Starbucks

     My life has felt like a whirlwind for several years now. College. Marriage. Babies. More college. Adopting. Still...more college. Its been a huge change from the stable, comfortable life I lived in the same town with the same people doing the same thing. Its been great! But also extremely crazy and fast. I never would have thought at 22 I'd have done all these things. I say all this to say, sometimes change is hard. I feel like all these changes led me through a season of loneliness. Lets face it, the college-aged minister's wife mother of one and one on the way demographic is extremely small. I've had alot of trouble finding out where I fit and understanding this new person I've become. Making friends has been hard for me. Relating to people in a genuine and meaningful way has become much more of a struggle than I ever thought it would be. I am so glad to say I feel that season passing.
     A couple of weeks ago T.J. and I went to a Lifeline meet and greet in Birmingham. It was exactly that- just a bunch of families adopting from Ethiopia crammed into a room with refreshments and a common interest. We met two families and they were both wonderful, and we had fantastic conversation and then went home. I got a facebook message from one of them later and we all decided to meet up and talk about our adoptions. We met today in this random Starbucks in a Bessemer Target and talked for 3 hours. I cannot explain how refreshing it feels to relate to someone who's heart is so deeply bound in the same thing as mine. I SOAKED in all of their wisdom and insight. Both girls are ahead of us in the adoption process so they know whats coming for me, and they shared their own experiences. We just sat around and talked about our worries, and our hopes, and our purposes and reasonings. And then we complained to each other a little bit and laughed a little bit and ate cake. It was absolutely marvelous. It feels like a really long time since I had such good community. It feels so encouraging to have other mothers to lean on during this crazy process, and even after its all over and done with.
     On Monday we are going to send off our first payment and some paperwork. Then, we get our first orientation call! I'm a little bit hazy still on how the whole process goes, but what I do understand is that there are a lot more payments and interviews and paperwork standing between me and my son. Step by step we are getting closer though! We were really kindof worried about paying the first payment, which is about $3,000, because...we had no idea where we were going to find that. lol. But somehow we managed to get just enough! I've heard so many people say how God has been faithful to them in their adoption. I think like, "Ya, thats pretty easy for you to say now thats its already happened for you." But I'm seeing little by little how true that is.  My heart knows that God is faithful, and his heart is for adoption, but my mind sometimes struggles with the logistics of it all. I'm really looking forward to experiencing God's faithfulness myself.