“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.” – Hebrews 11:8
The first year we lived in our new town I used Apple maps to navigate everywhere. For an entire year. Even little visits to the grocery store within a few miles of our home.
I don’t pay a bit of attention to road names. I’m more of a landmark gal who falls back on her intuition when nothing looks familiar. And don’t even think about telling me to go north unless you want to see a confused look on my face! Map apps that show exactly where and when to turn and display the precise time in which you will arrive were made for people like me.
Being a hopeful adoptive parent has made me feel a lot like I’m driving around a new town without my trusty maps app. I know the destination is parenthood, God willing, but have no idea the path we will take to get there or what “there” even looks like. I imagine this is a teeny tiny sliver of how Abraham felt, walking forward, doing his best to trust the Lord would use the journey for His glory without really knowing where he would end up.
I’m new to the world of adoption, but have learned so much of it is getting comfortable with the unknown and stepping out in faith.
We wait to be chosen and try to walk where the Lord is leading us. Not knowing with certainty if we’ll ever be selected by expectant parents, how old the child will be when we meet, what story the child will hold in his/her heart from his/her biological family, etc. It can be hard to cope with all the unanswered questions and what ifs.
Then I remember somewhere else an expectant mother is trusting and praying the adoptive parents she selects are who they say they are. That they will raise her child in the way they promise. That she can cope with the grief. That she will not be forgotten. Knowing this humbles me and wrecks my heart at the same time.
Like Abraham, we all set out in hope.