Grace--A Post About Waiting Two Years

Two years. Of waiting. Today.

So today could be a hard day. But as it turns out, we are so blessed it's actually a great, beautiful example of God's grace.  For those of you who haven't heard. let me explain.

I got a sweet letter last week from a woman in our church who told me she'd be praying for me at 3:30 today. It was a beautiful note, explaining her own adoption story and telling me how she would be praying for me today.

Well, I told a coworker about this sweet note and she pulled me aside to confess she'd been up to something. Something big.

Knowing today would be a difficult day for us, this sweet, precious friend of mine had asked those who know us to sign up for a spot to pray for us today.

Every thirty minutes. All day long today. Starting at midnight. People have been praying for us. And for IC (imaginary child).

People who know us well and people who don't know us as well. People who are related to us and people who feel like they should be we are so close.

She showed me the spreadsheet and told me it filled very quickly. Even the times in the middle of the night.  Of course, I couldn't stop the tears from flowing.  I'm trying not to cry now just typing about it.

I was already in tears when I started to realize some people had signed up as "So and So's Mom" and right then and there I lost it.  Something about seeing mamas we mostly know only by caring for their children praying for our child was just too much to bear.  Mamas who hand their sons and daughters over the door to my husband in the walkers room. Or know me from the hallway. I just can't. It's just too much. I don't know why but something about it just was overwhelming.

As I read through the sheet, there were some times that had three and four people praying.

I don't even know how to express feelings about this.

Grace.

This is what grace looks like.

People loving each other. Loving us.  Taking time out of their day. Their night.  To pray for us.  We don't deserve this kindness.

But for grace.

I will treasure this document forever.

I can't pay these people back.  I wouldn't even know how to begin.

Grace.

As E and I hit the pillow last night, we knew people would be praying for us as we slept. We prayed for them and thanked God for a community who love us so, so well.

I woke up today, knowing his grace really is new every morning.  E and I had a delightful breakfast together before work and still, I really could only think about everyone praying for us.

I just had to share this because he's so sweet and darling. Can't wait to see him as a dad.

I put the link on our chain.  Here's the verse I chose for the 24th month of waiting:

Phil 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but through everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, submit your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Today marks two years of officially waiting for our referral (that phone call where they'll call and tell us they've matched us with a child). Two years since our paperwork was sent on an airplane to Ethiopia.

Pay no attention to the backpacks and laundry baskets that have overtaken our whole house:)

I went back today and read our announcement post, where I told the world we were officially accepted into the Ethiopia program for our agency.  On that post I said we thought it would take between one and two years to bring our child home.  We've seen lots of changes to the program in the past two years and it's become clear that original timeframe was a little off base.

Or a lot.

In some ways, I can't believe it's been two years since we sent our paperwork to Ethiopia. In other ways it seems like it's been forever.  Here's one thing I know:

I am not the same woman who stood at Fed Ex two years ago and dropped the most important paperwork of her life into an overnight express envelope.

I was told the wait would change me. It has. My heart looks different. My life looks different. My desires look different. But one thing hasn't changed:

I can't wait to bring home our child.

Of course, the idea of who our child is has changed a little. Or a lot.

My expectations of what that process and the challenges that will lie within have changed a little. Or a lot.

But ultimately, God has grown our hearts more for his desires and to care for his people.

We don't know how long we'll keep waiting but we sure can see how far we've come.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. To each and everyone one of you who hold us in your hearts. We are waiting for our child but we are not waiting for our blessings. We are already blessed more than we can even hold. Thank you for blessing us. Thank you for your prayers.

"Tis grace that brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home."