Who would have thought the time could go by so fast yet seem like it has been forever since we sent our documents to Ethiopia. We have been doing all we can to be patient and stay busy with work, church, family and friends but our minds continue to go back to our child we have yet to meet. While thinking about our future child, questions about the biological parents also come to mind. Are the mom and dad still together? Do they have other children? How old are they? What is their living situation? And what about the mother….Is she pregnant now? Does she have enough food to eat? Will she make it though childbirth? Does she know she won’t raise her child? It brings such a whirlwind of emotions. The reality of the situation hits hard. Although, this month, we have been waiting 10 months to be matched with our child, our pain in waiting is nothing in comparison to the other parents in this story. Generally, I think of adoption as beautiful, but it is also more than that. It is complicated. It begins with tragedy. How I mourn for the family of our future child because I know their loss is our gain. Terrible sorrow will take place in their lives. That is not beautiful. We pray from our child’s family often, for the health of the mother, for their living situation and other children in the family. Most of all we pray that the Lord has provided them an opportunity to hear about His Son, and they have responded with open hearts.
Adoption saves lives and gives opportunities, but it also involves great loss. For us – the loss of the traditional family, loss of the experiences of pregnancy and labor for our first child. Even more for our child – loss of family, loss of culture and loss of identity. International adoption requires more than just love. We must be committed to the best interest of our child as their educator, counselor and advocate. To the best of our ability we want to learn about Ethiopia. We would like to know about his or her family and the customs they will be born into. It is our desire to incorporate as much of this knowledge as possible in the raising of our children. We look forward to the day when we will bring him or her back to their birthplace.
So we continue our study of the land of our firstborn. We are eager in learning all about the people, the food and the traditions before we even step one foot onto the soil of Ethiopia. Did you know in Ethiopia when children lose a baby tooth, they don't put it under their pillow for the tooth fairy? Instead, children throw their baby tooth on the roof of their house and sing a song to a special bird. The bird then flies to pick it up and in return will give the child a brand new shining tooth. Check out the song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8-Y1kSiqWw&feature=youtu.be
