I have a confession to make.
I don’t like to wait. There, I
said it. Actually, I don’t know anyone
who does. But that’s where I’ve found
myself for a while. Waiting each month
to be matched with our precious little girl in China. I know it will happen some day, but the past
few months have been the same. A new
month. No match. Another month. No match. And as each month goes by, I’ve wondered what
God is doing in this waiting game. Many
times I’ve asked him, “Why are we having to wait, God? Let’s hurry up with this match thing. We’d really like to bring our daughter home.”
Well, recently God showed me at least one reason why we
haven’t received a match just yet. About
ago weeks ago our sweet Bethany had her tonsils and adenoids taken out. This was her first surgery, and I’m hopeful
it will be her last. The ENT told us
after the surgery that Bethany condition was actually worse than we’d
thought. She had what’s called a
peritonsillar abscess. The doctor said
that this condition usually requires emergency surgery, but we had no idea
things had gotten this bad. This
condition is often life threatening and can lead to a stroke and even death,
which is why emergency surgery is often needed. So, as we finished the post surgery conversation
with our ENT, I realized why we’re still waiting for our adoption match.
God simply needed us to focus on Bethany during the past few
months. She has had multiple bouts of
strep and more rounds of antibiotics than I’ve taken in my lifetime. At one point, we even thought she might have
rheumatic fever (she didn’t, thank God).
But the thing is, if she hadn’t been sick, we wouldn’t have finally scheduled
an appointment with the ENT. And if we
hadn’t scheduled an appointment with an ENT, she would still have her
tonsils. And if she still had her
tonsils, things could have gotten really bad, and I don’t even want to think
about that.
God has been working out every single part of our adoption
process in his time, and that means postponing our match for now. He simply needed Kelli and I to be able help
Bethany to get healthy first. God knew
that Bethany needed our love and care during the past few months, and we’ve
been free to give her just that. You
see, God’s timing is always perfect. It
always is. I guess I just needed a reminder.
So for now, we continue to wait for our match. We wait to see pictures of our daughter for
the first time. We wait to board a plane
to China, and we wait to bring our sweet Sophie home. And when we meet her, the timing will be just
perfect. We’ll be able to focus a little
more on giving her the love and care that she needs. And this waiting game and crazy adoption
journey will have all been worth it.
