less than a year

in a lot of ways it's completely impossible to imagine that just last year in the month of april we were attending the annual bethany seminar for adoptive hopeful parents.  while we'd filled out our initial application and were gathering things for the final, we were no wear near done or even sure of what we were about to embark on.  the path was never clear, but we just knew that in the end - some how - some day - we'd find the child that God wanted us to parent.

it was such a breathtaking conversation then to fast forward to about a month ago when we were asked to participate on the panel of adoptive parents who'd speak at this year's annual seminar.  i was shocked that we'd have the honor of participating in something so powerful and so important.  i recall many things that were spoken by the panel on the day of our seminar and i was hoping someone would connect with something we stated as part of our journey that might also lead them to adopt. 

we went to the seminar with just some bullet points in mind of things we'd like to talk about.  will and i chatted the night before about what we'd tell and what we'd rather keep private, when each other would speak, and what our signal would be if the other person needed a bail out.  will started talking first and felt comfortable and at ease holding the microphone.  he did an excellent job of conveying our story of infertility, how we got on the same page about adoption, how our hearts were opened to openness with a birth family, and how transracial adoption was never a question that crossed our minds.  we felt comfortable to speak openly and freely about our journey and where it's taken us.

it feels good to have come full circle.  being on the other side of the table, like we were last year we were scared, intimidated, fearful of the unknown, unsure of ourselves, unsure of how this would all work, worried about the finances, worried about how long we'd have to wait, worried about what we'd do to occupy ourselves, but all the while just trusting in God that this was the right way to build our family.  however, being on this side of the table was empowering, moving, broke down barriers that i thought were long gone, helped us reminisce about where we'd come from and how far we had actually come, made us reflect with thanksgiving and gladness, and made our hearts happy that we might hopefully encourage someone else to build their family through adoption too.

my oh my, what a difference a year makes.