Longing for Lauren

In all the hustle and bustle of life, we still continue to pray and long for our daughter. We are so very thankful we have Joshua and have a busy life - it allows time to go by quickly... we can't believe we've been in this process for almost a year this June -- in the adoption world that is very short - but it doesn't make the waiting any easier. Each day our little girl is there, we're wondering what she's doing...is she ok, (not sick)...is she happy, playing with others, is she content?

I ran across a blog of someone who has already adopted from the identical orphanage that Lauren is coming from. It seems like an amazing place, where they are well taken care of and loved well. The children transition very well and are attached....thereby making that new transition of attachment possible for the adoptive family. We are SOOO thankful for this place and our agency that has such a good reputation in India. They both love these children very much!

We are also thankful for all the training we've been getting through our agency, books, seminars, and our new support group. All of this is better equipping us for the day we bring Lauren home. In a book recently, it described the experience that all moms go through is the moment when the child asks if they came out of her adoptive parent's tummy. I find this particularly intriguing, because Joshua asked me about 3 weeks ago if Lauren would be coming out of my tummy. I was shocked, but I explained that Lauren has a different tummy mommy in India. So of course when I read this scenario in the book, it made total sense that a child of toddler (or even the age of J-man at 5) would ask such an innocent, but curious question. See we talk about adoption alot in daily life, but children don't fully comprehend it until it's really explained that children are in their birth mommy's tummy, but parented by a different mommy. What I got out of all this was just this..... these books and all we're going through for our service plan, seminars, etc... are really equipping us well... I find great confidence in this. I am certain there will be surprises and challenges.. but this equipping is really lining up resources for us to turn to for guidance. I know we will also rely on Jesus and our God given instincts, but sometimes we might just need some well researched practical direction -- and we choose to believe that God is behind putting these people in our path. He is providing in places we didn't know we'd even need....and we're not sure we will need all of them, but hey...if certain issues comes up.. we are prepared. {But I'm banking on the fact that God's plan is alive and well...and if we're meeting them now... we'll be needing them in the future}...as someone said at the seminar..."That's just how God rolls".