Torn

Well, we only have three days of this trip left and now we are torn.  We really want to get home with our little girl and be together as a family of six.  We are excited to get into a routine, sleep in our own beds and eat our own food. But, we will miss this country, the experiences and adventure.  The process of adoption is unique and wonderful and we will miss it.  So, feeling torn between staying and going we are embracing each moment and grateful for where we are, what we are doing and the experiences we are having.

Ryan and I talked today about our thoughts on adoption.  We truly feel like we would be missing out on the fullness of life had we never decided to adopt.  We can understand a little more fully our relationship to the Heavenly Father because he invited us to adopt two children into our family.  To go from unknown to known, alone to beloved and chosen is exactly what happened to me when I believed in the free gift of salvation.  I no longer have to ever worry about walking through life alone because I am in a family, a forever family.

If you have ever even considered adoption I am begging you to pray into it, open your heart and life up to it and wholeheartedly consider it.  It is not only a gift to a child, but a great and wonderful, life-giving gift to adults and families.  Of course, it is not without heartache.  But, when is fully living life pain free?  On this side of heaven it won't be, but adoption is guaranteed to bless and draw a person closer to the the Lord.  As a Christ follower consider how adoption might be part of your life story.  We are eternally grateful it has been part of ours.

We have met some amazing Christ followers on this trip...

The couple from Georgia who adopted two children to add to their three biological children at home.  One daughter is bright and sunny and full of energy.  She will need a cleft palate repair when they get home.  They had planned to adopt a son as well, but 9 days before travel he died of an acute illness.  In their grief they felt the best way to honor his life was to adopt another life.  China expedited their paperwork and so they are also adopting a little girl with down's syndrome.  What a happy, smiley addition to their family.

Another couple from Omaha is adopting their 10th child, a little 4 year old girl.  They have three biological children and this is their 7th adoption.  We have been priveleged to watch her come out of her shell over the last week.  Last night she was singing and dancing with her mommy.  What a joy!  They have decided that money spent on giving a child a life and getting a more fuller life is much more important than grown-up toys and trips and so they continue to open their hearts and lives to God's leading.

Another couple have two adopted children at home and the wife traveled with a friend to bring home two boys.  Both have limited function in one of their extremities but have adapted to their version of normal remarkably well.  The 3 and 4 year olds can hold cups and feed themselves very well.

We met another couple that have one biological daughter and after a failed adoption from Pakistan were united with their Chinese daughter this week.  She makes a beautiful addition to their family.

As I listen to the giggles and squeals from my dear daughter in the background I feel so blessed to call her mine.