The Scenic Route

When I was at that point between waking and sleeping the other day, I dreamt of weary travelers, staggering after their leader, finally arriving at their destination. They realized as they arrived that there was a much shorter path they could have taken, it was just ugly and barren and they would have missed all the amazing views along the way. As I drifted back into consciousness, I thought to myself, "that's what our adoption journey has been like- taking the scenic route".

When we started this journey 23 months ago, we never thought it would take this long. We were told it might take 12 months. The wait has been frustrating. It tries our patience. It tires us out. And yet, the extra wait has been rewarding too. I love new cultures and languages, but Chinese was always a language I mentally checked off as too hard to learn. As we waited, I started learning Chinese out of my desire to communicate, but I didn't have any very high expectations at first, I just wanted to be able to communicate the basics to ease our transition. It wasn't long though until I was fascinated by the Chinese language, and the whole process of learning a language again. Soon I was becoming interested in the written language as well as the spoken language. I also started reading about Taiwan and China, and found a whole empire's worth of history and culture that I knew very little about. The more I learned, the more I was fascinated. Soon I couldn't imagine never seeing the country of my siblings' birth, and I planned for my trip to Taiwan this summer. If the kids had been home a year ago, I wouldn't have gone to Taiwan this summer. I probably wouldn't have pursued learning very much Chinese since I've learned most of what I know since last winter and the more I learn the more my fascination and commitment to learning the language has grown. During our wait we have also met so many people- the local Chinese people we have met through the Chinese church and Chinese classes who we now know are there to support us and will be there to translate if we need them to during the first few months, other families with adopted children who have been there, done that, so many other families adopting from Taiwan whom I haven't met in person, but who we talk about and pray for just the same, and we know they do the same for us. This is what has made the journey scenic. I have definitely become greatly enriched along the way.

Even epic scenic journeys come to an end someday, and I hope soon, we finally, tired but triumphant, make it to the top of the hill, and enjoy the end of our journey- life as a family of 9!