and other family to send us cards and letters of their prayers on our behalf for this adoption. Then they told me that I messed stuff up by leaving today because they set the submission deadline for this Saturday. Ha! So they delivered what they had so far for the book. Oh.my.word! Can you say tears? Cody looked at the book first last night while I was finishing packing. He came into me all red and puffy-eyed and said, “You cannot read this tonight! It will be way too emotional for you.” I told him that I had to read it because it was too heavy to pack and I could not stand the idea of not looking at it until I returned. So I sat down and Cody brought me some Kleenex. Ok, I started crying on the first page! It was like each one that I read was more confirmation to me that we are doing God’s will. I felt like God was giving me a giant hug and telling me that I do not know the schedule of this trip or the whole outcome, but that He is with me all along the way and always has been. The past few weeks I’ve felt like I’ve been under attack… questioning my sanity at doing this, questioning our finances, and so many other things. But last night, I felt God telling me that I needed to take a deep breath and just trust in Him. I went to bed and slept like a baby.
