"So, any news yet?"

That's the question I get a lot these days - "Have you heard anything about your adoption?" The simple answer to that question is no. "How goes the adoption process?" someone else would ask. The answer to that questions is S L O W. . . Not that I mind fielding a bunch of questions about it. In fact I see it as a positive thing; that there are so many people cheering us on, anxious for developments. I suspect that if we were pregnant there would be a lot of people happy for us but not as interested. After all, anyone can have a baby (well except us, and I know there's others out there in the same boat) but not everyone goes out and adopts a child. The attention that's generated is unexpected, but encouraging.

Having said that both Angel and I also feel like the wheels are slowly grinding along, if at all. It seems like things either move along quickly or at a snail's pace. Kinda like rush hour on the Whitemud Freeway during construction season... Knowing that the process could take years is a bit discouraging though. I'm hoping that it's months instead of years, but maybe I'll be feeling like things are rushing along too fast when we finally do get a placement. In the meantime there are things we can do to fill the time. We can take more courses offered by Children's Services on how to meet the needs of adoptive children; as well a lady in our church has matched us up with friends of her's who have adopted. We've been corresponding by e-mail and plan to get together sometime this month so we can share each other's experiences. And we're supposed to meet again soon with Sharon, our placement worker, to talk about any developments that have been going on behind the scenes.

The biggest thing we can do in the meantime though is to pray. I pray every day for our child - whoever he is (I use he here generically, but also because the odds are that it will be a boy as there's so many of them in the system). I pray for his protection and guidance; that whatever pain and trauma he has (or maybe is right at this moment) going through that God would surround him and reveal His heart to him. I know that we're all damaged goods, but if you're a child in foster care there's even more damage. That kind of damage can make it hard to believe that God is good; so, in spite of whatever circumstances he faces, I pray that our future child would put his faith in Jesus and let Him heal the wounds of his past. And I also pray that years from now when he reads his old man's blog that he will see how God has been working behind the scenes in our lives as we're preparing to become the parents God will provide him. As much as I want things to move along I do sense that this is a time of preparation for us, and that the times of intercession will be a part of his coming to know the Father of every orphan. And really, when you think about it, that's all of us too.