"I am my child's mother, and I will always be their mother. You are going to be their mother too. I am grateful that my child will forever have two mothers. You and I." (an Ethiopian mother to the adoptive mother)
When my caseworker from the adoption agency shared this with me yesterday, I must admit it struck an emotional chord. I have honestly tried to prepare myself for the adoption of our two boys as best I can. I've read many books, talked to many people, and prayed earnestly. I know that over time our boys will attach to us completely, but I also know that most likely they will initially be reluctant to go with us and be very confused and afraid. They didn't ask to have another family, nor do they probably want one. I think it is very important for everyone to realize that these children are not just fortunate little orphans whose parents from America swooped down to pluck them from their impoverished hearts and homes. They did not choose this path--it was chosen for them. My boys are not the lucky ones to be adopted by us; rather WE are blessed because God chose US to be their forever family. We're the lucky ones!
While I was pondering these thoughts and my own fears of rejection, my dear cousin and very close friend, Amanda, shared these inspired words with me in an email:
"We didn’t go looking for a new parent in God, but He has found us... and we know that ultimately we belong to God’s family, even though we love and belong to our earthly family and parents. No one can comprehend how far and how wide and how deep God’s love for us is, just like your two little boys cannot comprehend that. But that is okay. What matters is that you and Brian know and are already planning a place for them and preparing a place and loving them and earnestly working at changing your forms of communication and your methods of love into ways that they can understand, on their level: just like God does with us! If God showered us with the kind of love that HE is capable of, we could not handle it. His people could not even look into the face of God without dying! Our human nature just wouldn’t comprehend and would be too overwhelmed, just like your little boys! And so, like God, you give them little pieces, slowly, in bite-size scenarios and you carefully craft your words and you carefully express your love and then you wait. You patiently wait and love from afar, just like God waits for us always."
Isn't that beautiful? I love the way she worded that, and it truly did lift my spirit today. There are so many wonderful verses in the Bible about how God has adopted us. I especially love Romans 8:14-16: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.'"
My dad and a couple other close friends also encouraged me today, and I am so thankful for everyone's support. Had it not been for the prayers of so many of you saints, we would not be where we are today. So where ARE we today, you may ask? What's going on with the adoption? We are currently waiting for the Ethopian courts to review our case and assign us a court date. That should happen in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully we'll be traveling sometime in March for our first trip. During that trip, we will meet our boys, possibly meet members of the birth family, and adopt our sons! Meanwhile, I've been dealing with USCIS (immigration) for several weeks, trying to get an update on the status of our reapproval to bring an orphan into the country. We had already been approved, but have to get that updated since our boy "M" is older than what our original homestudy approved us for. That's been a major headache, but I think it's slowly getting figured out. I've also set up appointments with three different places for our family to get the immunizations we need to travel. Taylor and Preston are really not looking forward to that (nor the 24-30 hour plane rides)! We plan for Taylor and Preston to go with us on the first trip when we meet the boys. Then Brian and I will go alone on the second trip when we pick them up.
On a more exciting note, today I sent care packages to our boys, to be hand-delivered by our caseworker, who will be traveling to Ethopia on Sunday. It is a total blessing that she will be going there with another group of adoptive families, and will be able to meet our boys in person. She will take pictures of them, personally tell them about us, and give them the gifts we sent (outfits, stuffed toys, trucks, stickers, rattle, and photo albums with pictures of our family, dog, house, etc.). We are SO excited for her to get back to tell us all about her experience with them. And we're really hoping to receive a picture of them smiling!
So, in the months we have left, I'm trying to get my life as organized as possible in preparation for their arrival. We have decorated their room in browns/olive greens with African safari animals and animal prints. We also plan to bring back special pictures and gifts from Ethiopia to add to the room (along with the Ethopian flag I've already purchased). Brian will pick up and put together their bunkbed/desk/dresser combo tomorrow, and the crib for "T" should be arriving soon. It's been a lot of fun, and helps to keep my mind off of the wait. We have a lot to do before they get here, so I better end this blog and get going! :)
Prayer requests:
1) For "M" and "T"'s safety and protection; emotional and physical health.
2) Safety for the WACAP group traveling to Ethopia on Sunday
3) Healing and peace for the boys' birth family; God's provision emotionally, materially, and spiritually for them
4) That our paperwork will move smoothly through USCIS
5) That we will soon hear news about our court/travel date
6) That God will give our family peace and a sense of being prepared, while still giving everything over to Him
Thank you!!!
