Adoption: The waiting will nearly kill you

I recently stumbled upon a blog author. She is writing a series entitled 30 Things I Know About Adoption.  While all of her pieces are good, the one that really got me was entitled The Waiting Will Nearly Kill You. 

Can I get an amen from every single woman (and man) out there who has ever adopted? 

Listen, I don't mean any disrespect here, but the waiting that is required for an adopting family cannot be compared. Not even waiting during the infertility journey can compare to the waiting that is required in adoption. And to compare it to a pregnancy wait is really not even close to true. With a pregnancy you know the due date. And it isn't more than ten months. With adoption it can be years. YEARS!

The author writes about this in her blog post. She explains that with adoption you wait for:

• a spouse to get on board with the idea
• the agency to approve you (after you fill out mounds and mounds of paperwork)
• a birth mother to select you or the agency to match you with a child.

All of that can take months but even more likely, years. 

And after that, it is time for more waiting.

• You get the call and then you wait. 
• You wait for delivery of the baby. 
• Then you wait for your first court hearing. 

But it is so important to remember that you are not waiting alone.

Isaiah 40:28-31 (the message)

Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?

God doesn't come and go. God lasts. 

He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.

He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.

And he knows everything inside and out.

He energizes those who get tired, 

gives fresh strength to dropouts.

For even young people tire and drop out,

young folk in their prime sumble and fall.

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.

The spread their wings and soar like eagles,

They run and don't get tired,

they walk and don't lag behind.

To those of you who are still waiting, I want to encourage you with a song that has ministered to me many times during our infertility and adoption journey. It is entitled "Blessings" by Laura Story.

Here are the lyrics:

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
And all the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not,
This is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise