This past week, Adam and I had the most incredible time in the Congo meeting our A & G!! It was so surreal because not only were they meeting us for the first time, but we were meeting a part of our Barnett family for the first time, too… A & G officially have our last name as of about 6 weeks ago.
We felt so blessed to have SO MANY folks praying for this trip. Praying for our travel, our bonding, and our adoption process. And the most incredible thing about all the prayers we received is that not only did we feel them, but they must have far outweighed our wildest imagination! Our trip could not have gone any better!
We arrived early one morning and got settled in our apartment as we waited for A & G to make their way from the foster home. When we got the call that they were waiting downstairs, we immediately dropped what we were doing and raced down stairs to meet them. Luckily we had enough sense to give our phone to our translator to video our first moments together.
So many emotions have built up over the past 6 months as we’ve seen pictures and videos of our future children…it’s been a lot like a pregnancy!!! We’ve had the ultrasounds, heard the heart beats many times, but until you hold that baby in your arms, you’re restless for more.
As we rushed down the apartment complex stairs and turned the corner into the parking lot to see our children for the first time, in person, it was so much like hearing our babies’ first cry!!! It was miraculous, revealing, refreshing, and simply beautiful…..
The first meeting is one of those things you try to imagine and you replay it over and over in your mind…wondering what will it really be like when we meet them. Will they be excited, cautious, or nervous? Will they smile or even understand what’s happening? You try not to be naive to the reality of adoption and how children can act in different situations but our experience was definitely beyond anything we could have hoped for.
As we locked eyes with the children they quickly shot up and took off running towards us…I immediately burst out into a loud cry that sounded like a squeal…I couldn’t help but be in shock as I watched these two beautiful children long to be in our arms. The Lord says in Psalms that “He’s the father to the fatherless & provides families for the lonely.” In that moment I couldn’t help but feel like we were actually being the hands and feet of the Father.
Those first couple hours were so sweet… just coloring, playing games, and communicating through our translator. We all warmed up quickly and enjoyed getting to really see each other and know that we’re all real people and that this is our future, together! The crazy thing for me, as a mommy, was that although I had never met them I felt like I knew them. I already had preconceptions about them from what I had heard and seen in videos and pictures, and most of them were true.
It was like holding your newborn baby in your arms and not fully recognizing their sweet face, but studying every inch so that you could memorize it! We had an incredible moment at lunch our first day as ‘G’ prayed over our food. Although we didn’t know exactly what she was saying she prayed a ‘long’ (for a kid) ‘passionate’ prayer. That was so eye opening for us because, like the quote: “It takes a village to raise a child”, we realized the foster family, who are pastors, are raising A & G so well!!!
We spent half of our second day together after church. Their foster home was far from where we were staying, so Adam and I got to enjoy a local Congolese church with our translator while the children went to church with their foster family.
We then met at our apartment for lunch and our first big adventure…swimming!! A & G had never been to a swimming pool before. When we arrived at the pool A was excited to step into the pool and play on the stairs…little did we know he assumed it was just like taking a bath so he had taken off all his clothes in a matter of seconds!
They were a little nervous but very adventurous and enjoyed floating and holding on to us while we played at the pool. Because the foster home was so far from our apartment, this was the first time we were without our translator for the whole afternoon, evening, and night. Communication wasn’t really that tough. The only time we had issues was when A & G got into a scuffle about (food usually) and we couldn’t determine who was really at fault.
Oh well, kids will be kids! A & G eat well, but the normal Congolese food is pretty different from our western meals. We had the pure joy of watching them enjoy the food we had bought at the grocery store, like grapes, nutella, juice, apples, etc. Our translator had never seen grapes before and they were able to introduce us to a lot of new fun foods as well: mangosteen, lychee, & cassava leaves. We have some incredible footage of ‘A’ eating chicken…he cleans the meat to the bone!
They loved eating, they always cleaned their plates, and enjoyed snacking between each meal, too!! This was one of many things you just don’t really think about or may have a misconceptions about…I’m planning to learn how to make some Congolese meals so we can keep their culture alive in our family, even when they’re home in the US.
Our first incredible moment of bonding was our first night with A & G at our apartment. We tucked them in at the ripe time of 7pm…they were exhausted, and at around midnight, ‘A’ joined us in bed. Previous to his arrival, Adam and I were like parents with a newborn. We checked on them multiple times just to make sure they were covered with the sheets or because we heard a sound. But the moment he jumped in bed with us, we knew we wouldn’t be falling asleep anytime soon.
‘A’ nuzzled up between us and within minutes had his sweet little hand on my face, cupping it. I literally melted…I realized not only was he mine now, but he is our first and only son! What sweetness that moment brought to our lives.
We woke up early the next morning to go to the embassy to submit our I600 documents. Everything went perfectly smooth except me forgetting to fill out one important document. So we ran and did that, and then returned to the embassy to submit our completed file. This step is our final phase of adoption as A & G are already legally ours in the Congo with our last name, however, the US now does it’s investigation to prove they’re true orphans and that they can be issued passports and visas.
That afternoon we took a little walk to a near by basketball court to color with chalk, play with toy cars, and mingle with some other children in our apartment complex. It was fun watching them interact with other children around their age and begin the process of really being a family.
Its very cultural for any adult women or man to be called mama and papa, so it was very sweet to be called by those names all week by both of them. Our final day together we drove out to the foster home to see where they’ve been living and see the foster family and children. The drive was pretty bumpy as the roads were only made of dirt and were very narrow in parts (barely fit a vehicle).
Once we arrived, it was so fun to see all the other children that I know are matched with other families just like us. All the children were very sweet and the foster family is truly inspiring. We had the incredible privilege to pray over the foster parents before leaving and, although this was very special, it started the trend of tears. As I cried tears of joy and compassion over the foster parents, A & G noticed and must have assumed we were leaving, which sadly was true.
They started crying and ‘A’ said, “Papa”, and reached up for Adam, while ‘G’ turned and began walking towards the back of the room. I walked after her and grabbed her. I turned her around and got down on my knees and said, “Tolingi yo, tolingi yo, I love you, I love you!” Then our translator told them we’d be back to bring them home as soon as the government will let us.
We drove off with tears in our eyes and silence for a long while, but broke our silence by thinking about our other two children waiting for us at home. We missed Ellie and Macy and couldn’t wait to be back with them, but more then anything wished we could bring our whole family home that day!
I say all this to say, we had such a blessed, overjoyed, miraculous trip to Congo and we can’t wait to return later this year to complete our family!
Life in the Mystery 
So excited for u. Beautiful things are at hand. Love u. Praying for all of u barnetts