For Holt adoptive mom Riann Schell, this photo — taken while bringing her 9-year-old son home from China — is one she cherishes as a big moment in their adoption journey. 

Adoption is often referred to as “a journey.” Maybe because it involves walking roads for which we don’t have a map and scaling walls we didn’t think we have the strength to climb. But a journey, it is. I don’t crave adventure or adrenaline. Heights scare me; change makes my throat constrict. And, yet…

This was not the first time we stood within orphanage walls, waiting for the first glimpse of a face that we had only known in photos. Three times before, we had opened our arms, bringing home an infant, and two toddlers. But this time, a 9-year-old boy would walk into the room, smile bravely and greet us as “mama” and “baba.” As I knelt to wrap my arms around his bundled frame, his chin quivered, his courage wavering. Mine did too.