There Are No Words

I recently met a man from Ethiopia. My friend who works in another area of our company had told me of this man and his desire to meet me. I felt like I had too much to do to take time and pull away from my desk. However, I wouldn't trade those minutes for anything.

I had to be in that area for another errand that I had to take care of and stopped in. She was happy to introduce me to this gentleman that we'll call “Al”. He asked questions about our travel, flight, hotel, places we hoped to see, and how long we’d be in his home country. His face was aglow as I told him our plans to bring our baby girl home. I always carry pictures of our daughter and asked if he wanted to see them. With great excitement, “yes!” he exclaimed. I told him about our journey and how God had found this baby girl just for us. Al looked at me with huge tears in his eyes and said, “There are just no words. Thank you. Thank you, for taking this baby from my country. You will never know what you have saved her from.”

Without trying to be too nosey, I asked about his life in Ethiopia and what brought him to America. Al’s story was heart wrenching.

Because I never let anyone cry alone, I was all teary when I shook his hand and returned to my office. Those few minutes that I had procrastinated for weeks blessed my heart. I knew that our life would be forever changed because of adoption and, sure her life would be different too. I never thought of the impact it would have on a total stranger.

I may have passed this man a hundred times in our building or others with their stories of suffering and perseverance. How many times do we glare at someone who is dressed differently or speaks with an accent and have very little patience when they are holding up the line at Wal-mart?

God has spared us. By His grace and mercy, we will never know the hardships of living in a refugee camp for years or being forever separated from our family because of war and poverty. We will never see our children starve to death in front of us. We will never experience complete loss of our home and possessions. Because, GOD did more for us than we deserve. God, may we remain forever grateful for your mercy.