A special gift

One day, in the midst of a particular hard week amidst the wait, I went to the mailbox and found a priceless gift from a friend.

I'm not quite sure how to begin to explain why this gift was so special.  First it was the unmovable words of encouragement written on the package's outside. 

Yet the tears came as I opened its contents and saw these:

Ethiopian Coffee and an Ethiopian cross . . .straight from across the ocean and Ethiopia itself.

I'm not sure what meant more to me: the gifts, the encouragement, and reminder of her prayers and support as we wait? Or the very simple fact that this dear friend thought of me, and sent this, amidst her very own hard chapter in their own adoption journey.

The other priceless gift was the story she then shared: that this very cross she had held in her hands within the walls of Hannah's Hope, the transition home our child will wait for us in, and prayed for our family, our child and our story and for God's continued faithfulness in it.  It is a reminder for me to not grow faint in our prayers, discouraged in our hope, or forget God's faithfulness every step of this journey . . .even when the end seems far off.