My heart is full as I sit down to share what God has been doing in our lives lately. Thinking back to when we first applied to adopt, I'm not sure I knew what to expect. Part of the way I handled that uncertainty was then to limit my expectations. I felt that I could escape disappointment if I had no pre-conceived idea of how the process was going to unfold. While my faith in God is largely what has given me such true trust and peace throughout the journey so far I think another factor was this choice I made to avoid having a specific outcome in mind. I suppose it can be linked to my faith because I chose to give God the outcome. I don't mean to make it sound simple. It has been a conscious struggle to keep from placing my own hopes and desires on God and demanding that He fulfill them.
In order to prepare us for the road ahead so many gracious people lovingly offered advice and support. We also heard from those who had already gone through the experience as they shared what to expect. While we cherish this encouragement, and will continue to reach out to those who are willing to open their hearts to us, I'm beginning to realize how unique adoption is. God's time table and plan is different for everyone. I'm not talking about
His will. There are certain things that He asks of all His children. I'm referring to how our lives play out day to day and the specific call He gives us as families and individuals. Since God's call on every family is unique, I think it would be safe to assume that each couple who are adopting are going to have an experience that is specific to them based on how the Lord is working in their life. That doesn't mean that we can't benefit from each other's story. It just leads me to caution and to be cautious myself of making other people's experiences the standard by which I judge my own. Again, the idea of watching what my expectations are.
To share a little bit about our own time table, God has humbled me as I've seen Him put things into place. We are now fully approved and on the waiting list for placement. Which is a big blessing because even before our home study was official, we were connected with some possible matches! Nothing is official yet, but we are sensing that God is moving and doing something wonderful! For example, one of the big concerns for us was child care. If the placement were to happen soon, we would have had to scramble to work something out due to our work schedules. Recently, however God has provided a way that we would be able to both care for the child without having to place them in daycare. Another blessing is that David's work is very supportive of adoption and will give him some time off when the time comes and we are placed with a baby. Considering what my expectations may have been, I'm glad that God didn't meet them! Because I see now that His plans are much better than anything I could have dreamed up. 1Corinthians 2:9 "...No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him."
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