Blessings in Disguise (at Legoland)

Warning: This post is going to be a quickie.  More informational than anything.  I’m going to dial down my hilarious but profound comments and just get to the point.  Here’s what we’ll be addressing this week (you may have noticed-I like lists):
1.  The “Piece by Piece” fundraiser’s progress
--and--
2.  A random encouragement (brought about by one of our pins)

First-the fundraiser.  We have been thrilled with how well it is going.  The participation by friends, family, friends of family, friends of friends of friends (I could go on, but you get it) is astounding.  Just today I am sending 10 pins out to my college roommate and her family in Indiana!  And then we will be mailing 2 in a package to David’s brother and his wife in Vietnam.  They truly are the traveling pins.  We are humbled by the way people have used them to share our story.  Also (let’s face it) they are a really cute accessory to boot!

One of the many "pin letters" we've mailed out!

 So far we have sold 184 (out of 500) pins.  That is just in the space of 1 month folks!  Only 316 left to go; pretty remarkable.  In turn, we have added that many pieces into the puzzle to be framed for our daughter’s room.  After all pins have been sold, we will post a picture of the back of the puzzle too.  Then (if you squint) maybe you will be able to find YOUR name on the back of one of those pieces.  Our daughter is already so blessed.

As a reminder: this is the original Elijah masterpiece we created the puzzle from....

....and here we are at 184 pieces in.  Pretty exciting, but still more to go!  We'll do another update after Christmas.

 
Secondly-the random encouragement.  Over Thanksgiving, we got to spend some time with David’s parents who live outside of Chicago.  During the course of this past year, we discovered that there is a Legoland very close to their home.  Since you don’t live at my house you might not know this, but Elijah is obsessively into Legos right now.  He’s not yet referring to them as “My Precious” (nerdy reference directed at my hubby), but I wouldn’t rule it out.  Once we knew Legoland existed, there was no escaping it.  We would have to make a pilgrimage to the block holyland.  

The trip did not disappoint.  I think it could have been the highlight of Elijah’s existence so far.  There were Lego exhibits, Lego sculptures, Lego rides, Lego movies, Lego building workshops, the list goes on.  We thought Elijah’s brain might explode from a combination of sheer happiness and Lego overload. 

This is Elijah outside of Legoland.  He was just a little excited.

 Anyways, while we were standing in line for one of the rides, a guy tapped David on the shoulder and asked about his pin.  Their conversation went something like this-
David: Oh, my pin is part of an adoption fundraiser we are doing.
Random Guy: Really?  Where are you adopting from?
David:  Ethiopia.
Random Guy: We just recently finished adopting from there too.  Who’s your agency?
David: America World.
Random Guy: US TOO!!

David and the gentleman shook hands and had a great conversation.  He showed us darling pictures of his little boy Sam and talked about their family’s adjustment time.  We commiserated over the difficulty of the paperwork; he was able to reassure us that it can actually be completed!  David learned about the location in Ethiopia where we will be staying when we visit our daughter.  This stranger’s words and story were like warm sunshine in the middle of winter.  He could honestly say to us, “I’ve been where you are, but don’t worry.  You’re going to make it.  It is all worth it!”

Adoption is HARD for me because of the various struggles we discussed during that impromptu conversation.  Shhhh, let me tell you a secret-I am a control freak.  Not a quality that works well with the nature of this process.  To not have complete direction over the entire adoption makes me crazy.  It is just another step in “letting go and letting God,” which also happens to be something that I suck at.  Jesus is so patient with me.  He says with each random encouragement, “I am in control.”  In every gift given by a friend or stranger, “I am in control.”  In a perfectly timed hug, “I am in control.”  I could never orchestrate anything as amazing as HIS plan for my family’s life.  And so I want to say, as Elijah said to his grandparents upon leaving Legoland, “I wish I could say ‘Thank You’ three hundred times!”  I am grateful beyond words.