Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Impatience simply means...

Today I want to share with you a journal post that a fellow adoptive parent shared with me as she attempted succeeded to encourage me in this season of waiting.  She has written in words what I often feel in my own heart, only she has done a much better job of bringing clarity to this heart struggle.  It's not that hearing the phrase "God's timing is perfect" isn't true, it's just not always the phrase one needs to hear to address what the real heart of the matter is.  I think my dear friend makes a clear point and explains it best below.  

If you are an adopting parent yourself, may you find encouragement in this, as I did.  If you are a friend who wants to encourage an adopting parent, maybe you can find a new means of encouraging them or at least a better understanding at what they are really struggling with in the wait.  For me, I do miss our daughter.  I know that may be hard for someone who hasn't walked the path of adoption to really grasp.  How do you miss someone you have never met?   But I'm telling you her absence in our house is felt...Every.  Single.  Day.  
 
A journal post from an anonymous adoptive parent:
"Here's something I wrote about 2/3 through our first adoption process. I surely did not understand before being an expectant-adoptive-parent how hard the wait was. I did not understand how love grows before you actually meet your child. When watching my friend go through an adoption (before ours) I kept wondering why she was worried or not trusting in God's timing. I had no clue really about the emotions involved. I have since apologized to her! :-) So I have to keep that in mind when talking to people who don't understand ... to understand that I was the same way once. However, I had to "write this" to counter all the comments sent my way about trusting God (even from my husband!) I had to put into words that I could still trust in the Lord and be "impatient" but impatience had to be defined….

Impatience Defined
In our adoption process…
Impatience does not mean I don’t think everything will work out okay;
Impatience does not mean I am a control freak;
Impatience does not mean I do not trust in Providence;
Impatience does not mean I do not have confidence in my agency;
Impatience does not mean I don’t suppose my child is being cared for until I’m united;
Impatience does not mean I do not believe God’s timing is best.
Impatience simply means…I miss my child!"

8 comments:

  1. Trying this again :) LOL!

    I love this. I shared it immediately! And I am so glad that we are "impatient" together, it's more fun to share the wait.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh I love this, and it describes me today so perfectly! Going to share this with my loved ones....

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm struggling with the wait lately, too. I know I shouldn't be, I've done this before, I KNOW it's going to work out, but that doesn't make it any less hard.

    ReplyDelete
  4. As expectant adoptive parents, we can valiantly trust in God's love, mercy, timing, kindness, goodness, providence and omniscience all the while being comforted knowing God understands our tears! Imagine…our Heavenly Father anticipates our Gotcha Day in Heaven! Some days I REALLY miss Jesus...and long to see Him face-to-face. "Whom having not seen [Jesus], ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:" (I Peter 1:8)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Couldn't agree more!!! Thanks for putting it into words!!!
    Mandy

    ReplyDelete