Day 1
Good morning! Or good evening…I’m not entirely sure which time zone I am addressing. 😉 Welcome to the musings of my sleep-deprived brain which is also functioning under a recent dose of Benadryl (I will beat jet lag this trip!)…hopefully that kicks in soon. It is 5:15 am here and I thought I should attempt to write about our first day before it all becomes a distant memory.
We landed in the Capitol city around 1:30 pm, after a mostly uneventful trip here. We did somehow leave the airport on our 9 hour flight on time and still land an hour late. I’m not entirely sure how that even happens, but it did force us to sprint to the last leg of our trip. That was fun. Especially after already being awake for almost 24 hours at that point. Also, on a completely unrelated note, I am WAY out of shape!
We met our driver at the airport and the Hubs got to practice a little of his new language skills. (he has an unbelievable knack for this language!). We got to the hotel, which is HUGE. Seriously, our room/apartment is slightly larger than our first house we had when we got married. That will be a wonderful thing as we bring Little Man here in 24 hours (Wow!) . Having so much space is a blessing with two curious toddlers.
Right after we got to our room, there was time for a quick shower and then our sweet missionary friend arrived to show us around and help us find a bookstore to buy some things for the orphanage. We spent the afternoon wandering around, getting our bearings and carrying Baby Girl in the hot sun, as she is exhausted from the trip.
It was wonderful to talk to our friend about some of their adventures in working with the Roma people. It was heartbreaking to see so many beggars on the streets, but as we passed each one, she stopped and greeted every person. By NAME. The hands and feet of Jesus, y’all. After grabbing a quick dinner when Baby Girl woke up from her nap (must be nice to be carried around while you sleep!), we stopped at the local grocery store to load up on water and snacks to keep in our room. (We found a Dunkin Donuts right across the street from a local pizza shop- I believe we have spotted breakfast and lunch for tomorrow/today!) The pizza here is phenomenal- we’ve been looking forward
to having more of it since we left 5 and a half months ago.
Then we got to spend some time at our friends’ apartment and hang out with their young boys while they talked missions with another family in town. It has been so encouraging to be able to come to a new country, see faces we know, hear the language we understand, and be able to fellowship with friends who understand what this week is for us! The Lord has certainly provided for us in ways we didn’t even know we needed provision.
After that, it was time to come “home” and crash. We all slept soundly (at least until Baby Girl and I woke up a few hours ago.).
We hope to make it to church in a few hours, but depending on when this Benadryl kicks in, we may just sleep in and unpack some.
We could use prayers for the following:
– little Man’s heart to be prepared for us, and our hearts for him. We are hoping for an easy bonding process and for the right tools as we comfort him in grieving the loss of his current life.
– that we can find all of the things we hoped to be able to donate to the orphanage and staff. We don’t want to waste this opportunity to show Christ’s love to all of the people He has made.
– that The Lord will guide our decisions in how we begin to parent two children. (For example, the planner in me is slightly stressed at trying to figure out where we will all sleep the first night. We won’t have a crib until Wednesday, but we get him Monday. Pray The Lord works that out. Do we all pile into the same bed, leave the kiddos in one room together (Baby girl started in her own bed, but wound up in ours). It all sounds silly, but each decision can be a big deal in how he learns to trust us.)
Thank you all for your prayers. Now that the emotional numbness that comes with extreme physical exhaustion has started to fade, I find myself becoming incrediably excited, but also just as nervous with all the changes coming TOMORROW. 🙂
