It is often hard to find words to describe the experience of adoption. The following resonated with me.
One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a long time.
~ Unknown
For many, like me, adoption involves moving from the shore. The vulnerability of a homestudy, the worry of finances, fears of the unknowns, travels to a 3rd world country and so on and so forth. My husband and I had restless nights filled with worry and nights we alternately prayed for peace and clarity. There were conversations with adoptive parents and social workers, Amazon book orders, and scribbling down Bible verses to keep in my head. In essence I felt far from shore- grasping for anything that could keep me afloat.
As I reflect on our experiences more than a year after we returned home from Ethiopia, I believe the depth of our discomfort, the distance traveled from shore, was ultimately the path we needed to travel to experience the magnitude of God’s richest blessing. Our new land is hardly recognizable but more beautiful than we imagined.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds;
and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
— Matthew 7:7-8
