3 Years & Unexpected Blessings

Today is almost an unbelievable anniversary for our family. 3 years ago today on Sept 11, 2005 we signed with our agency, America World to begin the process of adopting a child from China. And this doesn't even include the nearly 8 months prior that we were praying about whether to adopt and from where. If you would have told me in 2005 that we would still be waiting in 2008 I would have never believed you. In fact, I am sure I would have said that we will probably be working on our second adoption by then. Well, as you can probably see this journey has been radically different than we expected and certainly not one that we hoped for. But it has been a journey that I can honestly say has had many unexpected blessings. God has given me such overwhelming peace these past few months that it is hard for me to put it into words. There has been so many different things that I have been able to be involved in that I wouldn't have had the opportunity had we had a little one at home and because of these things I have grown in so many different areas of my life. In addition, I think we have a much greater appreciation of Camden and the absolute privilege of being a parent. As Camden is quickly nearing his 7th birthday I am still baffled and sometimes sad to think that he doesn't yet have a sibling but I also think...wow, this is all such a gift. Thank you Lord!