It seems that my sister Sarah is doing my writing for me these days. Yesterday she posted a thoughtful reflection on adoption, looking at it honestly from the different perspectives involved.
By God's grace-filled provision, Sarah and her sweet newlywed husband lived very close to us during the three year period when we increased the number of our children from one to six. She experienced adoption up close and personal. It would not be an exaggeration to say that she witnessed some of my ugliest moments, when the transition was so very hard and I was just not that strong. Through it all, she was incredibly supportive and understanding. I don't know how I would have survived those difficult days without her.
She follows her post with the first essay I wrote about adoption, The Journey of a Mother's Heart. (So I guess I'm doing her writing for her as well. ;) It was written during one of the happiest times of my life, just after we had adopted Mariana, and I included it with her adoption announcement. About a year ago, that essay became the inspiration for this blog.
In my comments to Sarah, I wrote, "God's ways are not our ways, and He uses these little crosses to bring about redemption and lead us to salvation. I would not be the person I am today, so much more honest about my utter dependence on Him, if it weren't for my struggles as an adoptive mother. What a blessing. I pray that He will work miracles of healing in the wounded hearts of my daughters and their birth parents. May our bit of suffering become part of His glory."
It's true. Adoption is a journey of the heart. It's a journey of ups and downs, backs and forths, deaths and births, grieving the past and embracing the future, fearing the worst and believing the best. It's trusting that there is One who led you to this journey and who will guide all of you through it, even when you can't really see the path very clearly. It's being overcome with joy and gratitude as you gaze at six children, who never notice that they look nothing alike, sharing not the same blood but the same life, playing and laughing and singing and loving as if they were always meant to be together.
Because, of course, they were.
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7 comments:
How beautiful, Diane. Thank you.
Thank you for this heartfelt post. : )
You're are so blessed to have such a gifted sister...and to be so gifted at writing yourself.
I wish I had your gift for writing, Diane! You have a great talent for putting words to paper...err...post.
Really lovely Diane!
Thanks for the post.
Oh, Diane. You made me cry. This post is so beautiful! Blessings to you and your beautiful family.
love,
marianne
Hi Diane, I'm asking for prayers for my friend Shannon. She is 25 weeks and 4 days pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl. She has been on hospitalized bed rest because she kept having contractions. Last I heard she was having regular contractions and they are trying everything to keep her from delivering the babies, at least for another six hours (from now) so they can get one more shot for the babies lungs. Please, please, pray and if you would be willing to repost this I would be so grateful. I "lurk" on many blogs but feel that you "know" me and know I am asking for urgent prayers that are desperately needed, and not just spamming. Thank you so much....
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