Thoughts on Adoption

(This is something I wrote as we looked toward our first full day 'on our own' in Moscow...)
Discomfort:
We, as the human race, seem to inherently avoid discomfort. We keep our home thermostats on 70 degrees, whether it’s summer or winter. We change the comforter on our bed with the seasons. We hang out with the people we feel most comfortable around. Sure, we’ll get on a roller coaster, try a new food, institute a new process at work just to see if it’s more efficient - but we get off the roller coaster, decide whether to add that new food to our repertoire, and if the new process at work is kept, it becomes rote rather quickly.

So what am I doing in Russia, in the middle of winter, getting ready to ride the Metro (yikes!) without a translator or a tour guide? One word: adoption. 21 months ago, we decided to expand our family through adoption. Through almost 2 years of prayer, paper cuts, tears, and waiting, we have dreamed of this time. We learned that almost nothing was in our control, that others would have to be depended upon to get their part of the paperwork completed correctly and efficiently. That the Russian government would accept and approve what had been sent. That the child God chose for us would absolutely ‘jump out’ at the person entrusted with the task of matching a child with this waiting American family.

So here we are... we have passed court, but are waiting for the court decree to go into effect on the 16th, using the skill we have learned through this adoption process - waiting. But we wait with hope, with joy, and with a view of the future of our new family of four. Is the discomfort worth it? Absolutely. Man, is it ever worth it.