Staying Grounded

Right off the bat, I don't have any "new" pictures because....well....my camera broke. REALLY! So I'm getting a new one this weekend and I am waiting to unveil new pictures of our upcoming family adventure! It's gonna be a good one, so stay tuned!
Well, 'staying grounded' kind of has a different ring in our household lately. Mary has been very ill with bacterial pneumonia and it has only been in the last couple of days that she's starting to really feel better, have an appetite (she's lost about 2 pounds) she's free of the fever that I thought would NEVER go away and her cough is not lingering as much nor is it as intense as it was. I know her little chest is so sore. So - we've all been 'grounded' in that sense, feeling very confined in our own home, leaving the house only to go to work, to get groceries or go to the doctor.
I remember that while we were in our adoption process that just waiting to see a picture of this gift God gave us seemed like it would never happen. Every day was a different dog and pony show of hoops we had to jump through in order to do our part for God's miracle to manifest. Most of the times mind you, this process seemed relentless in the redundancy, the bureaucracy, the doubt, that left us emotionally and physically drained. It was hard to stay grounded in the sense of staying the course with the focus and persistance that God requires. And then - just as Christmas of last year was coming around the bend, the burden of time and waiting was lifted, our joy was increased and our hearts were stunned in awe at the beautiful picture of our daughter God promised us. We finally got a glimpse of the incredible gift that awaited us on the other side of this world. How humble we become when deep in the midst of all of our complaining, moaning and whining - God gently reveals His committment to us. And He never does it halfway, our little Mary is waaayyyy far and beyond what we ever expected and His excellence validates that. So last Christmas was very, very sweet but THIS Christmas - the 'picture' will be alive and well and ...wow, who knows what Mary will think of her first Christmas????? SO -
We're trying to learn from our last bout of whining to God to get through THIS season of waiting by trying to stay grounded.......and focused with a healthier attitude. (No pun intended) Our mantra has become, "we can't wait for the day when Mary doesn't have to see a doctor every week"! Our desire to see our daughter OUT of doctor's offices are not of selfish intentions but if Mary could talk to us now (cause we know she will soon) we're pretty confident she would tell us how tired she is of being dragged to different doctors offices, like - all the time! We may not be able to hear that from her, but we sure can see it! We never saw THIS illness coming but while we know that God is in control and He knows how the end of the movie plays out, Like any parent, we just want to see our child healthy, happy, peaceful and.........grounded. We hang tough and remind ourselves that - Christmas is just around the corner!!!