Dear Baby Bekele,

Dear Baby Bekele,

As I prepare for bed tonight, it's 10:30 p.m. here, which means it's 7:30 a.m. in Ethiopia, where you lay in your tiny crib on the other side of the globe.  You've probably enjoyed a full night's sleep and I envision you stretching and yawning, fluttering those big beautiful eyelashes as your mezmorizing brown eyes catch the first rays of morning.

And I wonder so much about you, baby. 

I wonder what your day will hold.  Will you be cared for today...fed when your tummy growls, changed when your diaper is full, picked up when you cry?  Will anyone kiss your amazing full lips today or tell you that you're loved?  Will someone stroke your hair or bathe your body?  Will you be held, rocked, nuzzled, spoken to?

I wonder what your personality is like.  Do you coo when you're spoken to?  Are you a serious child or do you smile and entertain {we have yet to receive a smiley picture!}?  Do you cry a lot?  Is it easy to distinguish between your cries when you're hungry, wet, bored, or just generally upset?  Are you a content baby over all?

I wonder how you feel.  Do you feel alone and isolated?  Do you feel loved?  Are you bonding to one particular nanny or are there several nannies you enjoy?  Are the other babies in the orphanage your buddies?  Do you and baby Moses baby talk about your mamas like your mamas constantly talk about you?  Were you sad when Natalie and Caleb and Charlie got to leave with their forever families this week?  Were you confused by the happy tears?  Do you feel the peace that God has given you, allowing you to rest comfortably in His arms while you wait for ours? 

Most of all I wonder if you're ok.  Do you know you have a family waiting for you?  Is there the slightest idea that you have a mommy and a daddy and a brother and a sister and a Nana and a Papa and a Granny and a Poppy and a hundred aunts and uncles and cousins and friends praying you home?  Do you know that you are wanted and longed for in a way that we never realized was possible?  Do you know that WE LOVE YOU more than words can express?

I can't wait to hold you, baby.  To whisper in your sweet ear that we love you so much and that you are so wanted.  To have some of my questions answered and to discover who you are.  To kiss those sweet cheeks and to breathe in your baby smell.  We haven't even met you, baby, and yet, you are already such a part of who we are.  We are praying, praying, praying, sweet boy, for you to get to come home quickly.

And so, as I lay down for bed tonight, I'll close my eyes and dream of your sweet face and all my questions will fade into the distance as I rest knowing that God is in control and is caring for you while I wait for you to be in my arms.