adoption training

I know.  I told you that I'd post more on homeschooling today.  I'm a big, fat liar.  Because I can't talk about anything right now except what we did this weekend.

John and I went up to Tyler, TX for our adoption training weekend.  We are working with a small agency, so small that they only offer one training session a year.  We were accepted into the program last fall, but we have been waiting for this weekend so we can get this show on the road.  I kept thinking that we just had to get past the training.  But when we were in the middle of the training, I knew that this was more important than just a milestone to pass up.  It was rich.  It was soul-filling.  And butt-numbing.  We sat for a long, long time.

I'm still processing.  This training was less on the how-to's of adoption and more on the Biblical foundations of adoption.  It focused on the beauty of adoption, but did not leave out the messiness and heartache of adoption.  We were reminded that adoption is birthed out of loss and pain.  But that redemption can be found in the broken.  We are promised in the scripture that God makes beauty from ashes.

To give them beauty for ashes, 
      The oil of joy for mourning, 
      The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; 
      That they may be called trees of righteousness, 
      The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:3


We are in awe that He has called us to this point- to be adoptive parents.  To be a part in the real healing for a mother and her child.

From here we begin the process of more paperwork, criminal background checks, TB tests (for all of us), home study, fire inspection, and our autobiographies with our photo album.  And then we wait to be chosen by the birth mother.  There is a lot of waiting.  A lot of things that are simply outside of our control. But we are confident that God has placed us on this journey for a reason and we will trust in His timing (with only occasional melt downs along the way- I'm sure).