Two week check-in

In two weeks, Jeremy and I will be on a plane, flying to Eastern Europe.  In two weeks, our lives will change forever.  In two weeks, our eyes will be opened to the fate of orphans in third world countries, and especially the fate of orphans with special needs.  I expect that Jeremy and I will never be the same.  We will view the "needs" we have in a totally different light.  After we get home, we will drive up to our six bedroom home, complete with cable TV, closets full of clothes, buckets and baskets filled with toys and three cars (although none of them fancy or new).  As we talk on one of our five cell phones, we will open our freezer to more food than orphans see in a year.  We will, I'm certain, remember the little friends we made half way around the world.  And our hearts will break for them.  Our hearts will forever be changed.  We will assess what a "need" really is.  We can already feel that coming. 

So what are we feeling right now?  Excited, nervous, scared, worried, lonely, hopeful, helpful, blessed, fearful, overwhelmed, stessed, anxious, ready, not ready...  And that's just the tip of the iceberg. 

Do we think this will be easy?  Ummm. no.  How could bringing home an orphan, institutionalized his entire life, with CP, who doesn't speak our language ever be easy? 

Will we struggle, cry, worry and fret?  Yep. 

Will we see progress?  Every day.  Progress will be measured in small steps.  Small increments.  Moments of personal victory. 

Will we see success?  Of course we will.  Not that he will definitely overcome all, because we certainly don't know that, but he will certainly overcome more than if we left him in an orphanage. 

Will we have days where we wonder what we were thinking?  It's almost certain.

Will we have regrets?  Momentarily, maybe.  I'm being honest here.  Long term, no. Of that, I am certain.

Why?  Because in the end, Jeremy and I recognize that his need for a family, his right to live outside of an institution, his right to live, trumps our right to have an easy life.  Because in the end, his needs are more important than our comforts. In the end, we know what his most basic need is, and we can undoubtedly fill it.  His most basic need is to have a family, to be loved.  Something that no child should ever be denied.

Jeremy and I are not delusional enough to think this will be a piece of cake.  We did not enter into this ever thinking it would be.  We know it will be dang hard.  Probably harder than anything we've been asked to do before.  Does that mean we shouldn't do it?  Of course not.  Because He who asked us to do it will also give us what it takes to do the job.  And we know the blessings will far outweigh the trials.  We know that watching a child take off and soar will be worth any amount of effort, toil and tears that is required. 

Not everything in life is supposed to be easy or comfortable.  If your life is easy, you probably are not stretching yourself far enough.  Our biggest growth comes from those things that are hard. We can do hard things.  We can most definitely do hard things for a child.  A child who has nothing... when we have SO MUCH.  Look around you.  Look inside yourself.  Let hard things change your life.