spring ahead

Here we are. the last day of February… finally. right? At least for me, the ceremonial flipping of the page of the calendar is much welcomed when it’s from February to March.  Because of course, the first day of March is always 65 degrees and sunny. Okay, well maybe not, but still… it’s closer to spring then we were yesterday.  bloom tulips bloom, my kitchen table needs you.

I’ve been thinking a ton the last few weeks about how you could compare adopting a baby to being pregnant. As I am clearly some sort of expert on both (or not, but for today we’ll pretend. work with me here) If ever in life you were to mix the two (adoption/pregnancy)in some really weird, kinda way... I would imagine your life would go something like this:   

After much thought and anticipation (or maybe none at all) you call and set up an appointment with your doctor because you want to have a baby.  They tell you there is a little more required than just “calling to set up an appointment”. You have to do paper work, sign checks for things like background checks & home study fees, finger prints,make a 20 page profile book of yourself and your life, online “parenting” training, 9 hours of home study visits. Nearly ever aspect of your life has to be securitized, and written about, and researched.. and when you finish that, then.. you can set up your appointment.
Okay. You get busy, very busy, and keep jumping hoops until all of the above are checked off your list.  
Finally, the day is here. I walk in the door into the little room, and sit down on the white paper on the exam table. The doctor walks in, and says… “Well, the good news is, you’re definitely pregnant”. Well thank goodness.  “The bad news is, I can’t really tell you anything else. Our tests have shown that your baby will be born sometime from a few weeks to a few years, we’re not sure of the race or gender of your baby, or if it will have any physical, emotional, or mental problems when it’s born. My recommendation is that you go home and get prepared now, but remember, there will be some waiting involved.”

***

This just makes me laugh, but I think it might give anyone who's ever been pregnant an idea of what I’m feeling these days. Because I’m sitting on that white paper in the doctor’s office right about now.   We have our last home study visit tomorrow, and then we officially begin… the wait.  And I will admit, I am more than thrilled to have everything on that “to do” list checked off.  

We have moved, and are taking a short term lease in a new residence…in the land of the unknown. We don’t even know if our baby has been conceived or not. They could have already been born for all we know. But the one thing I do know is this; God has had his hand in all of this. Every delay, and every thing that happened ahead of schedule was for His purpose of bringing my baby home to me. (and yes, I’ve gotten annoyed, and tired and crabby from it all… but at the end of the day I go to bed knowing that every single bit of it was so worth it)  So, we shall wait and see. See Him work, and move, and take us where he wants us to be. 

And so, I’ve got this bad case of spring fever. (get ready for the marathon of “spring” themed blog posts, sorry people.)  I want the warm weather, and the flowers, and the green grass… and mostly I want the waiting to pass. I want this season of “waiting” to pass to the season of chubby cheeks, and dirty diapers, and sleeping in the rocking chair so I can watch my baby sleep. 

In the meantime, I will leave you with this email… (that I’ve been reading often)
for all of you who are waiting on something. or someone.

(Thank you Emily at the anderson crew for sharing this… Emily’s daughter Elsa is currently in Ethiopia waiting for her mama to come and get her soon.)