One year ago, in early October 2018, we "officially" started our adoption journey. By "officially" I mean, we filled out the application and sent the check. It was a big step for us.
Wow. Trying to sum up my feelings about this last year is harder than expected, but here I go...
We had dedicated the entire summer before to prayer and research. During that summer, God had led us to a perfect agency that had all the qualities we'd hoped for and our hearts had settled on India. Over the last year, we have mostly waited. Waited for approvals, waited for paperwork, waited for appointments, waited for technical difficulties to resolve. We have learned a lot about ourselves, our marriage, and most importantly, our God in the last year. We have learned that he is faithful even in the waiting, even in the uncertainty. We have also grown to love the Indian culture, tried Indian food, talked about the kind of parents we want to be, and dreamed for our baby/babies to be.
Honestly, on this day one year ago, we thought we'd be farther "in the process" by now, but we aren't and it's hard. We have complete faith though that our God's timing is far better than our timeline that we (ok, I) thought up in my head a year ago when we sent off that first check.
The hopes of buying Christmas gifts for a child this year have pretty much passed and are being transferred to next year. The plan of their first summer vacation with my family is pushed farther away. There are days when I feel like nothing is happening and my hopes are silly to think about, but sweet friends and family have had such encouraging words and sweet gifts to remind me that other people love our child and have hopes for them as well.
The other day, we were talking about how we miss our baby. It's such a funny concept-- missing a person you've never seen, who lives on the other side of the world, whose name you don't know, and who you know nothing about. But, we believe that and have faith that they exist, that our baby is out there, and that they will come home to us.
This time last year, we had no idea what the next year would hold, and now here we are, still not knowing what this year will hold. I hope that by this time next year, I will be showing you adorable pictures of our child and sharing all the joys of parenthood. If not, if we are still waiting, if there is still uncertainty and delays and frustrations, God is still good. He has been good in the last year and He will remain good forever.
"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him." Psalm 34:8
Wow. Trying to sum up my feelings about this last year is harder than expected, but here I go...
We had dedicated the entire summer before to prayer and research. During that summer, God had led us to a perfect agency that had all the qualities we'd hoped for and our hearts had settled on India. Over the last year, we have mostly waited. Waited for approvals, waited for paperwork, waited for appointments, waited for technical difficulties to resolve. We have learned a lot about ourselves, our marriage, and most importantly, our God in the last year. We have learned that he is faithful even in the waiting, even in the uncertainty. We have also grown to love the Indian culture, tried Indian food, talked about the kind of parents we want to be, and dreamed for our baby/babies to be.
Honestly, on this day one year ago, we thought we'd be farther "in the process" by now, but we aren't and it's hard. We have complete faith though that our God's timing is far better than our timeline that we (ok, I) thought up in my head a year ago when we sent off that first check.
The hopes of buying Christmas gifts for a child this year have pretty much passed and are being transferred to next year. The plan of their first summer vacation with my family is pushed farther away. There are days when I feel like nothing is happening and my hopes are silly to think about, but sweet friends and family have had such encouraging words and sweet gifts to remind me that other people love our child and have hopes for them as well.
The other day, we were talking about how we miss our baby. It's such a funny concept-- missing a person you've never seen, who lives on the other side of the world, whose name you don't know, and who you know nothing about. But, we believe that and have faith that they exist, that our baby is out there, and that they will come home to us.
This time last year, we had no idea what the next year would hold, and now here we are, still not knowing what this year will hold. I hope that by this time next year, I will be showing you adorable pictures of our child and sharing all the joys of parenthood. If not, if we are still waiting, if there is still uncertainty and delays and frustrations, God is still good. He has been good in the last year and He will remain good forever.
"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him." Psalm 34:8
You and Cody are some of my heroes of our faith. Press on. And we’ll keep praying you through.
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