Traveling Together

One of the greatest blessings of adoption thus far - and one I never anticipated - is the deep friendships I've forged with fellow travelers. I am continually awed and humbled by the strong faith and profound insight of the families we've gotten to know on this journey.

This past week Tim and I relished the much anticipated opportunity to finally be face-to-face with some of these new friends. Allie and Jeremy Brannon, along with their adorable sons Iain and Cory, made the long drive from Georgia to Pennsylvania to spend a few days with us!

Allie and I began corresponding last summer via email and quickly discovered that we share far more than a love for our Rwandan babies. Due to an uncanny commonality in hobbies, interests, talents, worldviews, and personalities, our friendship has become an invaluable source of encouragement, comfort, and fortitude through the longs months of waiting. I never knew I could form such a strong bond with someone I've never officially met!

After so many hours of online communication, being face-to-face with Allie was a wonderful treat! Between exploring the sights of Lancaster County, watching our kids bond over toy trains, and talking late into the night, our precious time together flew by all too quickly. Saying goodbye was tough, and the last few days of Brannon withdrawal have made me even more grateful for the memories we made during our visit.

One of the highlights of our time together was the Rwanda Mamas dinner. Oddly enough, in our little PA county there are several other families adopting from Rwanda, so we all met at a restaurant and traded adoption stories. It was inspiring to hear the diversity of paths that led each of us to this place, and a powerful reminder of God's multi-faceted methods for shepherding us in the right direction.

(From left: Me, Laurel Greer, Allie Brannon, Amy Shepherd, Sue Mitchell, Keri Altland, Vickie Hoover. And behind the camera, the lovely Heather Hohenwarter. Thanks, Heather!)

I could write for hours about all the fun, humorous, and poignant moments of the past week, but I'll let my pictures speak a few thousand words for me...

Feeding ducks at Lititz Springs Park:

Bonding over music:

Allie made these adorable shirts for all the kids to wear together. Notice the button over Rwanda!

On Saturday we rode the Strasburg steam engine and spent the day at Cherry Crest Adventure Farm:

Cutie pies in matching Africa shirts!

All of our kids are book lovers like their Mommies. Here, Jeremy does storytime for the whole clan.

Sweet end to the visit: Hershey's Chocolate world, followed by some play time at Cocoa Castle.

Now, time to start planning a trip to Georgia...