Reflecting, Part 2

Isaac, 7 and Linda, taken by Malachi just minutes after we were introduced to our new son

God Who is so rich in mercies and blessings and Who gives us far more than we could ever imagine had written a Part 2 to the story of my Dad's Homegoing and just like He aligned thestars and planets, so he aligned our Isaac Sang Thai's homeCOMING.
We'd been caught up in a suspension on adoptions in Cambodia which caused a lot of waiting and uncertainty but in all that God was working what I love to call our personal "5 Loaves and 2 Fishes " story. Several months after he'd been home, our 5 year old Noah in falting newly learned English, told us that at the orphanage he had a friend, Sang Thai who was not his brother, but was like his brother there. He asked "You go 'dopt him too?". Charlie, Jael and I all remembered just who he meant: they were together almost all the time when we were at the orphanage. As we poured over our photos of our trips, we saw that photos of Noah and Isaac were "everywhere" and as Noah talked more and more about their close bond, we knew we had to ask! I had to learn to write effective letters to the heads of the Cambodian Ministries which oversaw adoptions. Our family was already too large for their standards. We requested an exception of policy to be allowed to reunite the two boys we'd separated. Reqest denied. Appeal sent. Appeal denied. Our second denial came on Sept 11, 2003. Our next appeal was sent on September 18, our wedding anniversary. On November 21 a new anniversary date was created when we were granted permission to come to Cambodia and complete the adoption of 7 1/2 year old Sang Thai! I'd planned to take 15 year old Malachi with me for this trip and we thought we'd be home before Christmas. NO. Due to the Chinese New Year travel rush, all airline tickets were sold for every seat on every plane which could get us to a connection into Cambodia (together: coming or going home) from mid November until February 17!!!!!! On February 19, 2004, my birthday, Malachi and I arrived in Cambodia, were taken to our hotel and our new son brought to us , just in time to go to the Ministry offices for our Giving and Receiving Ceremony. YES! God blessed me, blessed us, with a new son on my birthday, the 5th anniversary of Daddy's Homegoing! Would I have preferred a quick flight in fall of 2003? You Betcha By Golly WOW! I would ! But how very precious and special that God worked things out as He did.........we "managed" to wait through the winter , checking for openings in any airline schedule that might allow us to go sooner, but God gave me one of the best birthday gifts anyone could ever receive! And asyou can see from our family photos, that was not the end of the story of Smiths adopting in Cambodia............but that's another story for another day!