Tired

We had the adoption training yesterday and it went really well. We got to meet several families adopting through Holt. One adopting a waiting child from India, one adopting from Korea and one adopting from China's Child of Promise program. It was a long day, but I think we got a good baseline of knowledge to start from. I definitely need to start finding a couple good adoption books now. :)

This has been a very emotionally draining week, but it hasn't solely been the adoption training or issues related to our adoption.  Last weekend we heard that a recent adoption by someone close to us was disrupted. It has been very sad and we have been praying that the child's new family is the right one for her. Then, later in the week, we had some revelations and conversations with friends struggling in their marriage and friends struggling with infertility and ethical dilemmas. It is difficult to really wrestle with some of life's biggest issues all in one week.

It has been a very emotionally stretching week. Which is a good thing. After having the adoption training, I've better recognized just how emotionally difficult the period when we travel to Thailand and the first few weeks at home will be. Meeting our child for the first time, being in a different country, being parents for the first time, meeting the foster family and then dealing with a toddler who barely knows us on a very long international flight. We are going to be physically and emotionally exhausted. And then comes the struggles as we try to settle into a routine at home, deal with our child's grief for everything he/she's lost and work on him/her attaching to us as parents. Hopefully this week has better prepared me for all of that.

I know it is all going to be worth it in the end and we're going to have ample opportunity to learn to become more like Christ. Sometimes I just wish it wasn't going to be so hard. I am very thankful for families like this one that are so open and honest about their struggles. It really does help the rest of us.