Here I raise my Ebenezer...

         I don't think anyone else would call Memphis International Airport an "Ebenezer", except me. To me, each trip through Memphis International (MEM in airport speak) is an emotional walk down memory lane. To me, MEM is a place where I remember the wonder and awesome power of God working in our lives. MEM is a place where I am reminded of the help, comfort, and provision of God.

         In order to explain I have to set the way-back machine to 2006 when our adoption paperwork was done, our dossier was in country, and every day could be "the day" when we would get "the call". As the days and months went by, the thought of our "babies" spending another night in an orphanage became more and more painful.

         During this time I was traveling for work quite a bit. I found myself imagining what the day would be like when we finally brought our babies home from Kazakhstan. When I would land in Memphis I would found myself fighting back the tears of one more arrival home without them. It was always bitter sweet to be home again with my wife and kids, but still missing one piece.

         It was during one of the long walks from the gate to the car when I found out that we did finally get "the call". I remember putting my back up against a pillar in concourse B while I cried. Each trip away brought about another walk from Concourse B to the car. Each walk included an emotional appeal to God, “Please, please, please! Let Your promise finally come to fruition.”

         We did finally get our referral and appointment date. On August 7th, 2009, Jeannie and I walked through MEM on the first leg of our journey to Kazakhstan to meet the two new additions to our family. After two very long months, we returned to Memphis and walked down Concourse B. We choked back the flood of tears while holding tightly to the small hands of Alyosha and Zhenya. We were met by our older kids and a small group of wonderful friends. God had done what He had promised.

         For me, as long as it stands, MEM will be a monument, an Ebenezer, to God's grace and provision in our lives. Maybe when you walk through Memphis International, coming or going, making a connection, you will look at the pillars along Concourse B and be reminded also that God is faithful to do what He promised.

“Then Samuel too a stone and set it up between MIzpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer (stone of the help), for he said, ‘Till now the Lord has helped us.’”

1 Samuel 7:12 (ESV)