On Wednesday, February 2, 2011 I announced our intentions to adopt with this post. On it, I mentioned a blog post that we had read which helped inspire and move us along in the adoption process. While I had never met the author of that blog, I 'knew' her through my sister-in-law who went to college with her and we had emailed a couple of times. We 'stay in touch' by following each others blogs and occasionally emailing or commenting on one another's blogs.
This past weekend, I (somewhat begrudgingly) went to an adoptive mom's retreat in Estes Park. I didn't not want to go, I just didn't really want to go that bad. It was a first time event and the only person I knew was the person who invited me. We have a lot going on with the baby coming and my parents coming to visit for this week and I just wasn't excited about leaving town for an 'unknown'. Anyway, I spent $250 on the registration, so I figured I better go. Well... guess what? First of all, God really met me there. I met some amazing people (here's one) and was able to see how truly blessed we are that our adoption journey with Vaughn and Eloise has been...honestly, easy. I have actually been embarrassed to tell people (especially other adoptive families) how well we are doing because I am afraid that a- I'm lying (I'm not) b- they are judging me for it being so easy and c- it's not always going to be easy so I should just not say it is now. Through the speakers I really felt like God was releasing and encouraging me to celebrate how good we have it and accept it for what it is and rejoice in HIM for the grace. So, from now on, I'll be doing that! Second of all, when I arrived at the conference site, I saw all the name tags on the table and I saw the name of the 'friend' who had helped inspire us to adopt. I spent all night Friday looking for her and finally on Saturday morning we recognized other and we finally met in person! I was SO HAPPY to see her. It was really a moment of grace. I told her what a true part of our story she is when people ask 'Why Congo?' Or 'How did you decide to adopt?' and we rejoiced together.
So after two + years, I feel like in a small way, we've come full circle and the lesson is, when you spend $250 on something, make it something worthwhile.
3 comments:
And we rejoice with you.
Beautiful post, Celina.
SO wonderful to finally meet you - especially since it was unexpected . . . what a fun gift! I love how God works! Hopefully next time I'll be feeling better and up for more chatting. :)
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