gung ho heart: Coincidentally (day three)

july 9, 2012

6:28pm freetown time

day three

we went to a hospital in freetown today. we started our visit on the malnutrition unit where the twins spent time as 2 month old babies when they were very sick. i was somewhere in the middle of the pack when we arrived and decided to veer right and start at the far side of the unit instead of following the rest of the team. coincidentally the first bed that i came to held twins. coincidentally a boy and a girl. they were 8 months old and could not have weighed more than 7 pounds a piece. their tiny little legs were exactly the width of my pointer finger. their tiny little cries were exactly loud enough to burrow into my heart.

their mother, obviously exhausted with worry, sat perched at the end of their bed. i told her that her children were beautiful, because they were. i told her that i, too, had twins and that they were once patients on that very same unit in that very same hospital. i told her that my twins were now thriving, because they are. i told her that that her babies looked strong, because she needed to hear it. i asked her if i could pray for her and when she looked at me her face softened and she shook her head 'yes' with tears in her eyes. she bowed her head, closed her eyes, took my hand, and for the first time in my life i prayed over someone.

auntie melissa was handing out pictures colored by a rowdy little boy on our flight from london to freetown who she distracted with crayons. coincidentally there was exactly one picture for each patient at the hospital today. we brought suckers to give away as well in hopes that the 'sweets', as they called them, would bring smiles too. when we returned to the guesthouse this afternoon 3 children chased our bus up the hill toward the gate, playfully waving at us. i asked melissa if she had any suckers left and she disappointingly voiced that there was only 1 left in the bundle. her hand reached into her backpack and coincidentally came back out with 3.

i wish that i could tell you that i have always been 100% sure that adopting was right for me. i wish i could say that adding 2 more children for a total of 4 in our adoptive family was an easy decision for josh and i to make. i wish that the first question i asked was "is that all? just four??" and not "are you kidding me? how in the hell are we going to do this?" i wish i could say that last night before i went to bed i said thank you, and not please. but i didn't.

i said please and this morning i got to see firsthand just how far the twins have come. i said please and 2 times today, one for each child added my my family, i was reminded of God's provision.

you know... coincidentally.

dear god,

thank you.

love,