Baby Shower Liberian Style!

On May 2,2006 our wonderful church family surprised K (her family is also adopting from AOH) and I with a wonderful Liberian shower. We were both totally shocked and overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and generosity we experienced that evening. The house was decorated with African artifacts, a friend was able to get ahold of 2 authentic African outfits (see below!!), friends prepared African dishes and donated lavishly to our adoption funds . B3 and K's 2 daughters were even able to attend...that also was a surprise. It was great to have our girls participate in this tangible expression of God's care for our families in the midst of our adoption journeys! We were blessed with several matching outfits for B3 and Mercy, Odesco and B4...even matching shirts for all the boys...what kindness was shown!! In addition to enjoying the food, opening gifts and visiting with precious friends, we also had a time of prayer for each of the families...it is a sweet, sweet memory and one day Mercy and Odesco will meet all the wonderful people who participated in this memorable nite'. Below are the touching poems framed by our dear friend, Catherine. The poem on the left is a tribute(written by K) to Hope Nesue who died on 4/12/06 and the poem on the right was written about brother,Jenkins...being adopted by the K family...
check out the "Liberian Cola" also decorating the table :) We have 2 bottles in our refrigerator that we will enjoy upon Mercy and Odesco's arrival.
Below is the cake decorated with pictures of each of our Liberian children.
Enclosed is the poem my friend, Catherine penned for me...as you can imagine, I was all puddles reading this for the first time!! It is pictured below in the frame next to the cake and now sits on our kitchen counter awaiting their arrival~

A half a world away
Sometimes it seems we're so far apart
But half a
world away
is not too far for a journey of the heart

My little ones
I'm waiting for you
My precious daughter, precious son
I know you're
waiting too

A half a world away
My children wait for a family of
their own
While half a world away
I wait to bring them home

My
little ones
I'm whispering a prayer
My precious daughter, precious son,
God's love is with you there.