Something felt different to me this Advent season and I couldn't pinpoint exactly what was missing. And then, as I searched my heart, I realized that many of our Advent seasons have not only been surrounded in our joyful expectation of Jesus' birth, but also in the joyful hope of waiting for our own "child births" through the gift of adoption. This is the first year of many that we were not--in one way or another--in the midst of adopting a child.
There's something about the adoption process that puts your heart--your mind--into that same space--joyfully, hopefully, expectantly waiting for the arrival of something amazing--something that will change your very being and turn you upside down in a God way. Much like waiting for Jesus. It's a journey that feels uncomfortable and harder than almost anything at times, but in the end you walk out a different person, and your faith is galvanized. It's like this great, big gift that's unwrapped through the process. While I do acknowledge that our nest feels perfectly full right now with four little souls {five including our angel} whom I love with all my heart, I can honestly say that I miss unwrapping the gift.
As I reflect upon our tremendous list of blessings {especially the fact that our five precious children have come home} and thank God for each of them, my gaze shifts focus to the future. Lord, how will I fill that space for the least of these this year and next without adoption? And I realize that the Holy Spirit's already set those wheels in motion. For, in 2016, our charitable ministry called Open Hearts for Orphans was born, and many little lives have already been blessed. That, friends, is where my energy for the orphan will be genuinely harnessed for now. Until we are called back for more, this is where and how we'll be unwrapping the gift.
Can't wait to see where God leads. Join me?
Can't wait to see where God leads. Join me?
