Parenting Class

I completed my adoption training class this weekend.  Sixteen hours of training on how to parent an internationally adopted child.  I think all parents should be required to take a class before starting a family.  It is ironic that a fifteen year old can have a baby in the back seat of a car without much thought at all and those of us who desperately want them have to jump through so many hoops.
I was hoping that our group would become close as I have heard so many families do after their intense weekend of training.  Our group was so diverse and they were all from up north.  One family was a missionary couple adopting a teenager from the Philippine Islands and the other was a Korean/Vietnamese couple adopting a Chinese baby. 

After taking this class and reading up on adoption, I feel a sense of sadness about removing Yi Mei from her culture.  I know the adoption process in itself causes trauma for the child.  I also feel sad that I won't be able to give her a dad, sibling or cousins  I especially grieve that my parents are so old- I want my mom to be healthy enough to be "Oma" to Yi Mei and for Yi Mei to know her German roots.  Though I know she will have more opportunities than she would ever have as an orphan in China,  I long for her to experience the joy of having siblings and cousins.  When this weighs heavy on my heart, I have to trust God will heal Yi Mei's abandonment.  I also trust that He can make up for all that I can not provide and will do more  than I can ask or imagine.