The Desire (28 page)

O
n Saturday morning, it was time to leave Addis Ababa and head for home. They were already at the airport. Allan and Henok were unloading their bags. Michele and Ayana stood on the sidewalk watching, holding hands.

The last few days had been extremely busy. Lots of shopping, cleaning, and setting up the orphanage. It looked totally different than it did when she'd first walked in. With each new purchase and each new item brought into the orphanage, Ayana reacted as any little American girl would at Christmas. She especially loved a doll Michele let her pick out in one of the local stores. She was holding it now. She had never owned a new toy before.

As tired as she was, Michele was torn about leaving. The love born in her heart when God first spoke to her about Ayana had only intensified in the days that followed. It was clear that Allan had experienced the same thing.

Henok had already taught them both some basic phrases. Ayana seemed to pick up English much easier than they were learning Amharic. Yesterday, Henok had explained to her in very simple terms the basic concept of adoption and that Allan and Michele wanted to adopt her and bring her back to
America to be their little girl. Before he'd even finished asking if she would like that, she yelled out “Yes!” in Amharic and began jumping up and down. The only disappointing part of the conversation came when he'd explained they had to leave for home this morning, but that for now, she could not go with them. She was ready to go now.

Henok said he had tried to explain when she would get to go home with them, but she was at that age when children don't clearly grasp the concept of time. But the conversation had ended on a high note when he'd asked her if she would like to call them Mommy and Daddy. Not in Amheric but English. She got very excited about that and instantly wanted to learn.

So, for the rest of the evening until her bedtime and all morning, Ayana had called them Mommy and Daddy, with the sweetest little accent. It had thrilled Michele's heart every time she heard it.

Allan and Henok had just given their bags to the porter. Michele knew what that meant.

“I'm afraid it's time,” Allan announced. Henok extended his hand to say good-bye. Allan took it and drew him close for a hug. “There are no words to express our gratitude, my friend. I cannot believe all that's happened in just a few days. Pastor Ray will be so proud of you when I tell him all you've done.”

“It's been my great honor. You all have changed my life. I feel like I'm living a dream.”

Michele clutched her mini-iPad, which she'd pulled out of her purse moments ago. They had taken tons of pictures and videos over the last few days to show the family back home. But she would need to look at them herself as soon as they stepped onto the plane. Allan walked toward Michele and
Ayana. Michele turned and bent down to face her. “Henok, would you—”

“Of course, I will tell her whatever you say.”

“Ayana, we are so glad God has brought us together. Meeting you has made me so happy.”

“Me too,” Allan said.

“We can't wait until we can come back again to see you. And one day soon, as soon as God lets us, we will bring you home with us for good, to America. You will have your own room, right next to ours. And you'll have lots of relatives that all live nearby. Remember the pictures I showed you in here?” She pointed to her iPad. “Grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.” Henok translated everything.

Ayana smiled, pointed to Michele's iPad, and said something. Henok answered her, then explained. “She really liked all the pictures you showed her. She had never seen pictures before. I wonder, could you possibly send some new ones every now and then, after you're gone? It might help prepare her for your return and give me some useful things to work with as I teach her English.”

“Tell her we'll definitely send more pictures. You can get them over the internet here, can't you?”

“We can. They are very expensive to print, but I can show them to her on the screen. When the internet is working.”

“Here,” Allan said. He opened his wallet. “Most of my pics are on my phone, but I have one here I printed of Michele and me taken a few months ago.” He handed it to Ayana.

She looked at it and smiled, then said something to Henok.

“Yes,” Henok answered, “he's giving it to you. You can keep it.”

She wrapped her arms around Allan's legs. Allan squeezed
back, then lifted her up to hug her properly. He looked at Michele. “We really need to go.”

“I know.” She took Ayana for one last big hug and kissed her on the cheek.

Allan leaned over and kissed her on the other cheek, then reached out to shake Henok's hand one more time.

Reluctantly, Michele handed her to Henok. As they walked away, Michele said, “We love you, Ayana!” And to Henok, “Take good care of our little girl.”

“I will,” he yelled back. “You have my word.”

Our little girl, Michele thought.

She loved how that sounded.

M
arilyn was so excited. Michele had just called. She hung up the phone and got everyone's attention. “Listen, everyone, they're on their way here.” Everyone stopped, looked at her for a moment, then returned to their conversations.

Jim leaned over and said, “They'll get excited once Michele and Allan walk in the door.”

“You're right.” She was being a little silly. It wasn't like they were getting ready for a surprise party. The important thing was that everyone was here, including Uncle Henry and Aunt Myra, who just this week had gotten back from their long RV trip out West visiting their kids.

