Adoption Class update

I was a bit anxious all day yesterday, anticipating our upcoming adoption class in the evening.  The topic was to be about moving through your infertility, grief, and loss.  As much as I love to talk about our angel son, I get pretty nervous if called upon to share in front of a group of people. 

The first thing we did was watch an old video of the Oprah Winfrey Show from the 80s.  Do you remember when she looked like this?

The topic of the show pertained to infertility; and she discussed this topic with several couples, as well as one woman who had divorced her husband because the strain of infertility had been too much for them to deal with.  It was very interesting to hear their discussion and see that even folks in the 80s experienced fertility issus.  (I'm sure that I already knew that; but I mean, really, who sits around thinking about people in some other decade that may have experienced the same problems they have?!)
After the video was over, our instructor made the point that although our situations and feelings were similar, it was obvious that none of those people appeared to have the hope of God in their lives. Therefore, they gave off a very hopeless sort of vibe.
We, as Christians, have hope.  We have Someone who we can take our struggles of grief and loss to; Someone who can help us get through it.

She then asked us to go around the room and share our personal stories of infertility and loss.  I could tell that many people were praying for us last night because we were able to get through our entire story without dissolving into a sobbing mess! While we are not allowed to share each other's stories outside of our classroom, I will say that there were plenty of tears in that room- tears for ourselves, and tears for each other.  Personally, I think it was yet another good step in our healing.

After our time of sharing, it was almost time to go; so our instructor finished up by discussing how and why it is important to deal with our pain and loss before we finish the adoption process.  That's not to say that feelings and emotions are never allowed to service again when we are adoptive parents- because they most certainly will.  But the key is learning how to cope and continuously move forward.

We are excited to see how God is unfolding His plan through this blessing of adoption.  He has certainly brought us to just the right agency.  We are blessed to be working with people who sincerely care about the spiritual and emotional wellbeing of its families- both birth families and adoptive.