A Homecoming Fit For a King...

One of my favorite pictures...a Dad that has prayed A LOT and a hubby who has waited A LONG time to be a Dad!

There is a song by one of my favorite bands, Audio Adrenaline, that has been out on the radio for awhile that has taken on a whole new meaning in the past several months.  It's called "Kings and Queens."  The song was inspired by the band's opportunity to work with orphans in Haiti.  The lyrics are as follows:

Little hands, shoeless feet, lonely eyes looking back at me

Will we leave behind the innocent to grieve

On their own, on the run when their lives have only begun

These could be our daughters and our sons

And just like a drum I can hear their hearts beating

I know my God won’t let them be defeated

Every child has a dream to belong and be loved

Boys become kings, girls will be queens

Wrapped in Your majesty 

When we love, when we love the least of these

Then they will be brave and free

Shout your name in victory

When we love when we love the least of these

When we love the least of these

Break our hearts once again

Help us to remember when

We were only children hoping for a friend

Won’t you look around these are the lives that the world has forgotten

Waiting for doors of our hearts and our homes to open

If not us who will be like Jesus

To the least of these

If not us tell me who will be like Jesus

Like Jesus to the least of these

Boys become kings, girls will be queens

Wrapped in your majesty

When we love, when we love the least of these

Then they will be brave and free shout your name in victory

We will love we will love the least of these

As I heard those lyrics just days leading up to our trip to bring home Biruk, I couldn't help but get stuck on the line, "Boys become kings, girls will be queens wrapped in your majesty, when we love the least of these."  Since we have been home, many people that have seen us with Biruk have said to us, "Wow!  You have done something amazing.  You have really made a difference.  You have given him such a better life.  That is so great what you did.  He is one lucky kid."  Every time I hear those words, or similar words, all I can think about is the fact that we are the ones who have "lucked out," or in my our words, "are blessed."  Adopting Biruk has never been about doing something "good" or "noble."  It has been about choosing to love a child because God chose to love us.  It has been about allowing God to break and mold our hearts for the things that break his.  It was never our desire to feel like we were doing something awesome, but rather our desire that one child (and maybe more in the future) would understand just how loved they are by their creator God and in knowing that, it would transform the rest of their life.

Throughout the waiting process of our adoption journey, I imagined how certain things would happen.  I imagined what the day would be like when we received our referral.  I imagined what the day we met our son would be like.  I imagined the day we would pick him up in the orphanage and the first night he would sleep in a crib next to us.  And...I imagined our homecoming.  While people say imaginations run wild, I am not sure that any imagination could have dreamed what it would be like when we walked out of the customs line into the airport lobby where over 50 of our friends and family members were there cheering for Biruk.

My mom should probably guest blog at some point to tell her side of the story, but let's just say, it was a homecoming none of us would forget.  Our family had made signs (A LOT of signs) with Biruk's picture on them.  As they anticipated our arrival, I was told that my mother asked EVERYONE that came through the doors if they were on the flight we were on.  Soon, people from our flight (which by the way, EVERYONE and their mother were in front of us), would see Biruk's picture and say, "We were on his flight!!!  He is adorable!!!  He is such a good baby.  He is beautiful.  He's coming!!!"  And so, our family and friends would wait some more, anticipating the moment they would lay eyes on the baby they had been praying for for the last 3 years.  Friends who had cried with us, prayed with us, and just supported us, waited his arrival.  Teenagers who had heard our hearts for the past 3 years hung out waiting.

 Family members who had done everything they could for the past 3 years to stay positive and believe with all of their hearts that there was a light at the end of the tunnel were antsy with anticipation.  Our nieces and nephews (some who traveled as far as 10 hours with their Nan and Mommy to catch a glimpse of their cousin), waited as close to the door as possible hoping they would be the first to see the precious baby everyone had fallen in love with.  Friends who were far away, but had journeyed with us, were their in spirit, as my sister, Heather, had created some amazing posters with their thoughts and encouraging words.  Even our almost 10 year old dog was able to sneak in for the action (although I am pretty sure that is illegal at the airport, but Grammy doesn't always follow rules).

The moment we walked through those doors was another moment on this journey that words will not do justice.  It was more than we could have ever imagined.  Those moments weren't about a couple who struggled with infertility to finally "live the dream."  Those moments weren't even about a couple giving an orphan "a better life."  Those moments were all about a child who would realize for the first time that he was royalty.  Not because he gets to live in America, not because he had escaped poverty, but because he is a child loved deeply by a God who sees him fit to be a King.  That love was seen in the people whose passion and love for God spilled over at one of the greatest homecomings ever.  It was in a Grammy who had baked a gazillion cupcakes to help raise money, in a Pop-Pop who had cried many tears for a grandchild he had yet to meet, in Aunties who had listened for countless hours to a sister who was heartbroken and frustrated at times at a very long process, in a Nan who had worked countless hours preparing a room that would be perfect, and in friends who had sent encouraging messages more times than we could count, ALL of who did so because of their deep love for God.

So how do you describe one of the greatest homecomings ever?  As I have thought about that over the past month, all that I can say is, "It was a homecoming fit for a king."