The Journey

Anyone that has not taken this journey can know the joys of our babies. The love is the same as with any other child you may have, but the appreciation is so different when you stare at the pictures for so long and get “developmental updates”. No one in the whole time we waited saw, held or visited with Ananya. Pam and Joel got a short look, but Ananya is very shy of new people and no one wanted to freak her out. It was so hard to not have any personal accounts of how her personality is or anything. The moment she was in my arms (scared, mad and screaming), everything else was gone. It didn’t hurt anymore. I had prepared myself for the negative reaction. I didn’t want to have the picture of a perfect “Gotcha Day” and be crushed. I’m very glad that God put in my heart that it wouldn’t be all happy and smiling. Within a few hours, I had her smiling. Within a day, she won’t leave my arms (even for me to turn around and get a diaper). To finally have her little head snuggled on my shoulder makes all the waiting worth it. I know why so many families do this repeatedly.
Adoption is definitely one of the greatest experiences of my life. I have met so many great people (Tami, Jynger, Gayle, and Gray) and so many great friends (Melissa and Brian, Kristi and Jason, Grace and Shane, Anila and Lenin, Adrienne and Agni, and so many others that I can’t even name). Once we got to the orphanage, I got to meet one the most amazing people I have ever met in my life, Anju. She oversees the orphanage and takes such wonderful care of these children. I can not imagine doing the job that she does. I would want to bring every child home with me. All of the people at Dillon and in the ISRC orphanages do amazing things. They are truly gifts from God. I can never tell any of these people thank you enough. They made my daughter strong and brought her to me. After seeing all of the children at the orphanage I realize the Ayahs that Anju has are not just good, they are THE BEST. They do so much for so many children.
Ananya is amazing. For such a little girl to have so many things change suddenly, she has handled this with grace. She smiles and plays and snuggles. Even the few times she has cried, you can’t really blame her. In the blink of an eye, her entire life was turned upside down. Within hours of being back at the hotel, I had her on the floor. When I turned for just a second to grab something, she was sitting. I couldn’t believe it. No one ever told me that she could sit on her knees. Yesterday, she was grabbing at the computer. She took a ball from Anthony’s hand. When I held her up on her feet, she started to bear some weight. She is already thriving and the journey has just begun. Without any limits, she will excel so far.
Like Patrick has said since we got here “We are on a mission from God”. Truer words have never been spoken. This trip feels like it is going to make a HUGE difference in all of our lives. Not just by bringing Ananya home as our daughter, but how we live our lives, how we help other, and how we see the world outside of our view.
I can not put into words how amazing the journey of adoption is. If you are reading this, open your heart. Stop for just a minute and look into your heart. See is God is calling you to make a huge difference with even just a little time or effort.

Just as a last note after all that, check out the link to Celebrations that I have posted. Adrienne and Agni are such wonderful people. They are waiting to travel to India to get their son (they have a 3 year old daughter). Adrienne is planning some cruises for next spring to benefit Orphancare, Dillon’s fund for the orphanages the countries they serve. The cruises sound wonderful and money could not be spent in a better way than to help all of the children in the orphanages.