I could recite all the explanations they've given us, but not one makes sense. As our agency told us, it's mind boggling.
Yesterday Jack and I were out shopping, and he spotted a pink pair of pants. "Mom! I think M would love those!" I smiled and nodded.
A few minutes later he saw some ruffly dresses. "Mom, we should buy those for the girls!"
I smiled again.
"Don't you want to put them in the cart, Mom?"
"Honey, I don't think M, M, and D are going to live with us. Remember, I told you that the Judge said no?"
"Mom, you have to keep hoping if you want it to happen!"
"Oh Sweetie. I do want it to happen, but it doesn't look like they'll be coming."
"Maybe we need to pray more. You know, we haven't prayed about it lately."
I changed the subject, and he forgot. For now.
I couldn't tell him that I pray with every breath, but that I don't pray aloud with him because I don't want him to doubt God. The way I do sometimes.
A few days ago I told Ken that I wanted to buy new linens for the girls' room, the room that will now be an extra room. We're having various guests over the next few months, and I can't bear to have the girly lavender quilts on the beds. They were bought for the girls,and the thought of someone else using them makes me too sad.
It really was the sweetest little girls' room you could ever imagine. The picture doesn't do it justice.
So tonight we removed the girls' quilts and replaced them with gray and white damask quilts. The walls are still lavender; we don't have the energy to re-paint them. It's fine. The room seems drab without the bright pink rug and the polka dot bedding, but it will do. It doesn't scream "little girl room," and that was the main thing we wanted.
D was going to share a room with Jack, so no major changes are necessary in there. The next task will be the clothing. The dressers are full of pajamas, still with the tags on them. Underwear and socks still in the package. Tshirts and jeans and shorts. Dresses and jackets and boots and shoes and hairbows and jewelry and coloring books and Amharic-English dictionaries, and little pink dollhouses and a brand new 10-speed bike in the garage for D, price tag still hanging from the handles.
There's so much to do. So many decisions to make. But not today.
Next week we'll have a conference call with our team in Addis; I guess so they can tell us they tried everything they could and that this journey has come to an end. But until then, I'll hold on to the tiniest sliver of hope. Because we promised M, M, and D we wouldn't leave them as orphans. That we would come for them. And so we can't leave any stone unturned.
