SOPHIE'S JOURNEY -PART 5

The beginning of January started the next leg of our journey.

It started with a dream.. I woke up one night and had a dream that D was back in jail and J was with Sophie crying and not sure what to do.

I woke up and prayed.

About a week later we found out it was true.

This next phase of the journey has been tons of phone calls, coordinating legal issues between states and too much detail for a blog. It has by far been the hardest part. Stressful, emotional, cumbersome, draining would be how I describe it. But, life is like that sometimes and in the end is it worth it.

Adoption can be bittersweet. It amazes me to see kid's stories and how their paths intertwined with familes from across the world. My cousin adopted their daughter from Central America a few years ago, we have friends who have adopted from Romania, Africa, Asia. We hear stories like that all the time, but when you stop and think about it, it is a miracle that we can travel across the country or even world and adopt children into our families. Yet, it doesn't usually come easily. I love talking to other families who have adopted because they understand. They understand the cost of adoption. Not just financial cost, but the emotional cost as well. At at the same time, they understanding the inexplicable joy that follows.

When we adopted Liliana, I had a some meaningful verses from the book of Psalms to express our journey with her.

For Sophie, it has been this verse from Hebrews 11:6:

"Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him"

God has been taking me on this amazing faith journey. Over and over again I remind myself that God is a rewarder. This leg of the journey will soon pass and there will be a sweet reward on the other side.

Sophie isn't even in our home yet, but she has already taught me so much. She has taught me to love in ways deeper than I knew I was capable of doing. She had taught me to trust God and remain tenacious. I have loved this girl from day one and I am so thankful for the outlet of prayer I have had. I have learned to love her with my prayers for all these months and very soon, those prayers will turn into tangible love. Hugs, kisses, making meals, playing peek a boo, reading books.. all part of parenting. But how thankful I am to have a rich and deep foundation of love already built through prayer.