This was a huge weekend for us and two other families as we flew in a social worker from Colorado to do our adoption home study. The dust bunnies were hunted out and swiffered, the top of the refrigerator and stove were shined, and I febreezed Annabelle spit off the couch. I picked Charlotte up from her hotel room at 10 am on Friday morning and she spent the morning and afternoon with us. Honestly, she asked about 10 minutes worth of clarifying questions and then shot the breeze. She said she had a good sniffer from 20 years of social work so we ended up asking her more questions than vice versa. We then took her to one of our favorite restaurants for Okinawa Soba and sushi. She loved it. When Annabelle’s siren cries signaled her breakdown, we dropped Charlotte off at her hotel and went home for a couple of hours. Phew!
We picked her up after dinner to have dessert at our friend’s house so she could meet the rest of the rowdy crew and give us all the redundant information at one time. Picture four children under four and six adults with similar Craig personalities. Add in some cookies and ice cream and let the boisterous party begin. Thankfully, she wasn’t overwhelmed but actually joined in. We learned a lot about her and the agency and what was expected from every party in the process. We probably could have shared stories all night…but once again, the babies bawls dictated when time was up.
She finished out the weekend meeting with the other families and even got to do a geocache along the way! I took her to the airport this morning and she commented about how “charming” all of the families were. Odd word to describe us, but I was grateful for that description above others! She gave me a hug, and said goodbye to Annabelle and was off for Colorado.
In the meantime, Barrett got sick, Annabelle is blowing so much snot that it shoots straight across the room, and she is screaming from her molars coming in. I had a mental breakdown after a non-stop weekend of events from home studies to weddings and doubted my parenting and wifery skills to tears. The other families had their own moments of chaos and madness too. We were all reminded once again about the spiritual battle of adoption.
Why are we surprised that the enemy hates adoption? He hates that children will be taken from being orphans to having a family who loves them and will raise them biblically. These children will be loved unconditionally and treated as forever family complete with all the benefits and inheritance that is coming to them. The enemy hates that. He hates that adoption is a picture of God’s adoption of us as His Children. We have been adopted because of Christ’s work on the cross. We are no longer orphans. We have all the rights of God’s son! Complete with full inheritance and blessings! WOW!! The very thing that should bring us the most joy…our adoption in Christ and our adoption of orphans…Satan attacks with discouragement and doubt. And he’s good at it. But God…!!!!!!!
But God has a plan! He gave us the body of Christ to fight back! I am so thankful for those of you who have gone before us on this path to encourage us about the child at the end of the process. I am so thankful for friends here who are leading us through this process, and Im so thankful for my husband who is consistently involved and cheering us all along the way. Isn’t that just like the body of Christ? To hold up our arms when we are weak, to bring our names before the throne of grace, and to fight the battle alongside of us. Wow, we are so blessed not only with our immediate families support, but also with our heavenly family’s support. God’s plan is good. God’s plan works. Praise Him that He did not leave us in our orphaned state! So with no further ado…here is Team Awesome Adoption. =0)