Skip to main content

Length of time


Today we mark being on the waiting list for one month. Caleb held up Lego pieces, trying to make them look like a one (even though he's holding two pieces!). :)
This month has completely flown by, we've kept busy between lots of travel, family visits, and the beginning of school and other activities. I feel stuck amongst the awkward feeling of what I want "time" to be. I pray for the next months, however many there may be, to go as fast as the first one. But then I also don't want my months to go by so quickly, as I don't want to miss this time of my life. We are able to spend more quality time with Caleb, we have ample opportunities to enjoy time with friends and organizations within our community, and I'm paving my tracks in my 30's. I don't want all of THIS time to whiz on by without me barely even turning my head. So what do I wish for - this waiting period to go fast or slow?

Within the fast-paced life of the last month though, I have understood how time can drag. Drag when you least want it to - not something I want with this adoption process! Caleb scared me at a Renaissance festival that we attended. He had hit his, I'm so tired I can't think for myself anymore, stage and got very irritated about something. When I told him it was time for him to sit and think, he ran away from me. I chased him for a couple minutes and then a big group of people got in between us - and he was gone. Just like that. Time stood still. 

Caleb was gone for maybe 5 minutes max before locating security, who had just found Caleb a minute before. But those five minutes felt like hours.  I didn't panic, actually didn't even cry until I saw my Mom and asked her to help find him. I prayed and felt a sense that Caleb was ok. But I also prayed that time would move quickly. I didn't want to be stuck in this moment of uncertainty - such a scary feeling. 

I've reflected quite a bit on this 15 minute period of my life. Trying to understand how I could have made this time be different - from the very beginning. What time could I have spent with Caleb so he hadn't ran away? What time could I have spent immediately returning to my parents when I realized he was gone, instead of searching for a couple minutes? Did I use my time wisely once I knew he was safe? Did I pray for gratitude, or did I focus more on what I would say to Caleb? Did I spend my time wisely when I saw Caleb-saying the right things, holding him long enough, crying? 

This fifteen minutes was one of the longest of my life, but has reminded me that the answer to my time dilemma is to live. Live every moment to its fullest, whether I feel I have the time to do so or not. Live this adoption waiting period enjoying our family of three and spending the time to pray for the little ones that someday will be home with us. Live this time in prayer and thought, where being thankful, planning, and asking are good things...

Live. Be. Do. 
Time is now. 

In Christ,
Mara

Ps- remind me of those last 6 words when I'm in a tizzy, annoyed by the future waiting process!!!!   :)
Lol! Goodnight friends and readers!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Love & attachment

As I hug and kiss my son goodnight (for at least the third time, 2 hours past his bedtime!) I can't help but think about my other children. How I long to hold them in my arms, kiss them goodnight, show them how much they are loved, let them know that I will always be their mother. Yesterday Jon and I attended our first education meeting. This was put on by our local agency conducting our homestudy. The focus of this meeting was to talk about what to expect once our children are home. We learned a lot about "triggers" for our children - when life could be more difficult, we also learned more about attachment issues, and we learned/discussed what it will be like for our children to live in a "white privileged" family & neighborhood. Since this education, my mind has been swarming with many different thoughts. Many I'd like to try to convey into my writing, although this may take a few blogs. Tonight, as I work on getting my son to go to bed - and Stay ...

decisions to be made

Last week I was taken a little aback by the news that it could be 3.5 years until we would be bringing our children home. I knew this would be a process, a long process, and maybe I was kidding myself thinking that somehow our process would be shorter. We still do have the potential to have a shorter process since our parameters are not extremely narrow, but we will still be no where near what my head was hoping for. In the recent months it had crossed my mind that I could see us adopting more than once, but what a process that would be! If this is a 3-5 year process, to start all over again seemed like so much. But now our minds are racing with a new hope... Because of the letter they sent us, we learned that simultaneous adoption is an option. The thought had never even occurred to me to look into this option, but I'm becoming quite excited about the prospect. With simultaneous adoption, we would be part of two different adoption programs within our agency - Ethiopia & ...

Second day in Manila

Family picture from yesterday at the park. Caleb has a flying butterfly. Our second day in Manila was fantastic! We got out of the city and saw a ton of the countryside, multiple areas outside of the city, and a beautiful "lake" that houses a volcano.  We've been starting our mornings with this view. Starting out on our journey today we saw some gigantic billboards. These two were selling Jollibee and the other was selling TUNA... tuna!?!? Our first trip to Jollbee! This is the Philippines favorite fast food restaurant, it is similar to our McDonald's. Their primary food though is chicken, much like KFC. Where do pineapples come from!?! Did you say a tree?? Then you, like myself and Jon, are wrong!!!! These are Pineapple Fields! Pineapples are grown from the ground! When this is ready to pick, the pineapple will be sitting straight up on top of the soil.  Road side stop to see the pineapple fields also allowed us to see t...