I am crying...

Jimmy writing here...tears run down my nose as I type this blog entry and they keep coming. I can't believe it (well I can in one respect, but in so many others it seems like a dream). We are coming home with our new little girl and we are coming home together with not one single day to spare. It is Friday at 5:30 and I just got a text from Nathan Flook (our consular here in Uganda) and his text read: "It looks like everything is in order." I quickly replied: "Terrific, so what time would you like us to come by on Monday to pick up the papers since you are closed on Tuesday?" "2:00" were the numbers that quickly were texted back across the phone. Now you have to understand, there is no magic formula for how long it takes to get an adoption done in Uganda. You first have to be approved as the legal guardians by a judge and that takes an undetermined amount of time, then you have to get the child's Ugandan passport, then you have to get the child's immigration papers from the US Embassy and the child has to be qualified as an orphan from US standards and so a time table is not easlily guessed - and that is exaclty what it is - a calculated guess. So, two months ago Gayla and I sat down with a calendar and tried to determine what return day to pick. We picked Tuesday, June 9th as the day that we would return home together - that gave us five weeks to get this thing done - well do you know how long it took? FIVE WEEKS TO THE DAY! It is hard to take it all in. The emotions I feel are full of joy mixed with relief that I have longed to feel since we began this jounrey some three years ago.

So you know how in a good book there is a bittersweet feeling about closing a great chapter? Well, this chapter has not concluded quite yet, but I think I know how it is going to end - it might after all conclude with the six of us returning to Greensboro together, able to celebrate with our community together as a family - a family of six. I am so glad that God does not return to me the measure of my faith, for many times my faith has been very small, but God's faithfulness has been right on time. These tears (that have not stopped for the duration of this entry) embody the thankfulness that I feel to God, for our friends and for our family, for grant agencies, and for those who have inspired our family to pursue this hope and this love found in a tiny little baby that we call Zuri and through her, and through this journey, miraculously experience the deep deep love of God. Words cannot describe my joy and my thankfulness in this moment and in this moment I celebrate...finally celebrate...finally!

P.S. The video we talked about yesterday is still uploading...8 hours now.