Adoption Day

Laughter and giggles, smiles and hugs, a court room lobby filled with tiny happy people hanging onto their new mommies and daddies.

This isn't what I'm used to seeing around here.

A court house is the holy ground for heavy hearts.

It is the location where disagreements are made right, but, win or lose, most people don't enter or leave happy. My husband is an attorney. He discourages his clients from taking cases to court. Instead, he encourages them to come to a mutual agreement. "No one wins in court...except the attorneys." He tells them.

Today is different. Today is adoption day. Today my husband is representing clients who will leave happy.

Children of all ages, shapes and sizes dart and dash, scamper and scoot on the cool marble floor. This area is usually somber and uncomfortable, a sanctuary for the bitter and hurt, the jaded and disgruntled. There is joyful chatter from this crowd. They could just as easily be waiting for their ticket to an amusement park, all smiles and hugs of anticipation, waiting for their turn to be called before the judge.

These families have answered a righteous calling. Their once empty arms are now filled with a gift of God's choosing.

I've never heard God ask me to stand on this promised land, but I've quite a few friends who have. Today I am given a chance to peek behind the curtain and witness their deepest desire.

These hearings are closed to the public. As much as I want to, I cannot watch what takes place behind closed doors - the matrimony of child to parent.

I focus on the court room doors. Once again they open wide and out pours a new beaming family. This one is eclectic. Mother and father are all hands and arms filled with wriggling children, six kids in all. New brothers and sisters brought to witness their newest competitor for mom and dad's attention, caught up in the excitement for now. A rainbow of skin color make up this festive family.

A rainbow is a fitting picture because the brilliance of a rainbow comes after the rain. I'm watching the final scene of the long road to adoption. No doubt, this journey held sorrow and tears, the rain before their rainbow.

I wait not-so-patiently for the next family to explode from the ornate wooden portal. I've not received this calling, but I'm reminded today to pray for those who have, those who feel stuck in the rain, still waiting for their rainbow.



*Pray today for empty arms, those parents still waiting for their special day in court.

*Take a moment and visit blogs of those awaiting their rainbow and leave them some encouragement today. Here are a few friends of mine called to walk this journey: Sheri & Lauren.