Waiting for Matthew (our soon to be adopted son)

I can see by your picture update that you are getting bigger. Looks like that high-protein diet is really doing its job. That’s good, because you are going to need all the energy you can get to keep up with your new sister, Kara. She is so anxious to meet you. She keeps asking questions about you, especially about what you will like. “Will Matthew like to play on the swings with me? Do you think he will like soccer? Do you think he will like going to my school?” We always tell her yes, he will enjoy all of those things.

You’re also going to need a lot of energy for a big journey ahead of you. If all goes well, you will travel over 7,000 miles to your new home. It’s going to be quite an adjustment for you. New food, new language, new customs, new people, new…everything. But, if you’re like most 5 year olds don’t worry. Your new favorite food will soon become McDonald’s chicken nuggets!

I’m sure that you will grieve this transition. It’s normal to feel sad for all of your loss. You will miss the caregivers and new friends that you have made at the orphanage where you are now staying. You will miss the countryside of your homeland. And surely you are already mourning the loss of your family. There must be a hole in your heart at the loss of your father when you were only two years old. You must be grieving the loss of your two older sisters. And of course your mother. How you must deeply miss your mom. I’m sure that when she recently got sick, giving you up had to be the hardest decision of her life. I want you to know that this is not how God intended this world to be. Poverty and sickness are not part of God’s original plan. And they have robbed you from what should have rightfully been yours—a family. We will never forget the tragedy that is bringing you to us. We don’t expect you to forget it either.

But there is healing in life.

And we are so full of hope for you. We can see God’s plan bringing us together to form something new. And although it will be tough at first, we know that it can become a place of healing and joy for all of us. God wants you to have a mom and dad again…and two sisters! And for a bonus he wants to give you something you didn’t already have—an older brother. And your new brother is so thrilled to finally have a brother of his own! God is already beginning to fill in the missing pieces of your life, and ours.

Your picture is on our refrigerator door. Every day I walk past it and I look at you. I pause for a moment before I walk by, and I smile. I smile because of how happy you look in the picture. You are so beautiful. I smile because I imagine your new life with us. But mostly I smile because soon, you will become my son.