I suppose it has been awhile, and is time for an adoption update. This post has been in my head and on my heart for awhile now, but with the busyness of life, hasn't been written.
Things were going along according to plan. We were officially placed on the waiting list for an Ethiopian child last summer. We knew about how long we would wait, what we needed to accomplish in the mean time, and generally what would be next. Can you sense what's happening from my verb tense?
Sometime around October (the dates are a little fuzzy to me now but I think that's close), we were participating in a conference call on various topics with the Ethiopian adoption program. Nobody came out and said anything specifically, but reading between the lines, it hit us. This dream we're chasing, of bringing a little one home from across the globe...probably isn't going to happen. The program was basically closing.
So then what?
It was definitely a time of struggle for us, discerning what to do next. We had a lot of different options to discuss. Byron seems to be able to figure out what he thinks the best option is for him rather quickly. I, on the other hand, usually want to try all the options, do all the things, adopt all the kids. So we talked about it for a while, but mostly I just needed to sit with things for a while. The biggest question that made it hard for me to actually make a decision was... I thought we were following God's call. I thought God led us to the Ethiopian program. So why would he then lead us away? Why did we do all that work for nothing? Shouldn't there be some reason, some lesson we see in this? I can tell you now, yes, there are lots of lessons I've been learning through this, but mostly it is just to follow where God is leading us, even if that means we have to turn around and start again.
So I think that we, as a family, have figured out what our adoption might look like. Because Byron felt so strongly about one option, and I just felt everything about all options, we decided to go in the direction Byron felt most comfortable.
But what does that mean? First of all, though we are not starting completely over, there are some things that we have to go back and redo. Appointments...visits...paperwork...things like that. And those rough timelines that we were attempting to follow? Those are all out the window. We don't yet have anything new to go by, and we may not get anything. Finally, the financial impact changes as well, but I have no worries there. God has shown himself faithful here before, He will do it again.
So we're good, and we're pressing on as best we know how, but truly truly it's into a land of uncertainty. We are trying to take things day by day. I actually read a quote just this morning by Lysa TerKeurst. It says, "Being present with a heart bent toward love and daring to look at what's been placed right in front of you is the best place to start." That resonates with me - what has been placed right in front of us is all we have. Good words.
I want to open up just a bit more though. I, in particular, have been dealing with lots of insecurity in this new direction. Some of that being lack of control, others just being everyday insecurities that I really haven't dealt with for a while. For a time, I was even feeling attacked by the devil every time I tried to go to sleep. Any time you uplift our family in prayer, we really appreciate it.
My last insecurity is all of you. We shared with you our story, our struggle, but also our hopeful outcome. Now that will be different. Are you judging us? Do you still support us even though our path may have turned? I am not living out this story solely to please others, but you all matter to me so much. Friends, family, so many of you have supported us this far. Are you disappointed with this failure?
In an attempt to not leave this on a gloomy note, I have to reiterate how thankful I am for those of you who do support us. Our future is fuzzy...it has been ever since October...but we are choosing to live out each day - what has been placed right in front of us - to its fullest.
p.s. Okay okay I can't stop I guess. I need to share one more thing that has been helping me through this time of uncertainty. I am going to do an extreme summarization, but here's the story. Daniel 3. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are being thrown into the fiery furnace. They are asked something like will your God save you now? They answer we believe he will, but if not, He is still Good. To me, that is just like me saying God will lead us through this life, through this adoption, and we will see our dreams fulfilled. But if not...HE IS STILL GOOD. Let that be an encouragement to you today in whatever way it needs to. It has been a constant reminder for me.
