Meeting Elyas

Today, I met Elyas; my friend's son that he just adopted from Ethiopia. What a moment. Six year old Elyas [pronounced EE-LEE-ES] comes in walking proudly with two people behind him, his new parents, and excitedly shakes my hand. He proceeds to walk around, climb on boxes, throw an occasional word out all while keeping a massive grin glued to his young, jovial face. I can hardly believe it. A boy from the other side of the world is here now in front of me because two people decided to adopt him into their family. We finally got to some dancing as I began to the sing the line from the movie Madagascar, "I LIKE TO MOVE IT - MOVE IT!" Ah! What an expression I discovered on Elyas's face! He began to dance and speak in his native tongue and then in some english. It was truly an encounter and interaction that I will never forget. It also brought a sense of longing to be among the great people of Africa. I am so privileged to meet the people I have. It's a wonderful life...