Slipping Through the Cracks

I have to admit, when we started this adoption journey I had a romanticized idea of how it would all play out.  I am fully aware of all of the risks and uncertainties of adoption.  I have heard more adoption gone wrong stories than I would have liked to.  Even still, I hung onto the hope that ours would be different…it would be perfect!  When we started this journey, we never thought that any of that would happen to us.  No one ever starts an adoption journey thinking that they could be the family that slips through the cracks. Thinking that after all you have done, all you have invested emotionally and financially, that you would end up right back where you started just less pieces of your heart.

We have encountered a few hiccups, and to be honest, it has been a pretty tough summer for us.  We don’t have any awful stories and nothing major has gone wrong.  There have just been a lot of ups and downs and unexpected things along the way.  The waiting seems endless, but let’s be real, there are people who have waited 5+ years during their adoptions.  It sure makes my 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks and 5 days seem insignificant.  What we are experiencing is “normal”, but for the first time, I feel like we might be one of those families that slip through the cracks.  How is that even possible?  Isn’t this God’s plan for us?

It’s a slippery slope, but before I allow myself to fall down the rabbit hole of self-pity, I quickly remember why we are doing this.  It’s not about us slipping through the cracks; it’s about all of those children that have slipped through the cracks.  There are millions of orphans in this world that just need love.  They just need a family of their own, a place to call home and someone to share Christ's love with them.  Every single child in this world is entitled to that.  If we don’t fight for them, who will?  If we don't make them our sons & daughters, who will?

So, no!  Not us!  Not the Francis Family!  We will not slip through the cracks!  Even though we haven’t experienced the flawless adoption (l don’t really think it exists), it is still perfect – perfectly His!  It becomes more beautiful every day!  God is using every hiccup and every obstacle to stretch my heart in ways I could have never imagined.   

I found this quote a while back, and I thought it would be appropriate to end with this.

"No, God never meant for me NOT to have children. That's not my destiny; that's just a fork in the road I'm on. I've been placed on the road less traveled, and, like it or not, I'm a better person for it. Clearly, God meant for me to develop more compassion, deeper courage, and greater inner strength on this journey to resolution, and I haven't let HIM down.

God has singled me out for a special treatment. God meant for me to build a thirst for a child so strong and so deep that when that baby is finally placed in my arms, it will be the longest, coolest, most refreshing drink I've ever known!" – author unknown