Yesterday I was at a babyshower for a couple who are preparing to travel to Ethiopia to pick up the little girl who waits for them there.  As I heard the story of their itinerary in the weeks ahead: travel to the other side of the world, to remote places, meetings with birthfamily members, I realized how absolutely perfect their adoption process was for them.  They have traveled to many off the beaten path destinations around the world in their twenty years together.  They are the kind of travelers that immerse themselves in a country and culture rather than skate on the surface of a sight seeing tour.

To others, this upcoming itinerary may not be the slightest bit appealing.  But for these two parents to be, it’s as if the plan was custom designed for them to allow their gifts, resourcefulness and love to shine.  Yet, a couple of years ago they had no plan or idea of how their journey would unfold.  Following their hearts and their intuition each piece of the puzzle revealed itself.  And now they ready themselves to bring their daughter home.  What an amazing testimony to the power of TRUST.

My daughter turned five a few days ago.  And I found the adoption journal my partner and I kept during the two years that we were in the process of adoption.  In it I read stories of courage:  courage of adoptive parents staying the course through the emotional rollercoaster ride that adoption can be; courage of birthparents making the most important choice of their lives; courage of these children to come into the world and trust that these adults have their best interests at heart.

Courage–to be willing to step into the unknown, the uncertainty of the adoption process and to trust that the process, however crazy it may seem, is as it should be.  Courage–being from the heart–that is what all of us in the adoption process are embodying as we move forward day by day on this journey.