Homecoming Day

One year ago.

One year ago.

One year ago, sweet Levi, I held you in my arms for the very first time.  One year ago, I met you, saw you, held you, kissed you, cried tears of joy over you.

But one year ago is not when I first loved you.  I first loved you long before I knew you.  I first loved you when God called us to adoption and to the crazy journey it would bring.  We loved you so so dearly that we went through some of the most heartrendingly hard days and nights we've had to endure.  We waited two long years to get a phone call telling us that the wait was over and you were ready to come home.  We cried so many times along the way, wondering on the hardest days if we'd heard God's calling right.  But deep down we knew it was Him who called us to adopt you and that someday He would bring you home to us.  We prayed and waited and trusted (and doubted) and waited and trusted some more.

Precious child, I want you to know that you have never been unloved.  You have never been unwanted.  You have never been an orphan.  In the womb and in hospital, your birthmother cared for you.  She held you and kissed you after you were born.  She loved you then and loves you still.  You came home from the hospital into the warm and welcoming arms of Papa Dave and Gigi Peggy.  They took care of you and kissed you and woke up in the middle of the night with you and took you on road trips and kept you up to date on the March Madness tournament.  And then you came home.  Finally, you came home.

But all during those months - almost a year - while you were growing in your birthmother's tummy and waiting to come home to us (and, truly, even before that!), we loved you, too.  We wanted you and waited for you and prayed for you so fervently.  You are a child of promise, sweet Levi, and God is faithful and good and overwhelmingly gracious in weaving you into our family.  And He is faithful and good and overwhelmingly gracious to grow our family in such a way that we get to love all those extra people, too.

Oh, Levi, we love you.  We are so glad you're ours and we're yours for always.

We loved you before we knew you, but we were so thankful not to have to wait to hold you any longer.

Papa Dave and Gigi Peggy smiled through their tears as they gave you to us, Levi.

 

Rebekah and Laurie visited you in the hospital and did all the paperwork so that you could come home.

Here you are, all snuggled up and ready to come home.

Lucas loved you and waited for you, too, and was so happy when you came home.

Forever family.