We had Lucy’s last court hearing to finalize her adoption into our family on Wednesday, March 6th. It is so exiting and, although we never considered that it would not be granted, it is an odd relief. I need to complete some final immigration forms, but now Lucy is officially our daughter and her birth certificate will say so! At the same time, there is this mixture of loss within our gain- Adoption is bitter-sweet. In order for our family to grow, we know that another family has been broken. I pray that I never loose sight of that or educate on the subject.
Now, I feel like we’ve come to a new intersection in life. Obviously we have the new task of parenting. But primarily, we always have the task of following Christ, and with that, the task of discerning what it is he would have us do in this new season. It would be most easy to fall into a lifestyle where Lucy consumes all our thoughts and actions and we become obsessed with our own little family. We are aware of how easy it would be to allow Lucy to learn that everything we de revolves around her. Also, when life is predictable it is easy to only come to God for daily needs, like sleep and car repairs.
In many ways, this is simply the way things are. Especially for an idealist like me, figuring out the perfect schedule of waking and sleeping and eating- all while still maintaining some flexibility- is causing my brain to ache and focus on little else. However, we have the new blessing and challenge of seeing how serving through the Church fits into life with Baby. In many ways, we’ve been on a “spiritual high”, similar to what we experience on a missions trip or at summer camp. We’ve had such a clear, God given path for the last two years to dictate our saving, spending and our time management. And that path has matured us in prayer and faith. We’ve known exactly what to do. I like that.
So at this point I think God is saying, “Keep Growing!”. We need to live in a habit of daily looking to the Holy Spirit. Of seeking first God’s kingdom. Of living with a global, eternal perspective. Of practicing the daily spiritual disciplines that keep us in step with the Spirit. Also, I think it is exciting that we get to serve with our family in a new sort of way. We get to serve with Lucy. We have the privilege and duty of teaching her to Love the Lord and serve him for herself. True, that can be terrifying, but really amazing that God has given us this job. We are up to it with God’s grace and direction. May he be glorified as we maneuver these exciting new waters.
Lanaya
(Blog Post from March 2013)
