A new Murphy!

Poor kid. He's got to go through life as one of the Murphy's. And we are a decidedly odd bunch.

My cousin Barbara Joy and her husband Darren have finally brought home a baby boy. They already have one of the most precocious little girls that I know and, from his face, they might now have the most charming little boy.

Moise is from Haiti and he is three and a half years old. On Tuesday, I had everyone that was participating in the conference praying for him and for my cousins because he was having his visa hearing, which was the final step in their adoption.

On Wednesday, they put him on a plane.

My cousins have been trying to make Moise part of their family since January of 2004. He was 9 months old then.

All accounts are that they and he are adjusting as well as any overseas adoption can. When I talked with Darren, he had to leave quickly because his ball had rolled under the chair and then he bumped his head trying to get the ball and was now crying. Seems pretty normal to me.

I'm so American-centric that I was startled to learn that he doesn't know any English. He speaks a French creole. But he's learning sign-language quickly and seems to be picking up on what words mean. Mary Emma, his sister, has apparently been very helpful. Also, there are two men at their church who are from Haiti and can speak with him.

Congratulations Barbara Joy, Darren and Mary Emma on a beautiful son and brother. We're happy to make him part of our family, which means that he'll grow up with a sophomoric sense of humor, a knowledge of the words to traditional hymns, and a deep sense of being loved, both by God and by us.