We Gotta Dream....But What About A Direction?

Man I have such a hard time when there is no plan, and let me tell you this journey comes with absolutely no directions. From the moment my wife and I were in sync on the adoption its been a mad dash to meet all the requirements for adoption at an accelerated pace. We are going this without an agency so its been at a different pace than most. It was recommended to us that we go volunteer at the orphanage as soon as possible to get to know the director as well as the kids. We found out that there was a trip happening mid march, so away we go. It was also recommended that it would be great if we could hand our home study to the orphanage director when we visit just to show him that we are serious about this. We started putting the word out that we needed a social worker for a home study asap, and it wasn't long til we had a name and it was pretty neat cause we got the same lady's name from several people and it was amazing how many common friends we had. She agreed to get right on it with us and literally two days later we were sitting in our living room with her going over our family history and boy did I feel that we were under a microscope. Not because of the questions she was asking but because of the pressure we put on ourselves. Man we were like cats on a hot tin roof. We were psyching ourselves out! We thought we had to portray ourselves as some perfect family.....so my wife put on her finest apron and I wore my velvet smoking jacket and the kids were in their Sunday best. I think I even licked my hand to slick down my sons cow lick........then we all sat down to a roast with all the fixings. I began to tell her of how to punish our children we took away their reading privileges and that just broke their little hearts....so they hardly ever got in trouble because darn it those little boogers just love a good book. No......of course it didn't go that way but boy we sure had ourselves thinking it was supposed to be that way. Actually we spent 4 hours going over our up bringing and also how we raise our kids...I was honest and told her how occasionally I have to raise my voice to them but that's real life for the Petticrews. We didn't even cook for her we ordered in Olive Garden....she loved it. The Lord was showing us that he created us exactly the way we are craziness and all. We are a hectic, busy, and warm family full of love for each other. I really learned a lot about our family that day. The funniest part of that day was watching my wife squirm when the kids would talk. The home study was harmless, yet still a blessing to be done with. Item by item we've gone down the list checking things off on our road to Ghana. Not really having a clue where to go next but the Lord just sets the next task in front of us. We have visas applied for and plane tickets bought. We have taken physicals and immunizations. We are headed to Ghana. This is our next step in the process. After our week in Ghana we will know our child and know the rest of the path that the Lord has laid out for us. I'm very excited about the possibility of being able to help other couples out after we have gone through this journey. I really feel like His plan is for us to be able to help others with their direction after He gives them their dream. That's why He keeps laying things out just so for us.