Home at Last

After 3 very long weeks involving some of the most wonderful and difficult moments of my life, we are at last all under one roof.  My heart rejoices!!  It feels so so right. 


Since my last post, sweet Aliyah was released from the hospital with a whole slew of medicines to administer 3 times a day.  The Dr. wanted to make SURE she could fly out on Monday with no problems.  She improved dramatically.  


Monday was a new day with new hope and eager anticipation of home sweet home.  That morning we visited the Dr. for one last antibiotic injection, ate lunch, and headed for the US Embassy hoping that the Visa would be ready and we could be on our way.  We had learned that the items necessary for Visa processing had arrived that morning so it seemed all should be in place. But of course, we have learned that things are not always as they seem.  After waiting about an hour the woman behind the window proceeded to tell us that they needed to hear from the US concerning some kind of clearance we had never heard of and that we could not have our Visas until the next day.  We were at this woman's mercy and there was very little we could do; so we squished our faces into the most desperate expression we could muster up and flat out begged.  We prayed again.  Maybe like we hadn't prayed before.  This woman said there was no way.  There had to be a way.  We were getting on a plane that night and by this point, there was pretty much no stopping us.  At the same time though, God had given me the word, SUBMIT, from the very beginning of this journey and that, above all else, is what I hoped to do.  He had proven Himself SO VERY TRUSTWORTHY and I knew if this was yet another "obstacle", there would be a very good purpose in it, even if it were not as clear as the detour to the hospital for Aliyah.  After another hour or two we could hear the crickets in the Embassy.  I felt sure the janitors were about to come out and start cleaning.  There was no one there save a guard or two.  What was going to happen here?  The woman came back to the shadowed window.  We could barely see her face through the glare, but I was pretty sure I detected a very important feature.  She smiled.  She handed Emily Drew's Visa and us Aliyah's passport with that ever important page with her VISA.  JOY does not describe how we felt.  Emily, my mom and myself stopped in the empty waiting room and praised God again for His sweet expression of mercy and ultimate control over our journey.


And away we went.  The flight home seemed forever.  Aliyah did quite well.  Prior to our departure, she was extremely congested.  But somehow she breathed her first breath through her nose as we took off.  She had NO issues whatsoever with pain!  We had perfectly timed layovers and absolutely no delays.  We arrived in Austin right on time.

As we got off the plane, it was a shock to find our husbands waiting for us at the gate.  The whole Schulz crew was there to meet their mommy. As my kids were no where in sight I almost broke out in a full out run for baggage claim!  As I descended down the escalator I saw amongst the sweetest crowd of amazing friends, my two beautiful boys.  It was such a sweet moment of loving them and watching them love Aliyah with pure acceptance.  I'm so glad friends caught these moments as I hope to never forget it!


I am so in love with my family!  We are so blessed!  I am in awe of God's goodness to me and the gifts I've been given through them and each of our friends and family.  

So many have shed tears since our arrival and I wonder at that.  What is it about bringing a baby home that stirs such emotion in us?  I've been there myself.  Unable to hold back the tears. I pray it is not some idea of what big hearts these people have to rescue and orphan from a future with little hope.  Instead I hope that there is an odd sense that as this child has been brought out of a dark, dreary orphanage with little she could do to make her own way, that the LOVE OF GOD, that happens to be shown through our hands, came down to show His love towards her and pull her out of that place and into loving arms.  And I pray that the sense would lead deeper still to echo that love that God demonstrates for us in that while were yet sinners, Christ died for us to bring us into His arms and His home and His family.


We are a part of something so much more than Aliyah's story.  It is a picture of God and us and His amazing, beautiful, and gracious love.  


Thanks to all of you for your sweet words of encouragement and posts of prayers.  We have been blessed.