What I was the most clueless about, was how hard everything
would be once she got here.
Today we celebrate GOTCHA DAY. In the adoption world, this is the day that
your adopted child enters your family.
August 15, 2013 Anna was in my arms on US soil. I had imagined that day for so long, prayed
for it and dreamt about it. When she
finally got to those anxious arms I felt only one thing – OVERWHELMED!!! For starters, she was sick when she
arrived. The poor baby slept the whole
trip over which was a blessing to my kind friend Anita who escorted her sick
herself. I spent the first 5 days home
holding a feverish clingy 17 pound 13 month old stranger while the boys stayed
with mom. I should have been well
prepared for this type of beginning but I was scared. Big time.
All the feelings I thought would rush over me the minute I held her in
my arms just seemed stuck somewhere between my idealism and my ignorance.
I was told she was walking in Ghana and when she arrived she
wouldn’t even put pressure on her tiny legs and stand holding onto a chair or
something. I worried about a host of
medical and developmental concerns almost constantly.
I spent some time at counseling trying to sort through these
concerns I was having. Months into the
adoption I felt like I was babysitting someone else’s child and it was DRIVING
ME CRAZY. Could I possibly do this for
17 years? I pushed her too hard to
conquer all of her ‘issues’ way to fast and pushed her away. I began to resent the decision to adopt Anna
and felt extremely guilty about it. This
has been the toughest year of my life.
Fast forward 12 months and Anna is a healthy, beautiful
little girl with a spunky personality.
She loves to be loved and included.
She loves food, laughing and hangin with the boys. She can run very fast and is learning to ride
her tricycle quite well. Her speech is
coming along at a very fast pace and she seems to ‘fit right into our family’
from the words of so many. Today she
told me “Mommy nice, we buddies”. It was
the first time she’d ever said anything like that. It was exactly what I needed to hear.
The theme I’ve been thinking most about these last few
months is just how backwards I had Anna’s whole adoption in my head. I walked into this adoption thinking this
would be a redemption story. A story of
a Christian, American family who felt they had “room in their hearts and family”
for a little girl who had no one. A life
redeemed. How ridiculous.
The real redemption story in Anna’s adoption is how God is
redeeming me through this process from the selfish, faithless, easily angered
and lacking in compassion woman that I was into someone that is still those things, but hopefully, each day, a
little less of them. Anna’s adoption
brought out flaws and weakness within myself that I didn’t know needed fixing
before.
When I look at her today in the morning I don’t have to
force a smile when I walk in the room. It
took much longer than I wanted or expected, but I can honestly say I’m thankful
she is in our family. She is beginning
to feel like my daughter. I can make her
happy without always trying and watching her grow and run and laugh makes me
happy. I’m thankful that she is in our
family and I’m so thankful for God and my husband loving me through this first
year as a new family. It hasn’t been
easy but nothing worthwhile in life ever is.
Happy Gotcha Day Anna….
We buddies.
