We give kids five more minutes when an activity is coming to an end and a transition looms. They need that time to adjust to what is next. As adults, we have a broader picture of what is coming with our calendars on the wall, on our phones and even on Alexa. But still we get anxious anticipating what is coming and how it will turn out. Then it is go time and we can take a breath and enjoy or deal with what is. Later, we will reflect on how things turned out. Did we fill our minds with fear unnecessarily or was the result as bad as we worried about? Was the celebration as joyful as we hoped or did it have a few hiccups that will be remembered fondly in the future. Sometimes the almost there is a time to remember past moments that we lived through even when they didn’t turn out like we thought they would.
I read The Precious Present when Ronnie B and I had just had to give our first son Logan back to his biological mother after loving him as our own for two months. This young mother changed her mind about the adoption. We quickly called our attorney and began pursuing other adoptions. A mom reached out to us from back east and chose us to raise her child. After months of communicating, she changed her mind. Ron even flew back and met her. Then we got word about our son Cameron. We were a bit gun-shy but moved forward. The waiting was hard since his birth was six months after losing Logan. To begin with I just wanted to wait. I wanted to focus on when he would be in my arms and let the summer slip by uneventful. Then I read the book that said that now is a gift and should be enjoyed while anticipating what is next. So I got off the couch and engaged in life. Ron and I had a summer filled with camping, short trips to visit family, and cookouts with friends. September came and we did indeed wrap our son in our arms. All things work out as they were meant to be. Logan is an adult, Cameron is in his forties with four kids of his own, and we pray the other little one grew into a happy, healthy adult.
The forming of our family through adoption caused a lot of waiting since all our selfless birth moms were pregnant when we met them. We waited for the births, the adoptions to be finalized and spent the rest of our lives connected to the families that adoption tied us to. These families our a part of our family now and they are a big part of our story.
Even the little events in life have a waiting period. Heck, each of us spends time in waiting rooms of all sorts that are there for the purpose of waiting to be next. This weekend Ron and I take off on a month long road trip to see family celebrate graduations, weddings, and spend time together along the way. I don’t want to get caught up in the calendar and miss the days leading up to each magical event. We have a grandgirl graduating from high school and a grandson graduating from kindergarten and a nephew celebrating his wedding. These will be such fun but so will the hot springs and conversations as we camp our way to the northwest and then meander our way back to Arizona. I look forward to all the events but also know that the time Ron and I spend together is just as precious. We are both turning seventy this year and celebrate our forty-ninth anniversary on June 4th. The life we have shared has not been without heartache but that has been overshadowed by the joy we share being together on this journey. Even as I pack and prepare for the trip I am enjoying the wait. We welcomed a student from Nepal to stay with us this summer. As I have done my Bible study and am blogging, he brought his phone over and introduced me to his parents a world away. Then he prepared egg fried rice for lunch. The house smells delicious and I am grateful he is here to feed the cat and water my plants. The trip will be fun but so are the days until then introducing him to neighbors and friends.
Enjoy right here and know that you are almost there which will be what it will be. Thankfully, we have others and our faith to get through the ups and downs of life.
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