A new kind of labor

I'm learning something about adoption as we move along in this process. I will not go into labor with our fourth child. But, there is a certain kind of labor involved. So far the paperwork has been a real labor of love. Neither one of us are really "details" kind of people. I can barely remember to enter things in the checkbook. Paperwork and I don't get along very well. But that is the first step in this process, the "paperchase". I don't mean to complain because 1)I'm sure those who have adopted would say that the waiting stage is much harder. At least there is something we can do right now to bring our child home. And 2) we will do whatever it takes to see our family completed as we add another member to our team.

But what I'm learning about my adoption experience is that this is "labor" for me. Not labor as in pain (I guess that comes later on), but labor as in work. Being a youngest child, I never have been a fan of the word labor in any sense. But I guess I am going to be in this kind of labor for the next couple of months, so I better get used to it. I want to call and ask for an epidural, but there is none available. I need to trust the Lord to wade through all these papers in a somewhat orderly fashion. It may not be my strength, but it is my calling. And, Lord willing, when I'm looking into two little brown eyes it's not going to matter how much of a stretch it was for me to get the paperwork done. Oh, how I look forward to that day!

Here we are with our box that had our big ol' binder of adoption paperwork. We look excited, but we're also petrified. In case you were wondering, I put lip gloss on before we took the picture. So, I may be freaking out, but I've got shiny lips!