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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Twin Chaos

I know I am at an age when I can expect my friends and acquaintances are bearing children, but I just found out about the third set of twins among my high school classmates just this year. One man and his wife are enjoying their new fraternal twins. A woman and her husband are expecting fraternal twins this summer. A second woman and her husband are expecting twins this winter. It is hard enought to be "surrounded" by pregnant women when I can never have that experience, but TWINS! I do not know if they are natural occurances or aided by fertility drugs or treatments. Regardless of how the twins came into being, these couples are blessed greatly with children.

For now, I just pray for one child to call "son" or "daughter". Yes, we are open to adopting a sibling set, but realize we our first adoption may be a single child. There is also the chance that this may be our only adoption. Someday my arms will hold my child. The child that will test boundaries, the child that will giggle with delight at simple pleasures, the child that will break my heart and fill my heart with love. I look forward to providing a home to the imperfect child God has chosen for us to parent. My husband and I see parenting as the stewardship of God's children. All children are God's children, we are just provided the opportunity to care for them.

Lord,
Give strength to the parents when chaos and sleep deprivation reigns.
Show the children they are loved.
Give patience to men and women trying to adopt or conceive when road blocks and paperwork seem insurmountable.
Move all our hearts so we may provide for children without families and families in poverty.

Glorious amen!

Another Step Closer

We received the draft of our home study this week. I immediately read, made some changes and sent it back to our case worker for editing. Our journey to the adoption decision condensed into 15 pages; it seemed flat; one page for each year that lead to our decision to adopt. We are limited on how long our narrative can be, but 15 pages barely touches the surface. We are on schedule to submit the final report to USCIS, just need one more letter from the doctor.

This weekend we have our first major fundraiser - Swing Night for Adoption. I have put a lot of effort into this event. There could be 25 people or 200 people. Donations for the silent auction and the raffle have been amazing! It will be a wonderful evening of swing music, dancing, sharing and excitement.

When I yearn for next week when the planning is over, I tell myself it is all to add children to our family. Independence weekend is next weekend, I will unwind for three days (catch up on sleep). One day there will be no more planning, there will be living life with children. One day there will be no more waiting and hoping, there will be chaos, love and exhaustion.