Making a home for the Holidays

With the nostalgia that surrounds the holidays, it was easy for me to find myself thinking about my children. Life for an orphan is nothing like the life that I grew up in. I grew up in a great family, with two parents that loved God, each other, and me and my siblings. We had family traditions that go back as far as I can remember, as well as cultural traditions like what foods you eat on Thanksgiving and Christmas, or what you do to ring in the new year. I was sobered the other day, by the realization that an orphan has none of these. They grow up in the care of the few staff that work in their orphanage, unable to get the close attention they need, as the staff are over worked and over stretched already. They don't have anyone to show them how to eat a turkey leg, or how to dunk an Oreo. This lead me to a familiar place now, as I began again to pray for the orphans, both the ones that will be mine, and the others that may or may not be so fortunate.  I have no idea where they are right now, but I know God knows them very well. That is a huge comfort to me, as I trust them to His care and protection.

 
Well, with most places closed more days than they are open, the holidays were a slow time for getting paperwork filed and processed. No reason to get upset though, we found other ways to spend our time productively. Bethany has never had an adult passport before, and mine expired this summer, so it was off to the passport office for us. We were happy to find it open, and were able to fill out our paperwork for new passports. I have never been happier to sit down and get my picture taken! After all, this little picture is part of the road that will lead our child home, so every step is worth it.

After the passport office, it is time to start preparing our home for the inspections that are to come. Bethany started the cleaning of extremely dusty book shelves, while I tackled the joyous work of installing child safety locks on our cupboards and closets. While the preparation of our home far from finished, we've gotten a good start, and look forward to making greater steps in the future. Adoption is a long road, with many bumps and twists along the way. We've only just started, but we are confident that our path is ordained by the Lord, and that He already knows what will come.