In the last few years Eli and I have had the joy, and let’s face it sometimes the frustration, of being able to see situations from a unique and different perspective. We are right now standing at the precipice of 2018 and if you look at the surface it almost seems like we are further behind than we were two years ago right after we had submitted our completed home study.

Right now, there’s no home study.

There isn’t an agency.

But so much more has been gained than meets the eye.

Education isn’t free, and boy have we ever learned. Right now as I’m typing this post I’m sitting in my cozy home. I’m looking at the camp that restores my soul. Peeking into the bedroom that I’ve redone, once again, that will hopefully become my future children’s room. And guess what? I don’t feel sadness. I don’t feel sorrow. I feel comfort…even as my husband makes fun of the serious face I’m making right at this very moment.

See, perspective is everything. I feel like right now I have a much more “360” view than I had in the past. I understand that adoption comes with loss, but I don’t feel sad. I feel tired and weary at times from the challenges we’ve faced, but I feel stronger than ever. I see the blessings we have so much more clearly now.

To see the world clearly and to understand perspective, I truly believe that you have to be willing to see it from all angles. On the surface we may not have accomplished a lot, but let me tell you we’ve gained far more experience, perspective, advocacy for our future children, and certainty that this is what we should be doing. I know to the world and to many of our friends and family, a speedy adoption is what everyone is praying for. But the fact of the matter is that we wouldn’t have gained this unique and much needed perspective had we been matched right away. And to be honest, I don’t think we would have been as well equipped as parents as we are now. Parenting is a lifelong learning process, but parenting a child or children through adoption takes humility, empathy, understanding, grit, and a willingness to completely and utterly throw the What to Expect When You’re… books out the window.

It’s standing in the same spot and having that knowledge that seeing what many would view as a cold, gray, barren landscape can be as breathtaking as a radiant, beautiful, take your breath away sunset.

~Chelsea