We were incredibly blessed by attending the 2-day Pre-Adoption Class. We were challenged and reaffirmed by the information and material that was presented. To give you just a little bit of an idea of what the days were like: we were assigned a "small group" that had a social worker as the facilitator. She did a lot of teaching and we did some exercises in getting to know other couples, talking through the questions and challenges of adopting, and race issues. There were also large groups that included panels of birth mothers/adoptees/adoptive families, videos about attachment issues which included actual footage of the children waiting in orphanages around the world, videos and presentations on race and culture issues. Lots and lots of information.
But something happened when we were in St. Paul. My husband really came alive. The first day I was so happy to see him asking questions and engaging people. The second day there were sessions that were country program specific. We had signed up for the country program we had decided on. But at the last minute, I mean literally within 10 minutes of the session starting, he asked if he could go on his own to another country program session. And so he went, while I stayed in the other session.
When we met back up I had lots of questions about what he had learned. He told me he would share with me on our way home, which was in 5 hours.
We went to dinner. He shared his heart, explained his feelings from all angles. To give you just a little bit of an idea, the country program he is interested is extremely unpredictable, requires more work on our part, and is actually a pilot program. The country program we have been planning on is extremely predictable and comparitively easier than virtually all other international programs, in our opinion. I was so touched by Ryley's sentiment and drawing to this other program. So now we are faced with a choice. We will move forward, but we are unsure about where our child is. My husband is completely prepared for a difficult road ahead if we choose this other country program. He is willing to endure anything to find his child. And I am absolutely inspired about my husband's heart for the orphans. I can't wait to see where God leads us, how He will grow our family.
Psalm 25:4, 12 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;...Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.
Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
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