For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
-Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ESV)
This has been a passage I continually go back to since I was working at a summer camp in college. It is so reassuring that the Lord has ordained each season He brings into our lives. This season of waiting can feel frustrating at times, especially because there is nothing to do right now. I feel better when I am doing things, like filling out paperwork or the interviews we've finished. The times in-between are difficult, when I don't feel I am actively working to move this adoption forward.
I've learned through our adoption process so far and through the completed adoptions of several of my friends and family, that there are adoption process seasons, much like the outline given in Ecclesiastes. They go a little like this:
There is a time to fill out paperwork, and a time to put your pens down and rest;
a time to answer many questions about your life in interviews, and a time to sit in (sometimes sweet) silence;
a time to collect legal documents, and a time to gather clothes and toys for your child;
a time with many updates for your family and friends, and a time with no further news;
a time to pray for the child you don't know, and a time to decorate a room for the little one whose face you saw in a photograph;
a time to read adoption books, and a time to finally put your knowledge into practice;
a time when your family consists of two, and a time when your family grows by
one or more;
a time to travel, and a time to settle down;
a time of cocooning with your new family, and a time to introduce the one(s) so many have prayed for.
All of these seasons (and many more) are a part of what we are going through and of what we will experience. The Lord has ordained each and every season of our lives, the good and the difficult. I am thankful that in each one, He walks beside us, giving the strength and wisdom for each step.