We successfully made it out of our house and to the airport! We got our workout in on one of the hottest days with 7 bags (5 checked), bus drivers who don’t like to wait, a broken elevator, and other passengers deciding to use the exact same SBahn entrance we are struggle to fit ourselves into. But we are now awaiting our 7pm flight to Zurich and are excited!
Adoptions are journeys in which we usually focus on everything that is gained – a new family, new siblings, new home, new opportunities, etc. All these things are true and well worth celebrating. However, we often fail to realize that all adoption stories begin with tremendous loss. It involves loss of birth families, but also moves on to include loss of friends developed in an orphanage, loss of identity known so far, loss of country, culture, and even sometimes language. Although in the long run the gains do outweigh the losses, in the short term it is a lot to be hit with, especially at a young age.
We were reminded of this during our final video call last night with our kids. They were thrilled it meet Elijah with one commenting that they always wanted a brother like Elijah and another being excited that the boys now outnumber the girls. They were even more excited to learn that we are meeting them on Monday – until last night they didn’t know when we were coming. But amidst the excitement and joy, the realization also hit one of them that this meant they were about to lose all their friends. That definitely lead to some serious emotions as yet another loss was piled onto a life already experiencing more than most. These are the moments we realize that these stories of, Lord willing, joy and happiness, are paved with stones of hurt and pain. We are thankful we serve a God who enters into our pain through the work of Jesus Christ, the One able to perfectly empathize with us because of His sufferings. Pray with us that even while the emotions of joy are there for all of us, we can also handle well, make space for, and comfort the pain that is also present – it is a weird place to be, having some of the greatest and hardest news hitting simultaneously…especially for someone so young.
We look forward to updating you along the way! Thank you for your prayers!
Halfway Around the Globe 