This is the third and final part of my interview with Alby Zander. You can find part one here and part two here.

Help us know what it was like when you first returned from Liberia with the boys. What was the reunion like with your family?

What have been the biggest surprises over the past few months?

What have you been learning through this adoption process that you’d like to share with the Parkview community?

Anything else that you’d like to share?

I think I will answer these together since they are all somewhat related…

To begin, my most immediate response to these questions is how awesome our God is! Now I know this sounds like a typical Christian answer but I am truly overwhelmed at how God has lead us through this process and writing and reflecting about it just makes me pause and be awestruck (spelling?). I am becoming emotional thinking about the journey and now just listening to out kids play right beside me like they have been together forever is pretty cool. Now this is not to say life has been perfect but we were not lead by Him to believe it would be. Some of the key things that come to mind:

In our letter to friends and family I wrote about how many people have asked or wondered why we decided to adopt. A consistent theme in our lives has been that GOD SEEMS TO CONFIRM THE THINGS THAT ARE FROM HIM WHEN HE ASKS US TO TAKE LEAPS OF FAITH THAT DON’T MAKE MUCH SENSE ON PAPER. AND WHEN WE HAVE STEPPED OUT IN FAITH HE HAS OVERWHELMED US WITH HIS CONFIRMATION. For example, after church one Sunday a lady sitting behind us said she had a strong sense from God that she needed to tell us something eventhough she felt embarrassed and didn’t want to. She said she had to because of how strong God was leading her. She then said to Lorri that God is going to do a mighty work through you and bring healing where there has been great brokeness. Then she said that he wanted us to know how much he loved us. Lorri and I both knew instantly what that meant and it is exactly what we needed! Now I need to say that this stuff doesn’t happen all the time but it has when we have stepped out in faith. I hope I put into words how unbelievable and awesome an experience like that is!

Finally, specifics about the boys arrival. It is hard to remember what is was like before they came home. All of our kids have blended so well with each other. We see now that all the delays helped prepare our kids for eachother because it was expected for so long. When I arrived home with the boys and my sister, we had several close friends and family waiting for us and that was also an unbelievable experience. I will always remember holding Benji and walking with Lorri behind Zach, Matti, and Leeya as they all had there hands around Samson with big smiles on their faces. They have not stopped loving each other and really caring for each other. Leeya was rather shy and introverted before the boys came home and is know much more outgoing and truly enjoys that Samson look out for her and vice versa. Zach and Matti have relished the older sibling roles and loved telling others their brothers story.

In closing, what God lead us to believe about adoption seems so real now that they have been home… (James 1:27) Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in distress… Our biological children seemed to understand this concept and really challenged us to take this step to “give mommies and daddies to kids that don’t have ones.” We were challenged by hearing a speaker mention that adoption is a simple way to impact lives. (Ephesians 1:5) He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will… He adopted us into His family; why not adopt others into our family?

I do not want to paint a perfect picture for anyone but I do want to communicate that GOD DOES GIVE US EVERYTHING WE NEED TO CARRY OUT HIS WILL! We want to share our story simply because hearing other peoples stories is what ultimately God used to push us to action. We want to be available to families to help them work through the possibility of adoption. How cool would it be if numerous additional families from Parkview adopted children and grew up together? It was done in a church in North Carolina and there are now 23 kids from Liberia adopted in this one church! The coolest part is God has blessed us more than probably our boys will be blessed.

Thanks to Alby and the entire Zander family for sharing your story with us!