Amused...

Life around here, despite the cold, snow, and now the Colts losing the Super bowl, has been good. I am SO loving seeing my daughter begin to be amused by her siblings, and her parents :-) She has started to laugh more and she smiles all the time! She took five or six steps on her own this past week and is SO ready to run she can't stand it! I love that! It has been a challenge over the last few months, and I have had many moments of just being uncertain as to how she was going to adjust and wondering if she was truly happy, so it is SUCH a blessing to see her truly enjoy herself. I was telling a friend today about how much I have learned about bonding. It has really helped me feel bonded to her as she has begun to respond with joy and amusement to us. I had the revelation today that while God always unconditionally loves us, I imagine that He feels closer to us when we are able to receive His love and we respond to it. As much as there has been divine intervention in our adoption process and certain undeniable evidence of God's hand and how He has purposed for this child to be ours, I think I have been surprised at just the humanity involved. Building relationships in general just take time. You don't become best friends with someone the very first time you meet them. There has to be mutual affinity for one another and some sort of investment of time and emotion to build that. Even though there are many things about adoption that are different, so many of the same principles apply. I think my expectations/desires where just a little unrealistic for the time given. Hind sight is 20/20 though :-) It has been good to have people to talk to about this along the way, which I would encourage others in this process to do, and or seek out if need be. Adoption is amazing, and so much of it has been a beautiful, wonderful, experience, but there are challenges as well, and if you aren't careful to take those before God, and bring them out in the open with people who can give wise counsel and speak truth, the enemy can definitely have a hay-day with that. I am sure more challenges are to come, but praise God for a lesson learned :-)