On our honeymoon in 2004, Kim and I went to one of the natural wonders of the world – the Grand Canyon. Seeing the Grand Canyon was spectacular and majestic. Now, seven years and two kids later, we went to another of the natural wonders located right here in Zambia – Victoria Falls. Measuring at 360 feet high (not that we ever saw the bottom of the Falls!), Mosi-o-Tunya (or as well call them, Victoria Falls) is the largest waterfall in the world. If the Grand Canyon reveals the majesty of God, Victoria Falls reveals the power and might of God. It was truly awe-inspiring. I’m not even sure how to capture in words what it was like to experience the Falls. Maybe the pictures below will capture what I can’t. But I can say this: it was one of the most fun, enjoyable and incredible experiences of my life. Thank you God for the opportunity to experience Victoria Falls.

One quick and funny (now) story. Baboons run free throughout the national park at the Falls. We were just standing there, taking a break, when one of the baboons ran up and tried to rip Kim’s skirt off! She, of course, screamed. Jeremiah panicked that it was after his fruit snacks. With the screaming, the baboon ran off. A few seconds later, park security came up to us, having seen what just happened. One of the guys looked at me and said that if it comes back, and then, with a hand motion, demonstrated a punch. At first, we thought he might be joking. Nope. That was his recommendation. If the baboon came back, he wanted me to punch it in the face! Fortunately for PETA, it never came to that.

PS> My favorite of the pictures below is the one of Kim and I with our feet in the Zambezi. We were, literally, just 30 feet north of the Falls with our feet in the river. What a cool experience.

Victoria Falls

We gave you a few teaser pictures before. But here is a real album of our new family.

Meet Charis

On May 12, the day before we brought Charis to be with us, we officially introduced Jeremiah to his new sister. It was also the first time we shared the name with anyone. Jeremiah, here is your baby sister!

On Friday afternoon, our friends, the Larkins told us that the previous day, they met the women’s soccer team from Eastern University at House of Moses! Now, Eastern is the school where I am pursuing my PhD (yes, the dissertation will get done… eventually). But how cool is it that they are in Zambia at the same time as us?

Yesterday (Saturday) the team played an exhibition game against the Red Arrows, a professional women’s team here in Lusaka. We went to the game, me with my Eastern hoodie on. As the team was warming up right in front of us, I shouted, “Go Eastern!” Surprised does not do justice to the look we received from the girls to see people their to root for them! It was a good game with both teams earning tough goals in the second half and the game concluded with a 1-1 tie.

After the game, I asked the coach if I could address the team briefly, which he kindly permitted me. I introduced myself and Charis. I thanked them for their ministry at House of Moses, the place where we met our daughter. Who knows how their ministry of playing with the kids is even now preparing other of these kids to join their forever families in the future. Thanks again girls! On behalf of my daughter, thank you!

The Eastern girls are here for another week. They left today for Livingstone where they have another game schedule plus, I’m sure, a trip to Victoria Falls! You can follow their trip here.

PS> As a bonus to this post, here are what everyone really wants to see: a couple of pictures with Charis!

“What’s that?” Honestly, I couldn’t even believe the question Jeremiah was asking. How could he not know what that is?!? He had just walked into Kim and my bedroom and picked up a pacifier we had sitting there! And he asked, “What is this?”

How could you not know what a pacifier is? Dude, you wouldn’t go to bed for the first couple of years of your life without one! You would start to calm down, be ready to fall asleep, then come to full alert, “Where is my ‘afier go?” You would put it in your mouth and then immediately be out. It’s only been a couple of months ago since you reluctantly (read: unwillingly/unvoluntarily) gave it up. And now you don’t even know what it is? You crack me up kid! I love you little mister!

Kim, as best as we could, put into words, the whole range of emotions that accompanied that call to go and pick up our daughter immediately. We jumped in the taxi and raced over there. I wanted to share briefly what my experience was like…

We arrived at the orphanage and were warmly greeted by several of the workers. Kim was immediately pulled into a conversation and I made my way to the room where our daughter was waiting for us. I took off my shoes (they had a no shoes in the kids rooms rule) and took a couple of steps into the room. My heart was racing. Every other time I walked into that room, I left the way I came… empty-handed. This time would be different. She was leaving with us.

As I took those first couple of steps into the room, my eyes were fixed on her crib. Three steps in, I see her face up against the rails of the crib. We made eye contact and she began to giggle with excitement. I beamed with anticipation. Just then, Jeremiah called me. He needed help getting his shoes off so that he could come into the room as well. As i turned back to help him, the excited giggle turned into a sorrowful cry as I stepped out of her line of sight. She couldn’t believe I was leaving already. After I took off Jeremiah’s shoes off, I once again turned toward her. And, once again, as soon as we made eye contact, she began to giggle with excitement.

For the rest of my life, I will cherish those precious giggles. They were the giggles of a girl about to join her family. They were giggles of a girl who knew already my deep love for her. Thy were the precious giggles that matched my excited tears to know that, finally, she was my daughter.

We made it!  We have our beautiful daughter here at home with us!  She fits right into our family…just goes with the flow and is sleeping peacefully in her pack ‘n play next to our bed as I finally take a deep breath and write this post.

So, you’re probably wanting to hear some details:)

At 3:45 this afternoon, after a crazy and exciting day for the Larkin family, we finally were told…go get your daughter right now…you have to be there before 4:30 or you won’t be able to get her until Monday…I’m coming with the papers.  So, we ran down the road to get a taxi and raced to the House of Moses to get there just in time.  What a joy to be able to celebrate with the family that we have grown to love at HOM!

So, we officially began fostering Charis Gift Jeantet and have filed for her adoption.  Charis means “grace” in Greek and Gift was the name given by her birth mother.  So, she is our “gift of grace”!  She is 1.5 years old and an absolutely beautiful little girl. We have a long ways yet to go, but she is with us, and for that we are grateful. Continue to pray that God would watch over us throughout our rescue mission and enjoy a few pictures!

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PS> We are going to keep pictures at a minimum during the fostering period, but we know everyone wanted to see our beautiful girl!

It’s a girl! Today is the day we have been waiting for. Our daughter has been officially cleared as eligible for adoption. She is not yet with us, but we hope to have her in our arms by Friday. Thank you for praying and for your support. We are grateful. We will share more soon (like a name), but we wanted everyone to know that a beautiful little girl will be joining the Jeantet family very soon. Our rescue mission will be a success.