Thursday, December 22, 2011

"Getting to know you ~

~ getting to know all about you." 

Last night, we had  our first "meeting" phone call with the Fantastic Five and it went amazingly well..miraculously well in fact. They really are a fantastic group of five kids and  we are shaking our heads once again in astonishment of God's grace and goodness over all this. We directly attribute how well it went to the many people who have been and continue to be praying for our family. Words are insufficient to express how grateful we are for the prayers of the Saints. We love you!

The phone call lasted about 45 minutes and we broke away only because it was past their dinnertime and they were hungry! Now  I am always nervous meeting people for the first time...always...but I was especially nervous last night because of how much I felt was riding on making a good first  impression. But David...and Sarah who is home for Christmas and sat in on the call... said the only way you could really tell was by my body language, so thankfully it was not a video call!

After ALL this time, it was SO amazing to hear their beautiful voices. They speak English, but with a musical Kriol accent  that is just enchanting to listen to. Without having the benefit of video plus them being being on a speaker phone, it was sometimes difficult to understand what they were saying and who was talking especially when they would get excited and all start talking over top of each other (SEE OUR BIG GRINS HERE!!)  but by the end of the call we were getting pretty good at able to distinguish who was who. I recorded part of the conversation so we could share it with our other kids and also re-listen to it to pick up what we missed in the initial call and it just makes our hearts sing every time we hit "play."

The kids all started out by calling us Miss Reginia and Mr. David and after about 20 minutes they asked if they could start calling us "Mom and Dad" (hmmm...let me think about that... YES!!!) and would respond to our questions with "Yes,  Mahder or Yes, Fahder"...it was totally heart-grabbing adorable and we were on cloud nine! It was a great time of getting to know each other ...they all have nicknames...we have a "Runner" "Firefly" "Grandpa", "Trouble"  and "Kah Fah" ...a Kriol word they didn't translate and of course I have no clue  how to spell. They shared their favorite foods (PIZZA!) and colors ( pink, blue, and gold) and  hearing their laughter just sealed the deal that these kids were truly meant to be in our family. They are all very excited that we will be coming down to visit them in January and we set up another appointment to call them again next Wednesday, same time. This time, we'll include our Youngers in on the conversation. We didn't want to overwhelm them too much at first!
When it was time to end the call, they all started shouting..."I love you Mom and Dad" and they were blowing kisses to us...BLOWING KISSES!!! Is that not the hand of God or what?

Now, we're no stranger to the fact that this is the "honeymoon stage." And most definitely the care and upbringing that these kids have had so far in this amazing , unprecedented Liberty Children's Home  AND being loved-up on so well by the incredible Director of Liberty, Delfena Mitchell has had the most impact on how well the children are doing. They have been preparing them for this adoption for quite some time, so their hearts are more open and ready to receive a family. And not just any family, but Because of His Grace...it is OUR family. Thank you, Lord  for entrusting this wonderful blessing and opportunity to be the family for these precious children You love so much. We stand in awe of Your grace and mercy to us all.


1 comment:

  1. Regina & David ~ How wonderful it was to hear your excitement following that awesome phone call. How long you have waited for God to show you the way to these children who will change your lives yet again with 5 times the love and happiness you all deserve. We are eager to visit again and see your excitement in action. Big hugs from NJ.

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