The journey....

I began to think about this adoption as a journey a long time ago, but I remembered one of our vacations that is an analogy of this journey to our daughter. We wanted to see the green sand beach in Hawaii, but the only way to get there, according to the travel book, was a short 20 minute walk along the ocean to the beach. We brought my parents with us and they decided to stay by the car rather than take the walk. We began the walk with great excitement and anticipation, after all, green sand is very unique, only on this one beach in all of Hawaii. After about 10 minutes of walking against the gale force winds that buffet the shore, we were less excited and getting a little impatient. We really wanted to see the beach, so on we went. After about 30 minutes of walking, we still could not see the beach, we thought, it is just over that next hill and we kept walking. After about 45 minutes of walking, we got really mad at the travel book, how could it lie to us about the actual walking time???? Still no beach. About an hour into the walk, we saw the beach in the distance. We hurried toward the beautiful green beach. It was beyond our expectations, totally green sand and the lovely blue water. As we walked back, the wind against our backs, we made much better time and before we knew it, we were back to where we started, my parents waiting for us. Like this adoption journey, we are blown back by the wind, we struggle with our expectations and yet, in the end, our magnificent children wait for us, like little gems sparkling in the sun.