From Tina...

Abigail….

One of the first days that I was in Masese, Tosha was playing the Christian song, “Your love is extravagant, your friendship, it is intimate” ….. if I could use one word to describe this whole experience of being here with Abigail and Tosha, it would be “extravagant”!!  The second word would be “intimate”.  His love towards Tosha and Mike and Kenzie, Nikko and Christian during this whole adoption process has been nothing less than extravagant in every way – a powerful, showing-out kind of extravagant….He has shown Himself to be the Lord of Lords, lording over the entire situation from day to day, the King to be bowed down to in awe and thanksgiving , the shepherd of their hearts and of Abigail’s.  As He has shown up again and again in every detail, He has offered confirmation and affirmation every step of the way.   And here, in Masese, Uganda, His presence was made known in a powerful way as Abigail was legally given over by the Ugandan courts to be adopted into the Haynes’ family …. . But His presence was made even more powerfully known in the way that her heart was bonded with Tosha’s and Mike’s and Kenzie’s from the moment they met.  Her name, Abigail Renee Haynes, was written in His book of life, from the beginning of time – she was fearfully and wonderfully made in her birth mother’s womb here in Uganda for the Haynes family…every detail was ordained.  And it can’t be explained or understood…. It is with awe that I marvel at His plan as I see her react to Mike on the Skype screen: when she hears his voice, she says “da da da da”- those magical words that we all long to hear….she was climbing across the bed to kiss the screen when Mike was on Skype from America….it’s almost too much for me to take in….thank you Lord for your majesty….for it truly is majestic to see a family brought together as He intended it to be.  It was beautiful for Tosha to get to sit on the front porch of where Abigail spent her first year of life, and love on and laugh with the wonderful Ugandan women that have loved her and nurtured her for her first year of life, as she waited for her Mama and Daddy to arrive.  It was another crazy detail that the one woman who had lain by her crib each night was living in the compound where we lived.  She was finally at the end of our time there able to express her grief to Tosha for Abigail leaving….it was sweet and confirmed how God has used Aunty Night to love on her for Tosha.  She was able to release her to Tosha, because she knew it was God’s plan for Abigail.  My prayer is that God will comfort Night in a miraculous way and reveal to her her part in this miracle of love.  Every squeal of delight(and there are LOTS of them!), every “squeeze” Abigail gives to Tosha ()where Abigail literally does the “ugggggghhhhhh” sound and pats Tosha’s back , every cry to her when she’s hungry, and “assuming the position”(as we’ve called it J ) on Tosha’s chest when she is  ready to sleep, every “ma ma ma ma” has been miraculous in a way I can’t explain(which is why I haven’t been able to write out my feelings for Tosha’s blog – it truly is inexpressible – it is inexpressible just like the heart and hand of God is in all of our lives….) We must be down on our hands and knees saying a continuous “thank you” to the God of our universe, the God of our families for all that He has done and is doing in our lives!!  This adoption has also been a powerful picture of His adoption of us….How he seeks us out, even to the ends of the earth, to call us to Him and to call us His own.  I am reminded of the song, “We are adopted, we are children, fully a part of His family…we are accepted, in the beloved, we are accepted , even as He.”  Abigail is adopted, accepted, and a gift from our beloved God!! You will simply die when you meet her!! She is purrrrrrrre JOY!!!!!! In every way!!! She has a matchless twinkle in her eye and a love for life that is inspiring!!!!!  Tosha has remained in awe at His love for her and her family during every step of this process, and it has truly been a privelege to stand on the sideline of this miraculous gift-giving from Him and see the hand of God so beautifully holding the Haynes family tightly in His grip. 

Thank you, Lord!!!  I love you, Abigail!!