Finally there

Fear. Anxiety. Excitement. Hope. So many mixed emotions competed for my attention. Yet some days, I felt nothing at all. Maybe I subconsciously guarded my heart because too many emotions overwhelmed me. I feared letting my expectations get set too high.

On the other hand, I purposely didn’t let myself set any expectations because I knew God’s plans always trumped mine. I didn't want to miss whatever He had waiting for us because He had a tendency to blow us away.

Now with our flight only days away, the time arrived to find out if, when, and where we could meet Julian. He still lived in the orphanage. He did not start any classes yet, nor did he find a new job. Since the first time we met on the computer, he constantly ran in at least five directions at once. Now his calendar remained empty without a single commitment.

I wrote a letter via e-mail to the orphanage director to request approval for him to leave the orphanage to spend time with us. In my letter, I explained our connection to Julian first. Then I explained our purpose and length of stay in Bogotá.

“We would like to spend as much time with Julian as you will allow us. He is more than welcome to stay with us the entire two weeks, or we can take him back to the orphanage in the evenings if you would prefer. We would like to support Julian in some way as he enters this next stage of his life. Please let us know the best way to help him."

Her response overwhelmed me. Not only did she give permission for Julian to stay with us, as part of our family, for the entire duration of our trip, but she wanted to arrange a meeting for us to discuss his future needs with his psychologist and social worker.

“I think it’s wonderful for Julian to finally have the support of a family.” Wow. She already called us his family.

I fretted over finding our way around the city without a guide, and now, we would have a native Colombian with us at all times. I worried about the possibility of not getting to see Julian, and now we’d get him for fourteen days and nights straight. I thought we might not even step foot in the orphanage, and now we had a meeting scheduled there with the very titles of people that terrified me, the very same psychologist and social worker that Juan David and Viviana shared. These details thrilled me, sent me beyond excited, yet scared me all over again, especially regarding that meeting.

Thankfully, our prayer warriors covered us in prayer that last week before we left. While many of our friends and acquaintances thought us crazy to even go, those closest to us knew God planned to do something huge with our family. We didn’t just plan a random trip over the last six months. God prepared us for this trip over a three-year period, leading us on a painful journey of faith in preparation for how our lives would change over these fifteen days in Colombia. He walked so far ahead of us, we had no idea.

Our last few days sped by us until we finally boarded that plane early Saturday morning, June 4, 2011. I don’t remember a bit of our long awaited flight. Before I knew it, my little boy exclaimed, “I can’t believe it! We’re here! We’re actually here! We’re really in Colombia!”