Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
Proverbs 13:12
Waiting is hard. I think, as a mom (and a closet control freak), I deal with this by doing. When I have a mission to accomplish, time passes quickly and satifactorily. I can control what happens when and how. The problem with this scenario in the light of international adoption is this: there comes a time when all we can do is wait. I have done my part. Now I have to wait for others to do theirs.
How is a controller and doer to deal with this waiting? I will tell you. I trust. I trust in knowing that the Father in Heaven is at work in all aspects of this adoption. When seeds of doubt begin spreading their tendrils into my soul, all I have to do is take a step back and look at all that He has done. What has He done, you ask? Oh, please, let me tell you!
Evidence of His faithulness:
1. Before our homestudy was complete, our adoption fund contained nearly $10,000 (minus the fees we have paid from it, of course). That is a fourth of all we need, simply from selling necklaces, a few paintings, and a tutoring job!
2. Out of the blue, a dear family at church asked if we needed bedroom furniture. I somewhat skeptically said I would love to take a look at it. It just so happens that the accent color in this furniture is the EXACT color I intend to paint Lily Belle’s walls! (Please never try to convince me that God is not in all the details).
3. The day after I remarked to a friend that all we were lacking for Lily furniture-wise was a crib, a co-worker friend of my husband’s approached him. He said he had a crib that was never used by his son, with the mattress still in the plastic, and would we like to have it? Um. yes.
4. This last one may seem silly, but it is a big deal to us. Our family had planned a week at Disney and Universal in November, back before we started the adoption. After beginning to raise funds, and seeing that people were willing to give sacrificially to help us, we decided it wasn’t right for us to blow so much money on a vacation. We cancelled and broke the news to our boys. They were disappointed, but said they would rather the money go toward bringing their sister home. Fast-forward a few months, and an opportunity arises for my husband to do some training for work in Orlando. This means that gas and hotel are covered, plus a food allowance. We began looking into timing and schedules, and decided we would all go down with him over our fall break. Rather than a week, we will spend one day at Disney’s Halloween-themed party and one day at Universal. I’m excited to see the creative decorations and, of course, the variety of Sexy Halloween Costumes on display. We found an incredible deal on a house on Ormond beach, where we intend to hole up for the rest of the week, play games, read books, eat on the deck overlooking the waves, and just be together with no outside obligations for a few days. God does not owe us a good time or a vacation, but in his overwhelming kindness to us, He gave it anyway.
Yes, hope deferred makes the heart sick, but He is always working to fulfill the desire of our heart. Hang on, Lily Belle, we’re coming.