Waiting, Trusting and Hoping are Intricately Connected

I read many different blogs on a regular basis, and one of them that I enjoy thoroughly is called Team Sullivan. They have adopted three kids from Ghana, as well as do mission work there, and are very strong believers as well. Lots to learn and enjoy reading from them.

I was planning on posting again soon, since I knew that my last few posts were less than my normal cheery (or at least optimistic) self. But in the amazing way that things sometimes work out, her post from the 12th was exactly what I needed to hear, and is more important than the fun updates that will come at the end of the post.

Her husband, two sons and a group from church were heading out on the 12th to go to Ghana, only they got stuck in Germany. Long story short (you can read all about it on her blog), the incredible delay in the airport, while difficult, opened an opportunity to share the gospel with others.

Not only were her family members dealing with delays, and having to wait, her March 12th devotional perfectly matched the situation that her family was dealing with, and that Blake and I have been dealing with (for what seems like forever).



Waiting, trusting and hoping are all connected, especially for a believer... and anyone who wants to adopt. There are countless steps in the adoption process that require waiting. Most people talk about the paperwork as the main negative in the adoption process, but the waiting is much more difficult.

During that waiting time, you have to put out a lot of trust. Trust in your agency, trust in the people working in a foreign country on your behalf, and if you believe in God, you also have to keep putting your faith in Him that each delay, each waiting step, is just to make sure that his perfect divine timing and plan will take place. You hope that each new step goes smoothly, and most importantly, you hope that one day it will result in what all that waiting is for- to bring a child into your home as one of your family.

Looking back on Monday, things didn't really go so bad. We passed, Grace will have a visa, it didn't get sent back or anything drastically bad. Thanks to airplanes and FedEx, our papers that are needed should arrive tomorrow, and then hopefully we will hear about her print date after those are submitted.

The worst thing that happened is that instead of learning exactly when our waiting would be over... we had to send off papers... and wait again. That is what hurt so badly that morning more than anything, is that we thought that at long last we would have a date to see our daughter again, and to know that this time, we didn't have to leave her... but instead it was hurry up (and send the papers) and wait. Again.

But like that devotion says... we have to believe that even in our delay there is a plan. The Bible is full of incidents of people who were put into waiting situations, but there was a reason for them.

Joseph had to spend two years in prison for a crime that he didn't commit- but then he was in prime condition to help the Pharoah, and by extension all of Egypt and the surrounding countries.

Hannah had to wait for the son she desired for a long time, but it meant that Samuel was there at just the right time of history to work in the way that God intended.

David was told he would be a king I think twenty years or more before it finally came to pass, and during that time, he was being hunted! But the experiences that he got during that time were teaching him to trust God, and rely on Him (even though his decisions weren't always good).

Funny thing is... it might not even really be a delay. Even if everything went perfectly, we still might not have had her visa print until the 22nd, which seems to be the best guess for her print date at this point. Then we have to figure out how we are getting her home (escort or Blake). It might end up being a delay in knowledge of the timing, but that's it.

In other news, Blake and I were treated to a fun last hurrah without kids night at the Honda Center.


We were in the second row!



The game was taking place right in front of us, and it was a really interesting and fun experience. I got to see the emotion on the players faces as they got the puck and decided whether to pass or skate with it. I saw first hand how the moves that look scripted or choreographed from the higher view or the games on tv, are made at the last second, as I saw their faces close enough to see that they were planning what to do next as they went.

It was interesting to see as well how in some ways, our view is clearer from up top, because there were no referees blocking or view, and no spots on the ice that were obstructed from our angle. We had a lot of fun, and my record is still unbroken- every Ducks game that I got tickets for, they won... every time Blake buys tickets... they lose. He isn't allowed to buy tickets any more. :-)

The other exciting news is that garden 2013 is planted, and now we just have to wait (see how waiting affects so much of life) for our baby plants to grow up enough for us to start enjoying the fruits of our labor. Blake wants me to try to take weekly pictures so we can see the progress. We'll see how well I can do at that.

Here are our starting pictures:

Strawberry towers


Looks like nothing, but there are many different squash and melon seeds planted in there that we look forward to seeing them grow.




These two are tiny seedlings of kolrabi and lettuce... I don't know which one is which, and Blake forgot which he planted where... time will tell.


Our herbs for the year- basil, thyme, dill, cilantro, rosemary and chives. 


This is the zoomed out picture of where the kolrabi, lettuce and squash live. Also, you can see our small tomato plants in these pictures.


This second box of "nothing" has carrot seeds planted in it.


This garden area is on the side of our house, and mostly has garlic, but also has three rogue tomato plants. They grew entirely of their own volition from some tomatoes which rotted there a year or more ago, which makes me strangely proud of them, and though they were growing intermixed with the garlic, I begged Blake to let me keep them. There were more, but he decided to only save three. I am excited to see what kind of tomatoes they turn out to be...these plants of mine that decided they wanted to grow.

Bottom line of this post- I wish I knew what day/hour/minute our waiting would be over, but life isn't like that. Whether it is waiting in an airport, waiting at the IRS office (not fun :p), waiting in line at Disneyland, or waiting for your child (I happen to be waiting for two), you can't know for certain when your waiting will end. But with all those situations, you have to trust and hope that eventually, your waiting will end- your plane will arrive, you'll get your documents, you'll go on that ride and your child will be in your arms.