Hope

Image from: www.restonbible.org 

Hope can come in many different forms.  We definitely have a lot of hope right now.  We are hoping for two girls.  We are hoping that we won't have to wait too long.  We are hoping that the finances will work out.

HOPE is also the name of an adoption and orphan care ministry at a local church.  The group is made up of people who have a heart for adoption.  There are people who work in adoption, people who have adopted, people who are in the process and people who are just thinking about adopting.  About a year ago, soon after I had finally agreed to adopt, we attended a fellowship meeting HOPE was having.   Since then we have attended an information session and recently another fellowship.  It is very encouraging to be with others who have had or are having the same experiences.

At this last fellowship we met the Wicklines, you can read about their story here.  As it turns out, we had actually met the Wicklines before.  We have been walking a parallel path.  Some months back, the Wicklines attended the same Home Study orientation that we did.  At the time as they told their story, I now remember Jenn commenting about how it sounded like they attended a church near us and had heard the adoption story presented by one of Jenn's friends.  We didn't think much of it and left the meeting figuring we wouldn't see any of those people again.

In June you probably remember that we had a garage sale.  When we had it, we contacted a friend from the Hope ministry and she mentioned there was another person who was also having an adoption garage sale on the same day.  I thought "that is nice" and moved on as we were pretty overwhelmed with what we had ahead of us.

Now it is October and we walk into the Hope fellowship.  The first people we see are the Wicklines. When we introduced ourselves, Becky Wickline said "I think you were at the same Home Study orientation as we were."  After a double take we agree they do look familiar and that probably is the case.  Then the host walks over and says "You guys both had your garage sales on the same day."

As we talk to them throughout the rest of the evening, we find out they submitted their dossier around the same time we did.  They have a similar wait time as we do.  We are hoping that we will be able to establish a friendship with them through this process.  As my wife tells me, it is fun to have somebody to be pregnant with and adoption is just a really long and complicated pregnancy.