Labor pains?!?

I read an interesting article tonight.  It's titled "Hurry Up and Wait..."  I'll put the link at the bottom of this post in case anyone wants to read it, but here are a couple quotes that really stuck out to me.

Referring to the waiting time adoptive parents experience, Rebecca Robinson says, "I often describe it as the adoptive parents' time of labor.  You are expectant parents with no idea of when to expect your child.  It can be an emotional, painful, exciting, frightening, joyful time.  One thing it's not... is predictable."

"Rarely does adoption occur in a neat, organized, time-oriented, totally predictable manner.  It is a time when we have little or no control over much of what occurs and it is enough to make some of us want to yell, 'An epidural, please!'"

Wow!  What a great explanation!  I was hoping we'd be the exception and our adoption would happen quickly.  I like neat, organized, and predictable!  It was a nice dream, but not reality. :)
It's been 13 months since we felt God leading us to adopt.  We applied to BCAS in March 2009 and began our waiting then as the lady who works with adoptive families was too busy to get back to us.  We finally heard from her in May and her in July.  Then we began the hours of paperwork, meetings, fingerprinting, reading, etc... 

If we were pregnant, we'd be packing our bags for the hospital trip and waiting for the first signs of labor.  Instead, we've learned that our agency is closing and God has other plans for us.  We don't know what they entail, but we KNOW that they include hope and a future, not just for us, but for the son He will bring us.  (Jeremiah 29:11)

After two successful pregnancies, I must say that in many ways, this is much more difficult.  Of course, I have to remember that I have 3 beautiful girls from those pregnancies and they have erased many of the memories of the difficulties.  For now I'll claim what the article says, "Remember that your child will come to you.  ... You will soon be parents and your wait will be over.  I believe that just as the pain of physical labor is forgotten with the sight of your child, your 'labor pains' will also fade to memory when you hold your little one."


http://www.lifetimeadoption.com/for_adoptive_families/hurry.html