What to expect when you're...expecting?

We are expecting.  We don't know how many, or how old, or what gender.  We are expecting great things though.  And we really are expecting.  It's not different than if we had announced a pregnancy.  We may (and likely will) wait longer than 9 months to meet our kids.  And then we will wait even longer to finalize the adoption.  But WE ARE EXPECTING.  We are expecting the Lord to bless us with more children.  We are expecting Him to bless us through those children, to bless them through us and our community, to bless the world through them.  When God told Abraham he would have as many descendants as the stars, He was talking about us and our descendants after us.  We were adopted into His family.  We were engrafted in.  We aren't less a part of the family because we were adopted.  We are 100% part of His family.  Why would we want to look back at where we came from?  And so too, when we adopt, and when it's finalized, that child will be a Shipp.  They won't just bear our name.  They really will be Shipps.  We are expecting more Shipps.  And they will be the people God has ordained for our family.  Chances are, they are already born.  Someone else has them now.  Maybe they're in the womb, maybe they're in foster care now.  But they really are our children and they are God's children.  We are expecting them, we just don't know who they are.  Pregnancy is the same way though.  Of course there's the bonding between mother and baby before they are born, but you don't really know them.  You can speculate on what they may look like, or which character traits they will get from each parent, but you don't know that until they're in your arms.  And while I can't even make an educated guess on what our adopted children will look or act like, they will still be my children.  So I say this again, we are expecting.  We've made the announcement.  We're taking all the steps and headed down this road.  God could shut this door, but we have every reason to believe that this will come to fruition.  Maybe we're announcing in our first trimester, but we want our friends and family to pray for us, just as we would with another pregnancy.  The Lord is growing our family in His timing.  He has laid this on our hearts now because he is preparing our children for us.  It's all in His timing, not ours.  If this door closes next month, it's because of Him.  If it takes 6 months, it's because of Him.  If it takes 2 years, it's because of Him.  He will direct our path.  Our cup runneth over.