365 Days Later

It's been 365 days since I said yes to Albania...more accurately "GO for Albania" according to my 2017 calendar!  

There was no way to anticipate the journey that we would be on up to this point! This is when I am glad the Lord holds things back from us from time to time. When you don't know where you are going, you can't get anxious about the ride...just trust the driver. 

The original Albanian Team is together again and boards the plane bright and early tomorrow morning. Thankfully, all this crazy flying back & forth gave us enough airline miles to have our favorite Annie join us again.  I felt strongly that we all started this journey together and we should end it together. We left Albania last time in such a hurry full of confusion & hurt. I'm excited we can redeem our time there this time and fill our 'leaving Albania' memory tank with joy and longing for the people we love there...and with a new daughter & friend in our midst as well. <3 

Specific prayer requests:

*Travel mercies. We have a LONG day of travel on Saturday, including layovers in Chicago and Vienna. We'll need to be somewhat refreshed and have all our luggage with us when we arrive in Albania on Sunday afternoon as rumor is we will be again going straight to the orphanage to pick our girl up. 

*Miraculous bonding of our sweet girl to us as her new family. She has the benefit of knowing us and of a few Skype calls over the last 90 days, but we are also the family that comes and leaves. :(  We need now to convince her heart that this family stays together FOREVER.  

*Peace over my girl's heart as she separates from all that she has ever known, including some lovely women who have cared for her for the length of her life. She has already left her Nana & three lifelong roommates in Shkodra and has been brought down to the baby orphanage in Elbasan to await our arrival. The Sisters there also know and love my girl. Please pray over all of their hearts as they grieve.  We are making arrangements so regular contact can be maintained, which I am excited about.  

*Continued knitting of Isaac and his sister together. Isaac is about to graduate from only child to sibling and my girl is moving from an institution of 57 residents bustling with Sisters, caregivers and visitors to a home of three. They both will have big adjustments to make and I'll need wisdom to walk them both through it. 

*Miraculous understanding of communication. My girly has been getting English tutoring and I'm still trudging through Albanian learning but the language barrier reality is about to hit our home HARD. It's been my prayer that the Holy Spirit would open all of our hearts & minds to understand each other as we wait for the right words to come. At this point we have no way even judge her level of need for speech therapy so we'll be winging it big time. 

*Continued building of relationships in Albania. We'll be able to spend time with our dear Albanian friends, another American adoptive family currently in country, the Sisters at the orphanage, as well as the nurses at the maternity hospital that cared for my girly way back when. I'm sure there will be others as we remain open to any opportunity the Lord has for us, even on this short trip. 

*Mercy on our flight HOME.  This will be my girly's first airplane ride...you know, a good starter flight--around the EARTH. We've arranged an overnight layover in Germany then a polar flight direct to Seattle to make life as easy as possible, but there are a lot of unknowns. Isaac is a stellar traveler. I'm praying that she can find flying as enjoyable as he does. 

*Transitioning HOME. Life starts anew with jet lag and medical appointments straight out of the gate. I know it will be hard; grief, frustration, anger, pain for all of us is expected. I'm praying for the Holy Spirit to be actively present in all of our interactions as we adjust to our new normal. Even joy to overflow from our growing family.

*Favor with work.  My split leave has been approved...kind of. I was anticipating part of this next leave to be unpaid, but now I'm being told that insurance benefits will be held back as well while I"m home navigating the world with a child with medical needs. I don't even have the breathe to fight this one so my hands up are in the air; God is just going to have to provide for us through it all. 

*For God to be glorified THROUGH IT ALL. This has been my prayer from the beginning. No matter what happens, who we met or what we did that the absolute truth of who God is would radiate from our family story. The trials of the last 5 months have given ample opportunity, but we continue to pray that HIS WILL would be done and HIS LOVE to shine, not ours. 

Thank you again for all your lovely physical, financial and prayer support. We literally could not have done this without you!  For those in the Seattle area, please feel free to join us at the airport on Monday 10/29 about 2pm for our American grand reveal as a family of three <3