Longing

We are close to hitting the 2 month mark of "officially" waiting for our baby!  Some days this is extremely exciting, and others it just reminds me of the long road ahead we still have to travel.  Some days I can't believe that 2 months have already flown by, and other it seems like we have been waiting forever.  I still have to remind myself that we are actually making progress now.  Before we were on the list, I would hear of a referall, but it wouldn't be nearly as exciting because we weren't on the list and weren't slowly creeping towards that #1 spot with every referral.  So it's taken me a little bit to get used the the fact that we really are on the list, and every referral does mean we are closer to seeing that sweet face!  It does my heart good to hear of referral news and see "Gotcha Day" videos, because even though I cry like a baby every time I watch one, it is a reminder that we will get there one day, that one day it will be us rejoicing over seeing a first glimpse of that face, it will be us walking up those stairs and into the room of our precious child. 


This week I have been reading a lot of blogs about people's trips to Ethiopia, or Africa in general, and hearing about the devastating drought going on in the horn right now.  Sometimes my heart longs to be in Africa, longs to be able to do something to help these people.  Longs to see our baby's face and know that he/she is being taken care of, that he/she is safe and has plenty of food and water.  I find it odd that my heart longs to be in a place that I've never been before, and I can only explain it as God preparing my heart for the hard things our baby will experience, tying me to a country that holds more beauty than most of the world knows.  Our baby's home is hurting, this last sentence from the article above broke my heart:
                     

"'We are supposed to have an early warning system, but what is the point of warning the rest of the world when it doesn't listen?'"

 

I pray that we will listen, that our hearts will be broken for those who are hurting, and that we will be moved to help.