Doug was here too, sitting next to Christina. She was part of the family now. Christina seemed to be adjusting well, all things considered. Marilyn noticed how much she brightened up when Doug was around. Still, both had made it clear, they were just good friends.

They had all finished their big Sunday dinner and were now finishing up dessert. Allan and Michele didn't come to dinner. They had even missed church that morning. Both were too wiped out. Besides the flight time, they had lost nine hours in the exchange.

“So you really have no idea what this big surprise is all about?” Jim said.

“Not a clue,” Marilyn said.

Aunt Myra sat across the table from her. “I've been looking on Facebook every day since they left for Africa, but I haven't seen a thing. Don't they have the internet over there?”

“They do,” Jim said. “But the connection is pretty spotty.”

“Used to drive Michele crazy,” Marilyn said, “when he'd be over there for weeks without her.”

“You think it has something to do with the orphanage?” Uncle Henry asked. “That's what they went over there for, right? Trying to get one set up.”

Marilyn set down her coffee, glanced out the front window. Still no sign of them. “Yes. I'm sure things went well. Michele sounded pretty excited when she called last night.” She looked around the table. Most of those seated had finished their dessert. She got up and began to clear.

“I'll help you,” Jim said.

“No, you stay seated and finish. Keep Uncle Henry company. I just want to give folks some elbow room.” She had barely set the first armload on the kitchen counter when she heard footsteps on the front porch.

“Think they're here, Mom,” Tom said.

Right after that, the front door opened. Allan and Michele walked in. Everyone got up to greet them. They had only been gone five days. For some reason, maybe because Africa was the other side of the world, it felt like longer. Marilyn had to wait her turn to hug them both. When she hugged Michele, she held on especially tight.

When she pulled back to look at her face, there were tears in Michele's eyes. But the look on her face said they were happy tears. Very happy tears.

“I can't wait to tell you,” Michele said.

“Aren't you going to tell us right now?” Marilyn said.

“We are,” Allan said. “We were hoping everyone would be finished with dessert by now. We'd kind of like to tell you our big news with everyone sitting in the living room.” He handed Michele's iPad to Doug. “Doug, do you know how to hook this up so videos and pics can show up on the TV?”

“Yeah.” He took the iPad and walked around to the side of the big-screen TV.

“Could you just get it set up? Don't show anything until I tell you.”

“Those of you who haven't finished your dessert,” Marilyn said, “just bring your cup and plate over here and find a seat. Don't worry about making a mess.”

“Tommy and Carly,” Jean said, “that doesn't include you. Leave your plates and drinks on the table. You can finish them after.” She looked at Marilyn. “I couldn't enjoy myself if they finished up in here.”

Everyone found a seat, except Allan and Michele, who stood in front of the TV, holding hands. Marilyn couldn't wait to hear what they had to say.

Allan spoke first. “First, we want to thank you all for your prayers. Based on the things I'm about to say, it's very clear to us that God answered them. He even answered some things I didn't have the faith to pray for. This trip was kind of a last-minute thing, and I was pretty nervous about going. No, to be honest, I was terrified . . . until Michele agreed to come.” He pulled the hand he had been holding to his lips and kissed it.

“Now, it's clear, to both of us, that her coming was the providence of God. The story we're about to tell you could never have happened without her. As you know, the main purpose of this trip was to try to get this orphanage up and
running. That did happen. But something else happened there that was even more exciting . . . and totally unexpected.” He looked at Michele.

She looked first at her father, who was standing next to Marilyn. “Dad? Remember before I left, when I came to you for advice, about whether or not I should go?” Jim nodded that he did. “You predicted that by the time I came home, I would have no regrets about any of the money we spent on this trip. You said the reward I'd feel inside would be a much bigger prize than anything I could possibly lose.”

“Did I say that?” he said.

“You did. Well, God gave me an even a bigger prize than that. Bigger than I could ever imagine.” Tears filled her eyes. “Mom and Dad, sometime in the next six to nine months, you're going to be grandparents again!”

“What?” Marilyn almost yelled. Everyone else reacted with similar shock. Marilyn was about to ask if Michele had found out she was pregnant on the trip, but that made no sense. Why would she say . . . six to nine months? “That's wonderful news,” Marilyn said. “But how?”

Michele looked at Allan. Allan looked at Doug. “Is the TV almost ready?”

“Almost,” Doug said. “Just a couple more minutes.”

“Good. That's all I'll need.” He turned to face everyone else. “I want to tell you all an amazing story. It's a story about a place called Korah and a little girl. A little girl named Ayana . . .”

