The day we got “THE CALL”
We began 2017 updating all of our paperwork for the Ethiopia program and we end 2017 with photos of the most beautiful baby boy in India on our family Christmas card.
God has done amazing things. Miraculous things. Things that my heart has pondered for months. Things that I still cannot believe actually happened.
There is so much to share and not enough time to do so. There are limitations for what I am legally able to share (like his beautiful face! We can’t share until he’s legally ours). I also have some guardrails regarding aspects of Malachi’s personal story that I will never share over social media. It’s his story to tell when and if he chooses. Not mine.
With that being said, I had some time today to pray and reflect. I thought a lot about the day we got THE CALL about Malachi. I wanted to share parts of that story with you guys who have followed our journey for almost 6 years now!!
September 6, 2017
It was around 6:30 pm. We were scheduled to leave the next morning for Indianapolis on a church plant mission trip. The kids were scurrying around the house. My mom and I were in the kitchen. My phone battery had died earlier so It was on the charger in my bedroom.
As I stirred potatoes on the stove I heard my phone begin to ring. I remember walking down the hallway thinking, “I wonder who that is because Lee and Mom are both here with me.” As I approached the phone I could tell It was a number that wasn’t saved in my phone and It was out of state. I picked up my phone and almost silenced It. Then I noticed the state was Maryland. I remember thinking, “Maryland is close to Virginia (the state where our agency is located) so maybe I better answer this just in case.”
Honestly, in that moment I still didn’t think It was THE CALL. One reason was because It was 7:30 eastern time and our agency closed at 5 eastern. Two, because I had saved our agency’s number and set a specific ringtone so I would KNOW when they were calling!
But I answered.
“Hello”
“Hi Abby! This is E. (our family coordinator) I am so sorry to call you at this time of night. Things just happen in India at different times than here in the States.”
At this point... I’ve basically stopped breathing. Was this the phone call i had waited on for almost SIX years?
I slowly sat down on the edge of my bed and clung tightly to every word she uttered. I waited for her to say something I had always imagined. Something like “this is your referral call” or “I’m calling to talk to you about a little boy.”
But she didn’t.
Instead she said, “I have a scenario that I want to run by you guys. There is a child who borders the special needs you were open to. I would like to tell you what his special needs are, give you the night to talk and pray, and then let me know tomorrow whether you want to review the full file or not.
Is Lee around or somewhere that he can talk?”
I’m stunned. I didn’t know what to think or feel.
“Yes, he is here at the house. Can you hold on while I get him?”
I walk halfway down the hallway and yell Lee’s name. He responds, “yeah?”
“Can you come back here for a minute? It’s E. on the phone.”
I knew when he heard her name that he would know.
He came around the hallway corner with the biggest grin on his face like “oh my goodness!!”
I quickly said, “its not exactly a referral. She wants to go over some special needs with us tonight.”
We both sat down on the side of the bed. We placed E. on speaker phone. She explained to Lee what she had told me already. This child had special needs that we were open to but because there was more than one need she wanted to discuss It with us before having us review his file.
A million emotions flooded us when we hung up the phone. Who was this child? Was he our long awaited, son?
At this point we had no info other than his specific needs. No photos. No background.
But we had Jesus.
It was immediately understood between the two of us that we were about to enter into a night long conversation with God!
