After our introductions and sharing hugs, we gave Tariku's grandfather a photo album filled with pictures of Tariku from the time we got his referral to the last photos we received right before we left to come here. As he looked at the cover photo he smiled this huge smile and he flipped through the book and so happy said Tariku's name over and over and over while kissing each picture. Tiny tears snuck out of the corner of my eyes to see the love... Pure love he has for precious Tariku. His eyes were so happy and we could feel the love.
We sat down and as we talked we were surrounded by other family and people from the village. They listened and looked intently as we talked and shared. We learned so much about Tariku and about his birth, his family, circumstances, etc.... All details that are private and are Tariku's story. We won't share the details as that is for Tariku to do if he chooses. Tariku's name means history....and he was named history internationally because of what was going on, and that history is what makes 'his story'. This is for sure... Tariku is loved deeply by his family and they have ensured his care and are so happy to meet the family that will be Tariku's.
We were told what a blessing this all is. What a blessing we are for adopting Tariku as our son. Will did all of the talking and I asked just a couple of things, but Will did share that we cannot have biological children and how blessed we are that God has brought us together to be a family with Tariku. Will also shared about Ethan and just how excited he is to have Tariku as his brother.
This is the part of the conversation when both will and I got emotional. God knows our history before we do. Events may be good or bad, but God knows them. I know that God created Tariku just for you. He created Tariku to be yours, He was destined to be yours before he was born. And I thank God for that and for you. The grandfather prayed many blessings on us, on our home, on Tariku on our family... Today was not expected and today was blessed by God and that we got to meet.
Oh I wish I could share more of the beautiful details but those will remain private. We took some pictures, we did more hugs, we promised to send updates and more photos as often as possible. We told him how much we love Tariku and how much he is loved by our family and friends.
We wish time could have stod still. We wanted to hang onto this time, these moments...the visual photography we have in addition to the ones we could capture on film are forever etched in our minds. Tariku will have photos in his room from our visit...and he can see this special tree and know where he came from and just how much he is loved. We can't wait to take him back to meet his family one day.
We drove back down that foot path, back down the dirt road, down the main paved road and our hearts were overwhelmed. A part of us stayed in that village, and a big part of that village rooted itself deep in our hearts.
As we drove to Hawassa where we spent the night, we reflected on the visit, saw more people walking to get water and looked back on our long journey to this point. We are starting to see the big picture...Like a painting slowly being unvailed. We see God at work, and that he has been at work this whole time. We can see that even though we have had an excruciating long wait, there is a plan within it.
We have seen beauty rise from ashes. We will see the fullness of God....I know it.
We sat down and as we talked we were surrounded by other family and people from the village. They listened and looked intently as we talked and shared. We learned so much about Tariku and about his birth, his family, circumstances, etc.... All details that are private and are Tariku's story. We won't share the details as that is for Tariku to do if he chooses. Tariku's name means history....and he was named history internationally because of what was going on, and that history is what makes 'his story'. This is for sure... Tariku is loved deeply by his family and they have ensured his care and are so happy to meet the family that will be Tariku's.
We were told what a blessing this all is. What a blessing we are for adopting Tariku as our son. Will did all of the talking and I asked just a couple of things, but Will did share that we cannot have biological children and how blessed we are that God has brought us together to be a family with Tariku. Will also shared about Ethan and just how excited he is to have Tariku as his brother.
This is the part of the conversation when both will and I got emotional. God knows our history before we do. Events may be good or bad, but God knows them. I know that God created Tariku just for you. He created Tariku to be yours, He was destined to be yours before he was born. And I thank God for that and for you. The grandfather prayed many blessings on us, on our home, on Tariku on our family... Today was not expected and today was blessed by God and that we got to meet.
Oh I wish I could share more of the beautiful details but those will remain private. We took some pictures, we did more hugs, we promised to send updates and more photos as often as possible. We told him how much we love Tariku and how much he is loved by our family and friends.
We wish time could have stod still. We wanted to hang onto this time, these moments...the visual photography we have in addition to the ones we could capture on film are forever etched in our minds. Tariku will have photos in his room from our visit...and he can see this special tree and know where he came from and just how much he is loved. We can't wait to take him back to meet his family one day.
We drove back down that foot path, back down the dirt road, down the main paved road and our hearts were overwhelmed. A part of us stayed in that village, and a big part of that village rooted itself deep in our hearts.
As we drove to Hawassa where we spent the night, we reflected on the visit, saw more people walking to get water and looked back on our long journey to this point. We are starting to see the big picture...Like a painting slowly being unvailed. We see God at work, and that he has been at work this whole time. We can see that even though we have had an excruciating long wait, there is a plan within it.
We have seen beauty rise from ashes. We will see the fullness of God....I know it.
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