A Trip to Australia

This last week has been a little bit of a whirlwind, and I really wish I had some clear thoughts to put out there. But, I don't. So, for now, I will leave you with this little analogy.

I tend to be very careful and selective about using analogies, because sometimes they aren't necessarily true from every perspective or angle. But there is an analogy that I've come across a number of times in the last year that for the most part reflects many of our feelings through this infertility/adoption journey.

The thing I like about it is that the feelings expressed are probably very similar to any other challenge or trial that one might feel while in the midst of the trial. So, to those of you who read this, I hope that whatever challenges you might be facing you'll find something in it that may bring some peace and hope of good things to come. Because of the law of opposition, the underlying truth to every trial is that it is followed by something good. Perhaps the deeper the heartache and pain we experience, the deeper the joy and beauty we will find at the end.

By Diane Armitage printed in the April 21, 1995 "Dear Abby" column:

Deciding to have a baby is like planning a trip to Australia. You've heard it's a wonderful place, you've read many guidebooks and feel certain you're ready to go. Everyone you know has traveled there by plane. They say it can be a turbulent flight with occasional rough landings, but you can look forward to being pampered on the trip.

So you go to the airport and ask the ticket agent for a ticket to Australia. All around you, excited people are boarding planes for Australia. It seems there is no seat for you; you'll have to wait for the next flight. Impatient, but anticipating a wonderful trip, you wait--and wait--and wait.

Flights to Australia continue to come and go. People say silly things like, "Relax. You'll get on a flight soon." Other people actually get on a plane and then cancel their trip, to which you cry, "It's not fair!"

After a long time the ticket agent tells you, "I'm sorry, we're not going to be able to get you on a plane to Australia. Perhaps you should think about going by boat."

"By BOAT!" you say. "Going by boat will take a very long time and it costs a great deal of money. I really had my heart set on going by plane." So you go home and think about not going to Australia at all. You wonder if Australia will be as beautiful if you approach it by sea rather than air. But you have long dreamed of this wonderful place, and finally you decide to travel by boat.

It is a long trip, many months over many rough seas. No one pampers you. (Isn't that the truth!) You wonder if you will ever see Australia. Meanwhile, your friends have flown back and forth to Australia two or three more times, marveling about each trip.

Then one glorious day, the boat docks in Australia. It is more exquisite than you ever imagined, and the beauty is magnified by your long days at sea. You have made many wonderful friends during your voyage, and you find yourself comparing stories with others who also traveled by sea rather than by air.

People continue to fly to Australia as often as they like, but you are about to travel only once, perhaps twice. Some say things like, "Oh, be glad you didn't fly. My flight was horrible; traveling by sea is so easy."

You will always wonder what it would have been like to fly to Australia. Still, you know God blessed you with a special appreciation of Australia, and the beauty of Australia is not in the way you get there, but in the place itself.