Tonight was our last night...

Wow. This time has passed before we could even stop and get our bearings. I cannot believe that we are flying back out and heading for home tomorrow. It seems like we just arrived. This week has been amazing, with each day bringing more excitement than the one before. It will take me months to process everything that I have seen, felt and experienced. Yesterday probably topped all days, with today being a close second.

The picture that you see above is Clint and I with Magdalene and Melchizedek's "first parents". They drove over six hours to meet with us. We were very surprised to find out that they were coming, and only had about 30 minutes notice. We were extremely nervous. We wanted them to approve of us so badly. The instant that they walked into our hotel room we knew that we loved them. They spent a couple of hours here with us and we talked and shared personal stories. They asked the questions that have been weighing on their minds for the past 14 months. They thought that we weren't really coming for their children because it was taking so long. The tribal commity that they come from are primarily Muslim, and they were told horrible things about us as adoptive parents. Near the end of our conversation, the children's father made the statement that this day was "the best day of his life". Can you ever get a bigger compliment than that??? He told us that he and his wife love their children enough to not just let them leave the country with just anyone. They are very devout Christian people and love these kids just as we as parents in America love ours. They just lack the resources and benefits that we are blessed to have to care for them. After our visit, they left with the promise to come back today (Sunday). They came back and also brought the children's grandfather. He apparently wanted to see us with his own eyes, and so he came. We also had the honor of visiting with two more sets of parents and grandparents of the other children leaving Africa. All of the other travelling families had left the hotel so everyone gathered in our room to see our children. For three hours we had 13 Liberians and Clint and I in our little hotel room. The picture above is of some of us, but the woman who I got from out in the hall had never taken a photo before, so this is as good as we got. I sat on the mini-fridge and the others crowded in on the beds, desk and floor. The third picture is of the Three Mama's. The one in the middle is the Mom from the orphanage that was assigned to Meckie anad Maggie and has cared for them for all this time. She came all the way into town after church to do Maggie's hair for me before leaving for home. The one on the end is their First Mom. Two sweet sweet ladies! We had the best time while watching Sesame Street. These precious people have never even seen tv, much less animated children's tv. They asked me how the bird talked like that. We explained everything from puppets to animation and everything in between. We laughed at each other's language and the barriers that we have faced this week. At the end we all joined hands and the children's father prayed the sweetest prayer I have ever heard. We said our goodbye's, and they were gone.

After our visit with the families, we took a trip out to the Children's Home. No number of pictures or video could have prepared me for what I saw. The children immediately began singing to us when we arrived and they are all amazing. Clint had gone to the market and filled the biggest sack full of candy and we hauled it out. Everyone got lots of treats and we made our way around visiting with each group of children. We laughed because Mel and Mag had this little strut going as if to say "I am just here visiting. I won't be staying long." They stuck very close but were still comfortable playing with their friends. I gave out some gifts that we had carried, and then we got the tour from our daughter. She showed us her room where she has spent the last 430 nights on a concrete floor with a foam mattress. Meckie's room was the same. They have new tables to sit at to eat so they are no longer eating from the floor, and the new toilets are in place and very are nice. She and her friend Mary demonstrated how they pump water from a big well to fill a cup of water to drink. She was very proud of her former home and wanted us to see it all. We gave the worker's all a small gift and they were so appreciative. They hugged us all and thanked us. That seems so backwards. They have cared for these children and kept them alive and they are thanking us for a very little something. When we left, I reminded Maggie to get her babydoll that has made every step and trip we have since we arrived and gave it to her. She informed me that "I gave it to my best friend Mary. I don't need it now. I am leaving to America with you." Wow. My new daughter, she is something else.

Our prayer is that we will be flying out of Liberia tomorrow night at 8:30. Please pray that we don't run into any obstacles and that we are allowed to leave with our children and our sanity. We appreciate all of your encouraging words and prayers that allowed us to get here in the first place. We arrive in Midland Tuesday night at 10:30, so whoever would like to be at the airport and can make it is welcome. We would love to introduce you to our three newest miracles!