I was having coffee with a friend recently who is also adopting and I heard myself say "I am so thankful for this wait."
What??!! I said it about five times while shaking my head up and down while the reality was sinking in. It was hitting me for the first time that this wait has made me into a better person...I will never be the same person I was over two years ago...WE, as a family, will be forever stronger. We have learned so many new truths and grown in ways that would have never been possible without an experience such as this. I have learned to still live happily while not having something I want really, really bad. I have learned not to let a delay or rumor send me into a flurry of worry. Our family's priorities have changed. We have learned to appreciate the adoption process in Colombia, including the fact that they require so much detail about us so the best families are found for the children and most recently, the level of research the government performs to make sure a child is truly in need of a home (there is a new mandate declaring that all children available for adoption in Colombia must have had family members contacted to the 6th degree before a child can be relinquished). We are learning Spanish (slowly but surely, still on CD 1 of Rosetta Stone that we purchased for Christmas!).
There are still valleys and there are times that I want nothing more to cradle and hold our little one in my arms (poor, almost 5 year old, Eli gets held and rocked like a baby way too many times a day!!).
While living happily in the waiting, we are still dreaming, hoping and clinging to trust! "Craving clarity, we attempt to eliminate the risk of trusting God." - Brennan Manning
Instead of craving clarity, lets seek to trust God now and enjoy these blessings he has provided at this time in our lives!
MELISSA
