I don’t need a special month to celebrate the blessings of adoption. I live them!
With 3 of my 4 blessings being adopted, we thank God each day for the way He sought fit to bring together our family.
Maybe you are asking yourself if this is an option for your family.
Some couples take years to reach this decision point. Some agonize over it. For others, it flows naturally. But when the pain of infertility or miscarriage begins to fade and you refuse to let the sun go down on your longing to be a parent – then you are ready to consider adoption.
Our journey began after minimal infertility testing and a miscarriage. Two weeks after the miscarriage we had the pleasure to adopt our first child, a 3-day-old baby girl. Our bliss was realized. Surely God could not bless us again so abundantly!
A few months later, I became pregnant and our second daughter was born 17 months after the first. Up to my knees in diapers, bottles and Cheerios, I completely enjoyed my girls.
As I approached 40, a cut-off age for many adoptions, I got the hankering for another child. This time we turned to Korea and about one year after application, we picked up our 5-month-old baby girl from the airport. In later years when the kids would ask where babies came from they were convinced they ALL came from the airport.
At the ripe age of 42, my husband indulged my longing for a son. This was the last year our ages would qualify us for the program. We forged ahead and soon our son joined our family, also at 5-months-of-age. At last our family was complete.
We stumbled the days of colic, formula changes, and sheer crowd control, but survived it with grace and lots of love.
The challenges began as the kids got older. We’ve dealt with many, if not most, of the possible labels: ADD, ADHD, LD, ODD, bi-polar – E-I-E-I-O. Learning from each challenge we grew stronger and greater in love.
The first two teens challenged us tremendously with an early, ill-advised marriage for one and the other launching off into the world to have some adventures. All while I stayed home and dealt with the learning and attention issues and nursed my husband back to health after cancer.
I am happy to say both the older girls are back home and are back on track with school and jobs. My husband is feeling better and my oldest has blessed us with a 3 year old grandson who is the delight of our lives.
Still standing through the storms, we are Clare, age 27 with a 7 year old son; Caitlin, age 26; Grace, age 22; and Daniel, age 19. Our days are full and sometimes stressful but we love each other madly and deeply. The Lord has redeemed the earlier times of pain and separation because He is a God of restoration.
Are you thinking about adoption? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
