Day 4: A Roller-Coaster Ride

Tuesday morning, we woke up a little bit nervous. We were the first group with our agency to have to appear before the judge in person, so we weren't exactly sure what to expect. We all got ready, rode over to the court house, and found ourselves in a large room that had chairs lining the walls. Everyone there was someone playing a part in an adoption. We found out that this was the same place Isaiah's birth father had to come to speak before the judge.

We all sat in a chair, waiting for our turn. After about 20 minutes, the judge's assistant started calling the names of families in our group. One by one, they would go into her office and come out about two minutes later with big smiles on their faces. We were the last family called. We went into the office and sat down in the chairs. The judge was sitting at her desk, looking at Isaiah's file. She asked us questions like "Have you seen him?" and "How do you other kids feel about this?" Her last question was, "Do you want to proceed with this adoption?" We said, "Yes!" She finished with, "Then it is finished. He is yours!"

I don't think it hit me right away. We walked out of that little room, officially the parents of Asrat Tadu, soon to be known as Isaiah Tadu LeFevre. We headed straight over to the CWA Transition Home to drop off the other families before going to the orphanage where Isaiah is living. When we saw him this second time, he seemed to recognize us a bit. He wasn't quite as scared at first.

Here, Isaiah sees his nanny upstairs on a balcony. We could tell he loves her.

We fed him again; then it was close to his nap time. The nurse led us upstairs to this little room on the second floor. We passed his bed/play room. Then, we passed another room for older children. They were already in their beds for rest time. It started to hit me that Isaiah was ours, but that he was going to have to stay in this place. Right then, my emotions started to surface. I got a knot in my stomach and a panic feeling began to rise in my heart. We entered this little room with two double beds. There was already another family hanging out on the other bed, so we had to share the space.

In the video, you can hear the other family, too. :)

We tried to make the best of situation. We played with Isaiah on the bed, and I had to hold in my emotions since there was another family three feet away!

Here, we showed him his brother and sisters again.

After about 20 minutes, the other family left, leaving us to ourselves. I pretty much lost it. The reality was too much for my heart to bear. I was battling in my heart. I wanted to love him completely while we were here, yet I also knew we had to leave, so I wanted to hold back. Ugh. It was hard.

Before we knew it, CWA was here for us, so we had to go. As I climbed into the van, I looked at the other moms. We all had tears in our eyes, and I just cried. I think we were all affected the same that day. Helen from CWA assured me that we would be back soon. But, at that moment, soon wasn't soon enough.

The rest of the day, I kept thinking that I should be thrilled. This moment for which we had waited was finally here. Isaiah was legally ours! However, it was just hard because we were here, yet we couldn't take him home. Again, it was just a rollercoaster day.

What made it even tougher was that our friends who stayed in our guest house were leaving that night. This made us really want to leave as well. Staying here just prolonged the struggle.

We were able to participate in yet another coffee ceremony.

Here, I'm drinking my third cup of coffee!

Shannon and Mark

Chris and Meggan

One event of the day that made our hearts happy was the soccer ball adventure. There had been a group of young boys who played on the road outside of our guest house. They found a special place in the hearts of the dads. Chris ended up promising them a soccer ball that night. So, the guys all went on a treasure hunt for a good soccer ball. They ended up finding one (and Chris G. was able to buy one for their son, too!), so they were excited to give it to the boys that night.
Chris was hoping to be able to play soccer with them at some point during the rest of our stay, but we were not able to reconnect with them. But, it was a treat to give something to them that they would probably not be able to get otherwise. Maybe we will be able to connect with them when we return.

We went to bed that night, praying for strength to finish out our trip and hoping the rollercoaster was going to head back up.