Throughout the Christmas holiday, there was talk about our adoption. My sister even purchased a beautiful picture for the child's room in our home. I can feel the excitement and anticipation growing in me each day. In a way, it feels like pregnancy to me. Once you know you are pregnant, you begin to plan and dream even though the child won't even appear until 9 months later. Adoption is very similar. While I don't know the exact time frame, knowing we are adopting has caused me to begin planning for our life with the child. This morning, my thoughts on the future were interrupted by the reality of the Congo. Another couple in the process of adopting a little boy from DR Congo posted that the child had become ill and died overnight in a Congolese hospital. They are now in mourning for a child they never met but longed to call their own. Reading about the boy's death immediately brought sadness and fear. Sadness that given the conditions in DR Congo, this little boy was likely not the only child to die yesterday. Fear because Jim and I know the feelings of loss when a child dies. Losing our son, Jack, was one of the hardest things we've faced in our lives. Part of me wonders what if this happened to us again? Are we strong enough to handle it? Ultimately the answers are yes, it could happen to us. If it did, we would not be strong enough on our own to handle it, but would find our strength in the Lord.
Our prayer requests would be the following:
- God's presence to be felt by the couple mourning their son
- Health and safety for the people of DR Congo
- Speed in our adoption process so we can bring our child home. Hoping 2013 is the year the Coughlin family grows!
*Process update: The home study agency will be visiting our home for 3 hours on January 5, 2013. Once the visit is complete and our home study findings are written up, we will then be able to be matched with a child!
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