Sad thoughts

These are some thoughts that I shared with a group of ladies who are also in process of adopting from Ethiopia. It has been announced that those families who have not yet passed court will have to appear for the court hearing as well as the embassy date. It is difficult news for some of these ladies who will now have to make 2 trips to Ethiopia to complete their adoption. We still sit and wait for a new embassy date and have no idea when it will come.

I'm so sorry for everyone who has to make 2 trips. It
seems that the entire Ethiopian adoption program is taking a hit right
at the moment. People always told me that my adoption wouldn't look
anything like I thought it would. At the time I couldn't fathom what
that could mean. Everyone else who had gone through it seemed to make
it fairly smoothly. I marvel at the irony of our embassy date debacle.
It was the one thing in the entire adoption process that happened faster
than expected. Everything else took so much longer than anticipated. I
saw the different crazy financial things that happened to Tiffany as
they prepared to travel. When it came to be out turn I wondered what
might happen to us. I prayed that it wouldn't be financial...it
wasn't. I never would have guessed that it would be this. Our bags are
packed and sitting in our dining room.
I'm sure there are great amounts of disappointment and heartache in this
group right now. Despite reassurances, things still hurt. My parents
are still out their plane tickets, we are still out the fees for our
plane tickets, all the plans I had for the next few months are
ruined...and it hurts. It hurts to think of going to meet your child
and then having to leave for a relatively unknown period of time before
you can go back and get them again. It's scary to try to determine how
to pay for 2 trips around the world. I think it is alright to hurt.
God meets us in inexplicable ways. I have told him exactly what I think
of this entire situation. I am more calm than should be possible, and I
wish that for you. As much as it doesn't help now, the thought that
weighs in my mind is that in the grand scheme of life these weeks,
months, and years are a blink of an eye. I eagerly look forward to that
time when all of this pain is a distant memory. There is nothing in the
world like this adoption process to disrupt your plans and force you to
crawl to God and trust him to put you back together from the wreck this
makes of you.
Maia