This past Monday marked 6 months since the earthquake happened in Haiti.  And during the few weeks that followed as Haiti hit a crisis I can never imagine or understand I remember the internal crisis that was hitting me.  24 hr non stop thoughts of will Frankie come home and what can I do to help all that happened.

I remember those few weeks as a fog.  Always on email and Facebook.  Heartbroken by news of the devastation and internally conflicted of wanting my son home now.  And then the news came.  They are on a military plane heading to Orlando. (Frankie is the first boy in stripes)

We were blessed with having someone offer to fly us at anytime.  So with that news we too were on our way too. Flying off at 11PM in a small 6 seater prop plane on our way to Orlando began the steps of internal peace.  I will remember those few hours in the plane on that perfectly clear night.  The joy of watching Emma experience the flight with us.  Landing in Orlando and waiting with our community of adoptive families waiting on our children.  And then he came.  We were called back into a large room and he was handed to us sound asleep. 

He never did wake up till the following morning.  I remember Emma crying that night when we got him.  She said they were happy tears.

And since that moment we have with each new day, walked the process of allowing this little boy to gain trust in us and feel secure in his new family.  Adoption is a wonderful thing.  But the fact that Frankie like so many other children needed a family means that he has been left with loss.  One of the most amazing blessings has been that I have been connected with a group of amazing woman who often blog and share like I do on this journey in life.  Through them I am encouraged as we navigate through the new things we are experiencing with our family of 5.

I need to and will start sharing more on adoption from our eyes soon.  I cant’ tell you how many people stop me and say they have often thought about adopting but yet they never have dared to take the first step on those promptings. SO MANY PEOPLE. 

As Frankie continues to trust us and gives us his trust we have continued to have three words that we say to our children as we love them, protect them, help them navigate through their decisions.  They are “Listen and Obey.” I must say it 20X a day.  We thensometimes follow that statement up with “Do the right thing right away.”  It’s a joy to see over the past month a light go on in Frankie as he learns to live those words out and realize that if he follows them, there is major blessing in store for him as he discovers his rythm in life.  And to those of you considering adoption as we celebrate our 6 months of the joy of experiencing it first hand, I challenge you with those same words.  “Listen and Obey.”  Those promptings that people always in conversation tell me about to me,  are not random.  It’s just up to you if you will decide to obey once you have heard.  Listen and Obey.  They truly are words that we should all live by in every aspect of our lives.