"Waiting For May"

At bedtime tonight, Jorie asked to read "Waiting For May", a great children's book about adoption. The story is told by a little boy waiting to travel to China to bring home his little sister, May. Jorie loves the story. She loves to hear how he waited for a long time and asks how much longer we have to wait. I love the part when the family actually travels to China to bring May home. I get a little teary-eyed every time I read the story, thinking about our own travel date and wishing Terra could be in our arms, but also knowing what an incredibly scary time it will be for Terra. Can you imagine if one day someone showed up at your house, picked you up with nothing but the clothes on your back and moved you to a completely different country with a new family that speaks a strange language?! How will her brain ever make sense of what has happened in her world? We've been trying to prepare Jorie for the prospect that her new little sister will probably be terrified of us and cry for several days (maybe weeks) before she gets to know us and decides that we're safe enough for her to love. Somedays winning the heart of a child seems like an insurmountable task, other days it seems like the most natural thing in the world. Whatever happens, I can't wait for the journey as we build our family of four.