W
e're so glad you joined us for book 3 in the Restoration series. Although the books have been written in a certain order, we've done our best to give each of them a “stand-alone” quality. But if
The
Desire
happens to be book 1 for you, may I suggest you go back and read the first two books in the series (
The
Dance
and
The
Promise
)? You'll gain a richer sense of the characters you've already come to know and also explore some important lessons about family life.

Just as
The Promise
featured Jim and Marilyn Anderson's oldest son, Tom,
The Desire
features their second child, Michele, and her husband, Allan, in a primary way. We also spent time with each of the other family members and introduced a new character to the Anderson family story, a young lady named Christina. Christina has become a major character in the Restoration series and will play a prominent role in book 4, which will feature the Andersons' third child, their youngest son, Doug.

We hope you were touched by the powerful drama unfolding in the lives of Michele and Allan and also Christina. In
many ways, this third story hits close to home for Gary and me. Some of the most significant parts of the book were drawn from our real-life experiences. For example, after trying to get pregnant for just over a year, and after wanting to be a mom for as long as she can remember, Michele begins to face the heartache of infertility. Something millions of couples struggle with every day. My wife and I faced this in the early years of our marriage.

Perhaps you have some experience with infertility or know someone who has. We tried for eight years before we had our first child through adoption. It took us six more years to adopt our second. But that was decades ago. To help me research the current challenges couples face today, I received lots of input from women struggling with infertility now or fairly recently.

During my research, I was saddened to learn that many of these women felt alone and unsupported by other Christians in their churches. Some church members reacted with real insensitivity to their struggle (similar to Michele's experience in the book). My wife and I experienced similar things back in the early eighties and nineties, when we went through these things firsthand. Part of the reason for including this theme in our series was to bring greater clarity to this important issue and stir fresh motivation for all of us to reach out with compassion and kindness to couples unable to conceive.

The issue of adoption was another important consideration for Gary and me as we explored the challenges Michele, Allan, and Christina faced in this story. We hoped through Christina's eyes you might see the unique challenges a young woman faces in a crisis pregnancy, and how much courage it takes to place a child in an adoptive home. To me, this choice is the opposite of abandonment. It's about placing a child's
needs above our own, and thinking only about what's best for their future. Sometimes, as in Christina's case, the best thing is to entrust a child's care into the hands of a couple who are ready and willing to parent the child and raise them as their own.

My wife and I had the privilege of being on the receiving end of this blessing when we adopted both our children many years ago. Gary and Norma experienced this blessing firsthand as grandparents when their daughter Kari Gibson and her husband adopted a little girl from Ethiopia named Zoie. Two years later, Gary's son Greg and his wife adopted a little girl named Annie.

Actually, the entire story line surrounding Allan and Michele's desire to adopt little Ayana was inspired by Kari's real-life adventure. She and her husband Roger traveled to Addis Ababa and became missionaries to the poor people who lived in Korah.

As with the first two novels in the Restoration series, this book drew inspiration from one of Gary's earlier nonfiction books. This time it was
Guarding Your Child's Heart
(NavPress, 2011). You may recall in our story that Julie, the pastor's wife, handed Michele a children's ministry notebook to evaluate for their children's ministry. The notebook was fiction. But the content in the notebook was not. Remember when Michele began to share with Jean some of the surprising biblical truths about humility and love she had read in this notebook? Her reactions were my reactions as I read Gary's book
Guarding Your Child's Heart
. I had been a pastor for twenty-five years, had read dozens of books on things like humility, love, and rejoicing in trials, but as I read what God had shown Gary about these things, it was as if I'd read about them for the very first time. It's that good.

So . . . where do we go from here? What will become of the Anderson family in book 4? The next book will begin about seven to eight months after the close of this one. Sadly, Doug's time away at college in St. Augustine will increase the drift we've already begun to see, both from the Lord and from his family. The temptations of life in that environment coupled with a fairly shallow personal faith will prove to be too much for Doug. And it will put a terrible strain on everyone in the Anderson family, but especially his parents, Jim and Marilyn.

What will become of Christina, who has now been welcomed into the Anderson clan? Will the friendship and affection she feels for Doug grow into true love or be destroyed by his poor choices? Will Michele and Allan's long-awaited adoption of little Ayana finally happen or be held up by government bureaucracy and red tape? Be looking for book 4 of our Restoration series, due out in the spring of 2015.

In the meantime, as always, we'd love to hear from you, especially if the stories have blessed you or helped you in some way. You can reach me through the contact page on my website, or once there, by clicking one of the buttons to connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. It's
http://danwalshbooks.com
. Also check out Gary's website, which is managed by his son Michael Smalley (himself an amazing author and counselor in his own right). It's simply, smalley.cc.