A Blessed Life

It has been a rather quiet day here at home. Yes, at home, it feels good to be able to write those words. We have had several phone calls and some of our family has come for a visit. It is good to eat homecooked food. It was good to stretch out in my recliner. It is awesome to see my daughter sleeping in her bed, play with her toys, and filling our house with her presence. I am a man who has had more blessed days than most, I think. Unfortunately, I don't always see them at time, but when I reflect back I can see how truly fortunate I am.

Yesterday was a great day (but a little stressful, too). Sophia took the flight from Guatemala to Alanta good. She smiled and laughed a little on take off. I gave her little pieces of gum until we got to cruising altitude (don't panic mothers, doctors swear that gum doesn't bind up the intestines). She napped about an hour on the plane. She played with the guy sitting next to us, and the people sitting in front of us. She did pretty good until the last 30 minutes of the flight, when she decided it had been long enough--she wanted to run around.

We got to Atlanta and began the race to reenter the country. I say race because it is a time consuming ordeal to enter the country go through customs/immigration (which you have to do when you are adopting). We landed at 6:35 pm with a takeoff time of 8:00pm. Around 7:30 we handed our documents to one of the officers, who in turn put it stack along with several others. At 8:10 the called us to the desk, informed us that we were finished, and told us that at midnight she would offically be a U.S. citizen. We headed toward the reticket counter, because we were sure we lost our flight, when one of the workers informed us that our flight had been delayed and we had a few minutes to get to our gate. We handed our bags to some of the workers there and made a mad dash for our gate. The twenty minute delay which had purchased us just enough time to make it for last call turned into a fifty minute delay as we rounded the corner to our gate.

Sophia napped most of the flight from Atlanta to Nashville. When we finally got off the plane we were greeted by our parents and several members of our church family. I was so excited to see all of them. Their love was expressed in the simple act of holding signs, shouting welcome, and cry tears of joy. It is hard for me to into words the joy I felt. The image of that moment is etched into my mind. I will forever be grateful for outpouring of their love.

After sometime of catching up and showing off Sophia we retreated to the baggage claim. We concluded after they shut down the converyor belt and turned off the lights that our bags didn't make it to Nashville. However, a very helpful woman who worked in baggage claim informed me that at least two out of three of my bags were in route to Nashville. I was also informed that if I waited, and my third bag didn't show, they would mail it to me. So, I we waited. When the flight containing some of our luggage arrived I went to the conveyor to wait. God blessed us with the quick arrival of all three bags. And then we were off. We stopped at my mom and dad's for a late night snack (which was actually our lunch and supper) and then we headed home. A very tired, Sophia, was asleep when we got home (very late) and we put her in her little bed. After a little unpacking I laid down and reflected. Months of waiting, frustration, and prayer had finally come to fruition. Our little girl is home.