Saturday, May 21--This is another post that is almost too holy for words...this is the part of the story where Lipily meets her mama and her papa (and we meet the dear friends we had only known online until then), and this blog gets introduced to three very important people in our lives. Scott, Karen, and Lipily would be our travel (and trusting-God-with-the-adventure) partners for the next 10 days.
No surprise here...Tom was snuggled up next to Daddy while we waited for Lipily to be brought to the Family Room. He wasn't smiling at me much yet, but at least he would look at me...
...once in awhile. It's amazing how comfortable he had become with his papa--and so quickly!
The orphanage kids knew what was happening...they were all pretty excited for Lipily! This same exciting day would happen for R and for Laxmi, both below in blue, within the month or so after we left. I often wonder what has happened with the girl in the Spiderman shirt...
This is Nimchemney taking care of one of the babies....
...and Spidergirl playing with another. This is life at Basundhara, and everyone pitches in to help each other!
Up on the balcony, we waited, and our little photographer (Rex) roamed. He did a good job capturing the moment!
Meeting Scott and Karen was something I had been looking forward to with much anticipation! Karen and I had spoken on the phone every other day or so in April and many times each day in May. The back and forth, the should-we-or-should-we-not-go, the praying and fasting together--we had dreamt of being able to be in India together, and it was happening--we could hardly believe it! To this day, I am so very grateful that we were all there at the same time--we each played unique and important roles, and we had so much fun together, too. Great memories, great friends...thank you, Lord!
Scott and Karen had intended to arrive in Orissa the same day as we did, but their plane from Mumbai had been delayed. It was so amazing to finally, finally meet them! When we were in Indiana, they were still at their home in Illinois, and when Hoffbeast forgot his contacts, my dad overnighted them to Scott, who packed them with his things to bring. When we were in England, they were waving at us from across the English Channel in France. And when we were in the air on our way to Delhi, they were flying to Mumbai. But something happened, and they weren't able to continue their travels until a day later. They were obviously disappointed and frustrated that they had to wait, but by the time these pictures were taken, the delays no longer mattered. Their daughter was on her way to them...and to their forever arms.
The amount of waiting pictures on here is supposed to communicate what the wait actually felt like. It felt like it took hours! Looking at this picture makes me realize that Rex wasn't the photographer...I must have given it to one of the kids! :)
More waiting views from the courtyard...
At this point, the three siblings (P and her 2 younger brothers, B and S) went to get their photo album. Up until then, we weren't sure what country they were going home to, but we knew that they were close to meeting their forever family because their names were on the passport site that I checked several times a day.
Turns out that they, too, were going to the United States! Basundhara was, at the time, partnering with 6 different agencies around the world--just 2 in the USA--so we had had no way of knowing where home would soon be for these kids. It's so exciting to know that they are here somewhere and yet again, I am hoping that one day we can see them again. They were so proud to show off the pictures of their new family and their new home! Such sweeties--I'm so glad that they have a family, as older sibling groups often have a hard time finding a home.
And then almost suddenly, Lipily was there, changed back into her pretty purple dress! Holy moments follow....
And in an instant, from not knowing to known. It's amazing. I love this picture of Lipily and Karen...the love in the mama's eyes, and the uncertainty in the daughter's. Within hours--and definitely within days--the uncertainty would fade, and laughter would again fill the face of this precious little girl.
Meanwhile, Hoffbeast and Tom were bonding...one of the sweetest moments of the whole day was when Tom took Daddy's face in his hands and kissed him. Absolutely heart-melting!
Untitled from Hoffbeauty on Vimeo.
Scott and Karen had arrived at the very end of the work day at Basundhara, so they had to decide quickly whether or not to take Lipily with them to the hotel. We had almost settled on leaving Tom there until Monday (The office staff wasn't there on Sundays, so we couldn't take him then.), but when we learned that Lipily was coming with her mom and dad and when we considered the intense liking that Tom had taken to his daddy that day, we decided that bringing him with us then was the way to go. And we never regretted it--in fact, I can't imagine it any other way!
So we went into fast-mode of saying goodbyes and signing papers. We had promised to come back on Monday, so we were able to leave with minimal paperwork this day. Later, we would sit down with the office staff and get all of Tom's official papers. There was a bit of confusion, and when I think about it, there were definitely some tense moments that I don't fully understand (I think that sitting around and taking awhile to do things is probably a cultural thing--maybe especially in the 100 degree heat!), but in the end, we were able to sign the paper and go...and we never looked back!
Soudemani is a beautiful lady, and we are so incredibly grateful for her. Rex liked her, and I think she enjoyed meeting Tom's new big brother. And she sure can make Tom giggle!
She loves Tom--loved him like her own for two years. I have no idea how these women do it, care for these kids until they find forever homes. Some of these children--maybe many of them?--will never be adopted. But others will, and when they leave, it must be beyond painful. Thank you, Soudemani, for loving our son and taking such good care of him. You are right, he is a "happy, happy baby!"
A family pic! :)
S, P, Soudemani, Tom, and B
A few more pictures before leaving for the day...
Laxmi was "seeing" Hoffbeast with her hands...I love that! And I loved her and her beautiful light-up-a-room smile! Absolutely contagious!
And that was our last image from Basundhara that day...a smiling Laxmi. We walked to the car, got in, and drove away. The car ride back to Bhubaneswar seems like a blur to me...I must have been super tired and/or my camera battery died. No photos of Tom's first car ride, but all in all, it went okay because, well, Daddy was there!
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