From Jake In Ghana - Pictures of Our Girls!

Jake made it to Ghana yesterday afternoon Iowa time, which was late evening Ghana time. He will be near the Accra area for the first few days of his trip as he files our I-600 form tomorrow, and awaits the rest of our missions team who will be getting into Ghana on Friday. His first stop today after a good night’s rest was to go and visit our girls at their new foster home (Ghana time is 5 hours ahead of us so his day is already half over)! I knew to be expecting some picture texts on my phone this morning around 6am. At 6:30am my body woke me up, I grabbed my phone off the bedside table, and yep – as promised there they were!

Florence must have remembered him, because I couldn’t believe that she let him hold her right away!

Jennifer and her spunky personality!

Lunch time!

That ain’t mac n cheese folks!

Here is what Jake brought for the girls - which he picked out himself in the airport….he does such a good job of picking out gifts so I always leave this part up to him!

I also asked him to find a fun coloring book for Jennifer because I know she loves to color! He ended up getting her a jumbo Dora one that included a bunch of stickers. :) You can see them playing with the things he brought them in the following video. When you watch this, remember they don’t know English, so hang on for a precious surprise at the very end of the video!

 

Love it! It seems that Florence is definitely ‘letting her hair down’ compared to how on edge she was when we met her in March. It makes my heart light to see that the girls are obviously doing so well here at this private foster home. Their bodies look healthier and I see a little spark in them that wasn’t there in March!

Some texting between Jake and I this morning...

Me: Flo let you hold her right away! Yay! Did they remember you easily?

Jake: She came right away. I actually got to put her down for a nap and she went right to sleep and I fell asleep too in this small African house.

Me: No way!! She’s taking a nap by herself? Sweet!

Jake: Foster mom says she likes food and naps!

Me: Yippeee! How was Jennifer? She was looking quite spunky today!

Jake: Yes she is. She is really good friends with the foster mother’s daughter who is about the same age. She is super snuggly as well – has not left my side much. She has a lot of energy!

Me: Did you tell them where I am? Does Jennifer understand? Did Kofi explain it to her?

Jake: Yes and Jennifer is starting to speak better English. She is really, really smart. The foster mother is one of the best young women I have ever met in Ghana and her biological kids are great. Her son’s name is Justice as well and he is super sweet and does a great job helping with Florence. Florence is exactly like Adjoa – whatever she says goes and can she can be kind of naughty in a fun sort of way. :)

LOVE.

After I soaked these pictures and texts up, I opened up my morning devotional. As usual, I had many emotions and thoughts running through me as I thought about our girls. I was ready for the Lord to quiet me down and help me to focus on what is most important. And once again, my devotional was so fitting:

These girls, our daughters, have felt the sting of abandonment and loss by physical people in their lives. But what reassurance to them, and to us in our own brokenness, that the Lord NEVER abandons. Our adoption of them is the evidence that He has not forsaken or forgotten them. He has taken up their cause, and what a privilege to be part of the new story that He is writing in their lives. ♥ ♥