Permanent and Final

"Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the deeps." Psalm 135:6

After all the excitement, today we were able to rest a bit.

Benjamin took an afternoon nap (along with Daddy) and then we spent some time relaxing up on the roof of our guest house. There is a great view of the entire city, and there's also a play room where Mommy and Benjamin played with the fun balls.

We ended the afternoon on the swing. Every time the swing slowed down, Benjamin started rocking back and forth because he wanted to swing BIG. He also liked Daddy's sunglasses. Isn't he so cool?

The one To Do item today was our US Embassy appointment where we were to receive the original copy of Benjamin's birth certificate.

No cell phones. No cameras. No iPods. No electronic devices. No air circulating in the Embassy Offices!

We all took our passports and our babies and sweated our way through the hot and sticky rooms.

The final stage of the Embassy Office journey was a dingy 2nd floor room where we stood before an attendant behind thick glass. We stood there holding Benjamin, and the lady asked us to raise our right hands, swearing that the thick file in front of her was true and accurate. After we thought, "Do you realize how hard it is to raise your right hand while holding a baby?" we said "Yes."

A litany of Yes/No questions followed. With Amy being the one who has facilitated this entire process, Todd just stood there and let her answer. (Not a hard thing for Todd to do.)

The final question was "Do you realize that this adoption is permanent and final?"

We immediately thought "Permanent and final???" "You're asking us if we realize that this adoption is permanant and final??? Lady, you bet this adoption is permanent and final! We haven't prayed like this and come this far for things to not be permanent and final!"

We answered that "Yes, we realize that this adoption is permanant and final." However, as we said those words we wondered if the stoic lady behind the glass realized how permanent and final this adoption actually was.

We walked out with Benjamin and birth certificate in hand resting in the confidence that this was permanent and final a long time ago.

The United States government didn't make Benjamin's adoption permanent and final. The Ethiopian goverment didn't make Benjamin's adoption permanent and final. Our adoption agency didn't make Benjamin's adoption permanent and final. God is the One Who has made Benjamin's adoption permanent and final.

God knew that Benjamin would be a Brady long before the foundation of the world. We'll never understand the mysteries of how God worked, but he knew that Benjamin would have a Mommy and Daddy who would love him and that he would have three fantastic brothers who would share life with him.

"In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:11-12)

Permanent and Final.

God has made it so.

Permanent and Final.