it's been 1 year since our log-in in China

Think about time. According to the American heritage Dictionary, time is defined as An interval separating two points on this continuum; a duration. Just like an inch or a gallon, time is a set measurement. One second is always the same. It never changes, it never fluctuates. But time has the appearance of being different in different situations. Think about any 12 months of your life. Did it pass quickly? The old saying is "time flies when you're having fun". It's not that time passes more quickly, but rather, we do not monitor time therefore it seems to pass quickly. For some it may have seemed like an eternity. An inmate in solitary confinement spends so much time in their cell that time must seem to stand still for them. "A watched pot never boils." doesn't mean that watching a pot actually retards the boiling process. It just means that we are more aware of the time it takes for that pot to boil. We watch the burner get warm, we see the small bubbles form on the bottom of the pot, and then we see the water come alive as the molecules become more active from the heat energy.

Today is 1 year since our file was logged in China. Does one year ago from today seem like that long ago? For us, the year has been a test of patience. We've been watching that "pot" for 365 days now. We started in this process expecting a 6 month wait from our paperwork log-in in China until we received our referral. Now, we're looking more like 15 or more months. Could we have predicted this? Somewhat, but I think most people choose to pay attention to their hopes and not to the reality of the moment. The average time line for the China program has been closer to 12 months. As in a year ago, time lines were at 6 months and during the SARS epidemic, time lines for families waiting to travel close to that time were closer to 2 years.

Don't get me wrong. An extended time line also has its advantages. We've had more time to do renovations to our house. Without another mouth to feed and a bum to change, we've had more money to save for the trip and pay down our debt. We've had more time to strengthen our marriage and more time to think up names for little "Gertrude".

Let's hope and pray that when the second anniversary of our LID comes around that we still won't be waiting for our referral.

Keep watching our blog. Every day brings us one day closer to our goal!