Saturday, October 28, 2006

Reality

I almost called this reality bites, and even though that is true, we choose how we respond to things in life. In Searching For God Knows What, Donald Miller quotes a friend of his who set him straight when he was whining about something. Don said to his friend, "but the facts of reality stink." His friend replied that "reality is like a fine wine, it will not appeal to children."

When we began down the path of adopting the girls in Ethiopia, we knew that there are some truths we would become part of. Relative to China (our previous adoptions) the process in Ethiopia is much less regimented, and with that comes some room for less than predictable timing. The upside to that is that the process can be much faster than working with China, so there is give and take. We are currently on the give end of things, and in the end the bump in the road with getting to court will probably be a pretty minor setback.

So with that in mind, today I decided that I was going to have peace about this latest waiting, and that is what I am trying to do. God is in the business of being in control and working out details, so I will trust Him, and welcome the fact that sometimes reality stinks. Although the glass half-full reality is that we are really close to the end of this latest journey, and soon I will be leaving to meet our 2 new lovely daughters in Addis.

To do something positive, I packed one of our big rolling duffel bags for Ethiopia with all of Marta's and my things, and a bunch of things for the guest house - board games and such. The other big duffel is saved for supplies to take to AHOPE.

Now I am going to open a bottle of Maryhill Zinfandel, which is as close as I get to fine wine, because it does appeal to me.

4 comments:

5KidMom said...

You have chosen a lovely perspective. The "right" time will get here soon.

I hope you enjoyed the Zinfandel. I'm wrapping up my day with a glass of Yellow Tail Chardonnay. Mmmm!

owlhaven said...

Good for you! And I responded to your comment on my Ethiopia blog. Your post gave my heart a hopeful leap

Mary

Kaitlyn said...

Rich,
I just wanted you to know that our church held a prayer service for our kids last Friday. Your girls too were prayed for by name. I can't wait for the day I check your blog and see that you have been assigned another courtdate. Soon...
Heather

Jane (a.k.a. patjrsmom) said...

In the end, what is best for our children may not seem best for us. If the courts need to get their process straightened out to protect all the children being adopted so that none are put at risk, then, as much as we don't like it, we're willing to wait because THEY are worth it!