Today, Brayden, Asher and I took a trip to the Probate Office at the Government Center to acquire three certified copies of my and Lance's marriage license (after a failed attempt on a Friday... don't go to the Probate Office on a Friday... stu-pid). We were instantly called into the office (because it was a day other than Friday) and seated at the lone clerk's desk. Brayden sat in the wooden chair to my right and Asher sat in my lap kissing me on the cheek. On the desk laid my GA drivers license (boasting the picture of a younger woman with blonde hair) and $30 cash to pay for the copies. I took all of this in with little thought of it until the moment that the kind clerk laid the original marriage license on the desk in front of us...
As I studied this piece of paper that was creased in the middle from having been folded and tucked away in a filing cabinet for nearly a decade, my mind flashed back to the last time I had sat in that office with my, then, fiance...
What great expectations we had as we sat in those same wooden chairs. I can't really speak for Lance, but that day, as I sat there staring at the clerk who typed up our license, I was excited about what the future held... great expectations indeed. Yet, like Pip, I had no clue how much my life would change. As I sat there holding the hand of the man I was to marry, I had no idea that nine years later I would be sitting in the same office, in the company of our two sons, staring at the clerk typing up copies of our marriage license so that we could add them to a stack of papers that would be sent to [country in Asia] for the adoption of our daughters. Yeah... that would never have crossed my mind as I sat in that chair nine years ago.
As the clerk asked me to check the information on the screen, I snapped back into present day. I was a bit in awe of how much more wonderful God's plans were than my expectations. I realized that, while my expectations had been great, they had really just been the silly fancy of a foolish girl who thought she knew how every fairytale was supposed to end.
While the clerk applied the seals to the three copies, I guess her curiosity got the best of her, because she asked me why I had requested three certified copies. I smiled and explained that we were adopting and that these copies were some of the many documents we had to gather. She inquired a bit further, and, as I expounded briefly, her eyes got wide and she said, "Wow! You're so brave!" I smiled again weakly, shook my head, lowered my eyes and turned a light shade of red.
No... I'm not brave. I just have great expectations... because I know the author of the book, and no matter what plot twists may lie within the pages, his endings are always perfect.
Until next time! -K
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