The fifth year of our LID to China is fast approaching, and it is so easy to think back to those giddy days when we were looking forward to the adoption of our first child.
Now, it is a day we hardly ever think about anymore, and I honestly can say I don't even remember thinking of it as special anymore. I don't think I marked its passing last year.
For us, April 4, 2007, has no meaning, but for others it is the date a dream began that was not to be realized.
The picture above shows evidence of a death of a dream, which was the last entry we saw when this blog was live.
Like us, the couple who created the blog five years ago were full of hope and dreams.
But then the wait grew longer and longer.
Kevin and I were running the numbers the other day, and in five years the China adoption organization only made 10 months of referrals.
The program is virtually at a standstill. If we were still in the non-special needs line our referral would be eight months away. Another 3 to 5 years.
We were blessed. We decided to adopt through China's special needs program and our son is the light of our lives and has been for three and a half years now.
I only wish it could have worked out for everyone. My heart breaks for the owners of the above blog.
I never met them, but we were just like them. As the saying goes, "But by the grace of God go I."
One of the posts on this blog above I loved to read over and over was about the couple, after getting their LID, going to the ocean in the Pacific Northwest and waving to China.
The author of the blog used to do that as a child, and she always wanted to adopt from China.
If things had been different and China had not slowed down, we may have met this couple — who were logged into the China program on the same date as ours — in China.
It's hard to understand why something that wasn't meant to be was the greatest gift for us and the end of a dream to others.
But I truly believe God has a plan and it is for the better of us all. Easy words for me to say as I kiss my child goodnight.
Though we may forget the once-meaningful date of April 4, we'll never forget the people we have met on our wonderful journey, both literally and virtually.
Some have children now, and some like this couple have given up the dream.
But other dreams will come. For us and for them. Because our God is faithful.
And so we give a farewell wave to April 4, 2007.
Violet
6 comments:
Beautifully said, Violet. I think of those people, too, and the one decision that would have killed our dream, too. Today is the 5 year anniversary of our LID. I'm still so grateful that you and Kevin and Jake were there to inspire us to follow your lead.
We absolutely LOVE watching Silas grow! Thanks for the comment.
Sounds similar to what I was thinking outloud on FB a week or two ago. I can't imagine still waiting. I have this vibrant, can-be-defiant, beautiful little boy, and life is good! Happy Easter!
So very sad. Unimaginable that families logged in 7 months ahead of us waaaay back then are still waiting to be matched. What would I do without this silly boy in my life??
Yes, it is so sad. We watched this blog from the beginning, as they went through the same emotions we did. And then the past few years as they struggled with the wait, and finally with making a decision to end things.
So grateful things worked out for so many of us. What would we all do without our silly boys, indeed!
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