The Wait ...

Today I was reading a post from an online friend about our current wait for RA(LOA). We passed the 100 day mark yesterday. It does not seem possible. My friend compared the wait to that of the Jews waiting for the Messiah and how long they had endured, but God had the perfect time. I wrote her back a few of my thoughts and wanted to share them with all of you.

"What a beautiful comparison. I was praying just this morning that I would receive peace in the Lord's timing. I know that I am not to pray that what I want would be the Lord's will, but rather know what the Lord's will is, so that I may pray it. I stopped for a moment to contemplate that. It can sometimes be too much for my human mind to comprehend, but if I know the Lord's will so much that I pray it, then I find peace in all answers.

I am sorry, most likely just babbling on here ... but your comparison confirmed MUCH peace to me this morning. How long did the Jews wait before the Messiah came? A very long time ... but they did not even recognize Him once He was here! They missed it! I don't want to miss this.

I have said time and time again that I saw the face of God in our daughter the day we received her. It was the closest to Him I have ever been. I had to place all my faith and trust in Him to take that journey to her. I did not know what to expect. I have not been there this adoption. I know "the ropes" and I can "do this". Yet, I truly can't without Him. This wait has definitely proven that to me.

Although I do not want to wait a day longer to get to my little boy, I have much peace today. I have peace that His timing is true and perfect. I have faith that God's plan is bigger than mine and that He has paved my way. I have hope in a future for my son that I cannot provide him but that he will find in the Father. What a tight rope we walk when we venture out on our own. Praise God for His safety net, but I feel much more comfort when I stay on the clear path He has paved for me."

We appreciate very much all of your love and support through this adoption. We have had very possitive responses to our decision to adopt. We have also been faced with confrontation about our adoption. This time has been a bit different while waiting to adopt Cade than it was Claire. We have heard many comments from "How much will this one cost?" to "Don't you have enough kids already?" The truth is that we truly just feel called.

I know that some people adopt because they want to add to their family. It is not that we didn't want to add to our family but we were content. Life with four kids all within five years of one another in age was great. We have the most incredible children. They were all reaching an age that we could head out with or without them and do just about anything. Why would we want to "start over?"

The answer is still the same. We felt called. We felt so called to adopt that if we had not, we both felt that we would have been walking outside of the will of God. I cannot thank the Lord enough for this call on our lives. Our lives were not missing anything before Claire came, but they sure would be if she wasn't now. Claire has taught us more about ourselves and our God than we could have ever dreamt. It is true that it has not all been easy. Even the four older children have experienced growing pains, but that all is a part of God growing us to fulfill the purposes that He has for us. It all causes us to reach out to Him to find our strength.