Peace (part 2)

So, I wanted to put a little addendum to the previous post. That's all true... after freaking for a day, I am at peace with the unknown in the process again. There is a little more to the story.

I'm not going to get on my soapbox, but suffice it to say that I am all for a process that protects children from harm and makes it harder for people - whether they be potential adoptive families, agencies, government officials - to act unethically. There is a peace in understanding WHY the changes are necessary.

Also, I can't help but look on the bright side. In the large scheme of things, this is not a very difficult "change" to swallow. I've seen a lot worse changes take place in the midst of adoption processes. From wait time's that become years, to natural disasters, to requirements changing that you have to spend months living in the foreign country to absolute closures. In light of all these possibilities, if all I have to do is take two trips -- I'll count myself lucky.

To be real, I'd rather NOT make the 2 trips - its a lot more money than we were expecting and its hard to be away from the kids at home and to find care for the kids at home once let alone twice, and had we known we would have budgeted vacation time differently, and its hard to leave her. What about my daughter? I'm going to whine about process and my daughter has been sitting in an orphanage for the last two years, lots of other difficult losses prior to that, has to leave all she has ever known and join a new family half a world away? There's a little perspective...

And there really are a lot of great things - more time in Ethiopia and getting to hug my daughter weeks before I ever thought I would. Those joys are still precious and worth being thankful for. Plus, it all ends with the amazing blessing of a tween/teen daughter. Think I'll just count my blessings....