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Yesterday on the morning show, we shared the latest news (or non-news) on the adoption front. It was so wonderful to connect with other listeners who have been in the same boat in one way or another. It is such a gift to be a little fly on the wall and get to hear so many wonderful stories and amazing journeys. I wanted to share one e-mail in particular I received yesterday. It's written from the perspective of a sibling, and his reflection on the waiting period. He was in fifth grade at the time, and it reminded me of my oldest son Gabriel who is now in the fourth grade. By the way, tissue alert warning about the song "Blessed" . I have heard that song a million times but must've missed the message or not paid attention to the lyrics. I cried buckets.
Brian writes:
"My family adopted my little sister from China in 1996. I was in fifth grade at the time, but I can still remember much of the adoption process pretty vividly. I remember well how difficult it was to be patient and to wait all those months prior to her coming home to us. When we finally got our referral, we had little more than a wallet sized picture, but we clung to that picture we everything we had. We made dozens of copies and blew it up (and we didn't even care that it was grainy and blurry at a larger size). We hung that picture everywhere and gave it to everyone because it was our only connection to the little girl on the other side of the world who was soon to become a part of our family. There's nothing anyone can say to make the time of waiting any easier, but I did want to share a song with you that we found to be very meaningful throughout that time. It's called Blessed by Elton John. Here's a YouTube link. When we were waiting for my sister to come home, we bought the CD of this song and every time it came on the radio we would turn up the radio loud and the family would sing along as we waited for this girl who was still little more than a "child in our head". You, your family, and your new child will be in my thoughts and prayers as you embark on this journey. Thank you for being so willing to share your story with us all - I love recalling all the memories of my sister as you share your story with us.
Peace
Brian"
Thank you Brian! What a beautiful e-mail.
Lately, I have really been trying to recite, remember, and live by the widsom in Philippians 4:6:
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your request to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus."
The part I keep getting stuck on is: "the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your heart and mind." My faith must be weak because instead of feeling a sense of peace, I find myself more tense. The Lord certainly knows best how to sanctify and temper us, and this has been a continued lesson in blind trust and PATIENCE. I thought the infertility process was emotional! Not to take anything away from that (there are enough roller coaster rides there) but with that aspect already added on to the journey I just feel weary and ready for some good news. Like so many others, we are waiting for news of a child. It could be today, or two months from now. Recognizing my weakness for waiting, I was happy to see this book today:
Happy (belated) New Year! I am trusting 2011 will be a banner year for fellow families on the adoption journey. I am excited to see the months unfold and I am getting pretty antsy in the process. :) So much so, that I have decided I need to focus my impatient energy into a productive place. If all goes as planned, my husband Jim and I are going to run our first marathon! I am a runner anyway, and although I have completed 3 half marathons, a full 26.2 marathon was not something I envisioned doing in the next decade. Due to the time commitment of training, I've always thought it was something better left for a time when our kids were older. However, with so many unknowns with the upcoming year, I virtually cleared my calendar, stopped accepting speaking engagements, MC opportunities, and left everything open. With the vague timeline of our adoption, I wanted to cover our bases. What I realized last week is, it also opens up a window of opportunity to train. Also, with homeschooling the boys, we are together almost all day, so the guilt factor of going out for a 2-hour run in the evening is lessened. Anyway, the only hiccup would be if we signed up and trained, but missed the race due to being in Poland. I am fine with that though!! No problemo. We thought about possibly running for donations or raising money for an adoption charity but I'm not sure. If we did end up missing the race, it would put us in a predicament so we are still thinking about that. We are planning to run the Cleveland Marathon in May. A great course! It's where I completed one of my half-marathon's a few years ago:
It's kind of crazy to embark on yet ANOTHER endeavor in our lives, but it feels right. I have prayed about it and God has given me a healthy heart, lungs, legs, body and I am going to do my best to honor that and give Him glory. I have learned that a marathon mimics the journey of adoption in many ways as well. I smiled as I read a snippet from Kristin Armstrong's blog that really underscored my belief in that, as well as echoed my blog title Kristin is the former wife of Lance Armstrong and a runner. Here is what she says about "joy in the journey:"
"Oftentimes the precursor to joy is a lot of hard work, which seems to oppose joy at the outset if you aren't careful or intentional. We have to find joy in the journey, not merely the fleeting accomplishments."
Also, this week we received a phone call from Lifesong for Orphans. We applied for a grant and they are reviewing our application. Praying, praying! The Lord's will be done.
