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Advent.

I grew up in a church in the south, but we never really celebrated advent. I mean, we went to Christmas parties. Our church read scripture about the birth of Christ. We sang all the songs. But, the word “advent” didn’t enter my lexicon until the past few years. Even now, I don’t really spend a lot of weeks or even days preparing for the celebration of the Messiah.

I do know what it’s like to wait. In August of 2009, Anna and I started the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia. We had discussed this for years and finally took the definitive step forward. Since then, it’s been a process of waiting. Get this form turned in and wait. Have this notarized then wait. Pay this fee and wait. Make this phone call and wait.

We decorated the house for Christmas with a slight sadness because we have waited so long and Lucy still isn’t here yet. We had seen her face, but we didn’t even know when we’d be able to view it outside of a backlit computer screen. It was frustrating.

A week ago, we got a call from our agency that said we had a court date. We’re going to be in Ethiopia at the end of January, and we arrive at court on February 4th with the anticipation that she will be ours. So now, even though she’s not here yet, we celebrate Christmas with a joy that our lives are about to change forever. There will be new joys, new hopes, new life that enters our house. Maybe that’s what Advent is about. The anticipation of new joys and new hopes and new life.

After years and years of wait, the Hebrew people got the Messiah they had been promised. All of humanity was given the Savior of the world. He didn’t come in a way that they expected. But, when he did come, all was right with the world. God never shows up the way we want him to. He always messes with our sense of expectation. For a while, I thought he was some cosmic bully, just letting us know that he’s in charge. I’m starting to see that God messes with our expectations because he wants us to know that if we take control of our lives, it just doesn’t work out as well. When he takes control, he blows our expectations out of the water. He lets us see just how small our plans are.

So, this year, I will celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world. I will celebrate knowing that God knew this Christmas would be my last as a nonparent. I will celebrate because God has an enormous plan for the eventual redemption of the world, and I am a small part of it. I will celebrate because he knows what he’s doing, even when I don’t.

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Russ and Anna have been married for 5 years. Even as friends, before dating or marriage, they shared with one another that they each wanted to adopt. After marrying in May 2005, talk of adoption slowly entered its way into their conversations. Russ, working as a youth pastor, and Anna, working as a teacher and at a girl’s group home, saw the need more than ever for children to have loving, safe homes. After coming to this realization, they chose to begin the adoption process to adopt a little girl from Ethiopia. They will travel to Ethiopia at the end of January to meet Lucy and eventually bring her home. They are so excited about their story of choosing adoption to bring their first child home. You can follow their journey on their personal blog.

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Go back to August of 2005. I was a 10-year-old girl. I was happy with my life. I loved my family; life was good. I had a mom, dad, and two biological brothers. When my Mom and Dad had just gotten married, my Dad mentioned international adoption to my Mom. She thought it was a crazy idea at the time. She wanted a boy and a girl, better known as “the average American Family.” My Mom went to a spa day that my Dad had gotten her for Mother’s Day but she had put off going. God had a plan. She finally went, and the woman who did her massage talked about her China adoption and how beautiful and wonderful it was. God planted a seed. When my Mom left the spa she called my Dad and said “Hal, I think we have a daughter in China.” My Dad had a simple response, “I have been praying you would say that.”

So, it began. My parents announced they were adopting in a fairly simple way. They really didn’t have much choice since I was 10, Adam was 6, and Hayne was 2. My Mom came to me and said, “So, Ashton, How do you feel about a little sister?” I was estatic and was jumping “I would love one!! Is there one in your stomach?!” She laughed. “No, not this time. We are going all the way to China!”

I couldn’t believe it, but from that moment, I was thrilled. I didn’t question; I didn’t wonder; I just knew. Soon I would have a baby sister! When we started the China adoption process, the wait was said to be 6 months for paperwork and 6 months waiting for a referral. God’s hand was clearly on our adoption as we finished all of our paperwork in 2 months! It was unheard of in the adoption world at the time! We were expecting to have a baby by January. Boy were we wrong. The wait slowed down. Slowly the wait went from 12 months to 18 months to 24 months and so on. We waited. And, while we waited, we prayed.

On May 1, 2007, we finally received “The Call.” We had a beautiful baby girl waiting for us in Xiushan, China! She was 7 months old and just what we had prayed for and so much more!