After our 1st meeting

Our initial meeting with our adoption case worker went really well. I was a tad more nervous than I expected, and I think it was because I realized that we were about to meet the person who was going to know some pretty intimate details of our lives. She is someone who will play a large and critical role in our journey and be a forever part of our family's story. As we were chatting about several different things, she mentioned that she is the oldest of 5 girls. She later stated that her mom home schooled all of them through all of their years of schooling. Besides having a great opportunity to turn the tables for a minute and ask her some questions about those experiences, it was a moment of comfort as we realized we had just the right person assigned to our family.

Besides being a bit more nervous than I expected, it was also a much more emotional meeting for us that I had anticipated. Clearly, we have made the decision to adopt. We know that and have talked about it and even written about it on this blog. Seeing it all laid out in black and white on a pile of paperwork, though, made it a reality in a way I haven't felt before. The reality that hit me, though, was reading about what information will be recorded at the time of relinquishment. There is a family somewhere in Ethiopia who will relinquish their child. There is a momma who will place her baby in the arms of someone else, or there is a daddy who will do the same because his wife has died. No matter the circumstances, the words birth family written all over our paperwork serve to remind me that there is heartache and loss associated with this process, even while we celebrate the addition of a child to our own family.

There is also another line on one of our many pages that talks about our accepting physical and legal custody of "our" child. Despite having lots of unknowns ahead of us, the one thing we know from the beginning is that there will be a child who is ours. The thing that takes some time to wrap your mind around is that he is theirs and ours. At the same time. For forever. And even now. Possibly before he even exists in this world. It's a reality that pretty much blows me away. To think that God can create people and families and cultural ties this way is one thing. To know that He has given us an opportunity to even be a part of this is quite humbling.

The two words "relinquishment" and "ours" have caused quite a stir of my emotions. Can you just imagine what is going to happen once we dive into the paperwork even more?
If I have a blog post for every two words in the stack of papers we have, we could be here awhile!