Jake meets Solomon

So, I was lying wide awake in bed this morning around 3am because I knew Jake would be meeting Solomon for the first time, around that time (which is 9am Ghana time). There was no way I could sleep....I had my phone in my hand, just waiting for something. Sure enough, a little while later the text messages came flying in! Here they are, from Chris who watched the meeting unfold:

4:02am He is doing great, this is Chris, he went right to Jake, very happy and outgoing, your book was a huge hit, everyone loved it!

4:07am Yep, going great, both Jake and Solomon haven't stopped smiling, his mom is good, you can tell she is a little sad, but good. His parents are young.

4:17am He is around JJ's size. Nobody really knows how old he is. Between 3 and 4 and has lots of personality.

I laid there in bed, just crying and praying and trying to picture it all in my head. I can't wait to meet him, and to hug his mom. I haven't been able to fall back to sleep, so I thought I might as well get up and do something. :)

Jake found out a lot more about Solomon yesterday from Pastor Sam. The main thing is that he does not speak English. He speaks a language spoken there by the other villagers, which Pastor Sam knows how to speak as well. Jake and I laughed when we talked about him not knowing English because now we can say God was preparing us for this by not having JJ really talk until last month! We definitely know how to communicate without using actual English words! His parents do not speak English, and cannot read or write. Solomon is not in a school of any sort....so the one listed on his info sheet was actually more of a type of orphanage which they call a 'school'. It sounds like it is a place set up by the social welfare system where he can go for meals, baths, etc. The social welfare system there is able to help these children whose families are in poverty-stricken situations. Pastor Sam told Jake that Solomon is very smart and athletic! He said that he will catch onto the English language pretty fast. Pastor Sam told Jake that from this point it is most likely going to be about 3 months from now until we can travel back to Ghana and bring Solomon here (due to the amount of time it takes to finish all the paperwork, get Solomon's visa, etc). Pastor Sam and his wife are considering taking Solomon in with them for the last month of his time there.....to begin preparing him for the big transition....because everything here is going to be a major shock. I am sure you can imagine. Solomon has one older sibling who is 5 or 6.

Another text from Jake just came in:

Jake says: He can count to 100 in english.

Okay. I don't even know if I could count to 100 right now. I am so excited! I better try to get back to bed. More later.