I Officially have FOUR Kids!

Today was the final Sentencia in the courts for us to sign on the dotted line and make Nora ours officially.  It’s not all as fancy as that sounds…. the court that you sign in is a room full of desks…. looks like a crowded newspaper office without cubical walls.  Rick actually went without me to sign.  I’m not feeling that great and our guide didn’t think it was a good idea to take the kids downtown at this busy time of the year.  I was good with that.  I stayed home and have been taking any and all cold medications we brought with us! 

When Rick got home he handed me a stack of official papers in Spanish and I read through them the best I could in my Spanglish.  It made me cry all over again.  Why any child would have to go through this is so SAD!  I keep looking at our new daughter… she’s so stinkin’ cute!  And talented… and I’m not just saying it because I’m the momma!  Even her toes are darling.  And she has dimples and wavy hair… not that any of these things matter to me… but they are the icing on the cake.  Every child deserves a home with love and acceptance and I’m so glad she’s in ours!

I had the typical new-mommy fear: What if I don’t think she’s cute?  Rick reassured me that Colombian girls are all cute!  He also reminded me that I didn’t think one of my bio kids was cute either….. but that child has grown on me and now I do!  (No names mentioned!  Ever!)

Nora is spunky… today was the first morning that she woke up before me… at 6:30!  She came jumping in on our bed and kissed me and said her only line in English, “Good morning, Mama!”  She wakes up happy.  She goes to bed without too much of a hassle!  But even if she didn’t, we would still love her to pieces.  In our adoption training, we heard worse case scenarios that had us holding our breath waiting for weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Our transition has been so much better than we could have hoped for.  I do realize this is the honeymoon phase and her true colors will shine at home in a month or so, but I expected so much more trauma!  I’m thankful!

Last night I used google translate to ask Nora a bunch of questions.  I told her that we have been waiting four years for her!  And that we prayed for her that whole time.  I asked her if she prayed to.  She answered in Spanish, “Yes, to Jesus for a family!”  I told her Jesus answered her prayers and ours!  It will be so interesting to get more of her story from her own lips once we are on the same language page. 

I realize her entire life has been changed forever… but so has mine.  I’m a mother of four.  Two girls.  Two boys.  And I get to do ponytails again… and ruffle sockies.  Being a mom is the BEST!

The Bible and Orphans

God’s Promises to the Orphan 
I copied this list from the Uribes Family blog.  They have returned from Colombia with their little man. So adorable.  I love the list because it shows the heart of a relational God.  A righteous God.  

I will defend you.   Ps 82:3  “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;  Ps 10:14  “You are the helper of the fatherless.”

I will rescue you. Ps 82:4 “Rescue the weak and needy;”

I will deliver you.  Ps 82:4 “deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

I will not leave you as orphans.    Jn 14:18  “I will not leave you as orphans;”

I will come to you.  Jn 14:18 “I will come to you.”

I will protect you.  Jer 49:11 “I will protect the orphans who remain among you.”

I will hear you.  Ex 22:22-23  “You must not exploit a widow or orphan.  If you  exploit them in any way and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.”                                        

I will be your Father. Ps 68:5 “Father to the fatherless”

I will put you in a family.  Ps 68:6 “God places the lonely in families”

I will not forget you. Is 49:15-16  “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has born?  Though she may forget, I will never forget  you.”  

I will give you compassion.  Hos 14:3   “…in you the fatherless find compassion.”

I will give you justice.  Deut 10:18  “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow.”

I will come close to you.  Ps 27:10 “Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.”