Stay Alert: Ordinary Angels on the Highway (Part 1)

Throughout this journey on "the Adoption Highway" there have been people, some known to us, others complete strangers, that we call ordinary angels.  They have become woven into the pages of our story.

Among the most notable are our intake manager and caseworker at Gladney Center for Adoption.  I have dubbed them my "heroines" because they have time after time swooped onto the scene and saved the day for me.  Their tireless commitment to processing our paperwork and answering my sometimes endless questions has been remarkable.

Angie and Beth, you are blessings to me.

Thank you for always making time for me and my family.  Thank you for the guidance and the  unending hope.  Thank you for an undying and faithful commitment to the orphans.

Other ordinary angels encountered along the way include, but are not limited to:

• the sweet lady at the Secretary of State Building in downtown Raleigh...an agent who did her job lovingly and was willing to go the extra mile to process paperwork that we needed right away.  
• the postal worker at our local post office who showed genuine interest and concern in getting our mail delivered exactly to where it was going, exactly when it was expected to arrive
• a personal banker with a soft spot for adoption who offered to notarize a document for us even though we did not have an account at her bank
• the pesticide company service technician who struck up a conversation one day and shared his heart for adoption with me
• the security guard at our local USCIS Field Office in April of 2011 who escorted us to an agent for fingerprinting on a day when they were too busy to accept walk-ins
• our pediatrician who met me at the bank during his lunch break to get health statements for our children notarized because the notary at his practice had a stamp that was about to expire
• Gladys, an El Salvadoran ray of sunshine, who offered to help with the Thunder and Lightning when they finally come home
• each friend and family member who wrote a letter of recommendation for us and took on the responsibility of having it notarized
• those who have taken my children to school when I have needed to be somewhere to do something with someone to complete some part of this paperwork
• every one of my new found cyber friends who sent a message to my inbox at various times throughout the year

Thank you...each and every one of you.  Whether you know it or not the seeds of kindness you planted have grown tall in our memory and you will not be forgotten.

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."  Galatians6:2