28 December 2007
Prayers and Thanksgivings
Posted by BaBa under: Daily Life .
Tonight we reflected on how grateful we are that our son is home. We spent the day with our daughter and son-in-law and had photos made during our visit. (Pictures will be posted tomorrow.)
It was a great joy to see them interact together enjoying the day. The wait for Sheridan seems but a memory without the anxiety or pain that was present last spring. Experiencing how he interacts with us and the extended family shows how he is just the perfect fit for us. We are so thankful for his presence in our lives and for those in our adoption community.
Our wait during the process was relatively short (1 year and 2 days from application until he was in our arms). Our two other children were teenagers when they came into our family. There have been a great joy, but we had never experienced the day to day life with a little one of our own. We had been married 25 years before we could experience this joy. In this view, we have had a long wait.
We talked about those who are waiting and how hard this time is for those families. Every time we check the websites, it seems that the wait is ever changing and uncertainty is everywhere. The level of anxiety is high as you read stories of other families and can feel their frustration, doubt and pain. Instead we feel the joy in his smile or when he says hi in that special way.
I know of no words that can comfort those that are waiting. We are thinking of you. I want you to know that there are many out there who will support you in your wait. My only advice is to use the time to reflect and prepare for your child. It helped us to see the wait as the season of anticipation like our own personal advent.
We wish that each of you had a truly Merry Christmas and found the true meaning in the season — the gift of the Christ Child who came to save the world from sin. May your New Year be wonderful and happy as the best is yet to come.
3 Comments so far...
Amy Says:
29 December 2007 at 12:51 am.
What a beautiful post. Everytime we see Sheridans smile, we delight in knowing God chose the PERFECT child from your family. You story is awesome and encouraginng!
Susan Says:
29 December 2007 at 10:00 am.
“The wait” is an interesting concept because it is an undefined time period, anxiety seems to always take over, and we begin to feel “out of control”. I agree that using others as a resource while you wait is the key, very much like a christian’s walk, we are not all in the same place and we learn from others that have gone ahead of us. There isn’t anything you can do about “the wait”, but WOW can you do something during the wait! We have witnessed so much life change during the past five years as we have watched families “grow to get their child”. Why does God have us wait? I guess He will answer that one when we have the opportunity to stand before Him one day! Until then, to me, I believe you must seek His will everyday and “the wait” will just be part of the bigger plan. As you’ve said BaBa, “do you hear the bells ringing?”
Mark and Rebecca Says:
30 December 2007 at 12:50 pm.
What a nice post. Little Sheridan is such an inspiration for the journey.
