Bethany Orientation

Last Friday Stephanie and I attended the Domestic Adoption Orientation put on by Bethany in Columbia. It was a long day. The morning started with several adoptive parents sharing their stories. Some of them brought their children who acted much like you would expect toddlers to: Calling for Mommy; grabbing everything within reach; sometimes crying. The distractions didn’t bother anyone. That is why we were all there. All of the stories had their share of happy and sad, but all were inspiring. The guest speakers lasted until lunchtime. We were released into Columbia for an hour and a half to find our own lunch. On her way to the bathroom Stephanie struck up a conversation with a young couple from Ashland City who invited us to have lunch with them. We had a great lunch with them. Conversation came easy and we talked so much that we were late returning to the church. They had just adopted a little boy internationally the year before. Stephanie and I picked their brains and listened intently because we had not completely ruled out international adoption. We still haven’t ruled it out for the future, but after talking we feel that we are still going down the right road with domestic adoption.

Upon returning from lunch we received the dreaded paperwork. Which consisted of more forms tasks than I care to think about. We spent the remainder of the day going through the major steps in the adoption process and reviewing the paperwork. It was daunting and everyone was tired. I wish that they could have scheduled the speakers after lunch and went through all the legal stuff in the morning. I guess they were afraid of people not coming back from lunch.

Whenever people think about adoption, the first question that comes up is, “what if the mother comes back years later and takes the baby back?”. I think that this is any adoptive parent’s nightmare. However, the Bethany staff explained with confidence, that if the adoption is executed properly, there is no chance of the birth parents coming back. Their confidence was reassuring.

I still don’t know what to think of all this. I am the last person to use the words, “It is God’s will that…” or “God wants me to…”. It seems so arrogant for me to discern the mind of God. I don’t know all that he has in store for us in this adoption process. However, I can tell you that God put my butt in that seat on Friday for a reason.

At the orientation they kept saying things like “it’s a part of your story” and “It’s a journey”. I am really starting to understand this. It has been one heck of an emotional journey already and Friday’s orientation really made the whole thing start to seem real. I spent the rest of the weekend with my heart on my sleeve. I am still sorting through a lot of the desires, misconceptions, and emotions. I am sure that I will continue to. We have started this blog so that we can share this journey with you. We also know that many of you are curious and want to stay up to date with the process. We will try to keep this as up to date as possible.



Justin

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