Last year on January 19, Joshua Gebeyehu was born into our family. Seeing his face via an emailed picture was just as powerful as seeing the faces of my newborn babies as they were placed on my chest immediately after delivery. God had made Joshua so totally alive and real in my heart that when I saw my son's face the bond was instant.
I had agonized the days prior to "the call" about how Chad and I would know if the child that was referred to us WAS Joshua. We had come up with a sensible plan. We would look at the emailed picture, social, and medical information together. If we felt OK with it, we would bring the information to our trusted doctor and ask his opinion. If he felt good about the "match" we would commit and at that time share our news.
In reality I got the call around 10 AM. I called Chad and told him the bits of information our coordinator had told me over the phone and waited for him to return to our office before we opened the email together. I remember staring at THIS picture:
(now I am crying) and wondering how we could ever say no?We dutifully looked over all the information and then I asked Chad, "What do we do now?"
He said, "You call IAN and tell them we would be honored to be this boy's parents. Nothing ANY doctor could say would change the fact that he is our son." (now I am crying more, oh how I love my husband)
I remember calling our coordinator and saying just that. She responded, "Do you love him?"
And to my utter amazement and delight I could honestly respond, "I do!"
I did love him! I did not even know how to pronounce Gebeyehu, but I loved this boy in a way that only God could ordain.
The next 119 days were the longest, saddest, most stress-filled, loneliest, desperate days of my life. If I had not lived them, I would think I was being melodramatic. Being separated from my Joshua was just as painful as having my newborn baby in a far away hospital without me. I felt like I could not even take a full breath.
Until, May 29
when God finally brought me to my Joshua. When I held him, I could breathe again.It was not all easy, far from. But the HARD with him on my hip, has been so much easier than the time between seeing him and holding him.
So tomorrow, I will celebrate. I am so excited about a day filled with Joshua that I may not sleep tonight. I can not wait to celebrate Joshua's birthday!
And just look at how he has changed!
Last week he was sitting in his crib and I quickly took this picture because it reminded me of his referral picture. Can you even believe what a difference one year made?He has gained almost 13 pounds and grown 5.75 inches!
He has learned to walk and run and jump!
He has learned to speak English!
He has learned to love pizza and chicken nuggets and fries!
He has learned to sleep on his own!
But beyond any shadow of a doubt, the most important thing he has learned, is that he has a FAMILY that loves him! (yep, crying again!)
And my Joshua Gebeyehu LOVES his family!
Happy Birthday, Joshua Gebeyehu Chad Dietrich! I love you more than I will ever be able to express. I am so thankful that God chose me to be your mommy! As Brenna told me tonight when I tucked her into bed, "Joshua is the perfect little boy for our family! God DID have a plan! I am so glad he brought us Joshua!"
Thank you God for the gift of my children. My cup runneth over.
