Anna and I were so blessed to get cheap tickets to head out and meet our birth mom and her precious older daughter... What an amazing time...
Anna and her older daughter became fast friends. They were so precious together and them getting along means more than you can imagine to me...
Here is my beautiful friend Kimmey Sue who is loving daily on our birth mom and is taking such great care of her and her daughter... She is a busy mom to 7 and yet she is ministering to them with such love, compassion, and joy! (We were out for walk enjoying the beautiful AZ weather and landscape... OH MY GOODNESS, it was 78 degrees that day... Gorgeous!! )
Sorry had to include another cactus... Those things are so cool!
Anna and Baby girl's sweet older sister making a build a bear for the baby... Now she will have something to share with her baby sister...
How do you adequately put into words what a weekend like last weekend means???
It is next to impossible...
How do you express to someone you just met who is potentially carrying a baby that you will raise as your own... the amount of love you instantly have for them??
How do you tell someone the immense gratefulness that you have for them in choosing life for this precious baby they are carrying? Things could in a very real way have turned out totally different...
How do you tell someone how much you admire, honor, and respect them for making the decision that they are planning to make???
How do you express to someone that if things go as planned you TRULY see them as a part of your family as well???
How do you share with them how much your heart breaks imagining and also knowing the pain they will endure when they have to walk out of the hospital empty handed after carrying a baby inside for 9 months???
How do you share with them your hopes and dreams for this little one, for your family, and for theirs when they go home when you see so much strength, beauty, and bravery in them even after such a short time with them???
How do you share all of this??? Well quite honestly, you just do... you open up your mouth and let the words come... really... more like Pray and let the Lord lead... :)
I am TOTALLY in awe of our gracious God and the miraculous ways HE worked this past weekend...
On Sunday we picked them up for worship and there I sat next to the sweet lady that is carrying my baby... God willing... Right there next to me, in her stomach... our baby... God willing... Wooh... at times, it was too much... God is so good!
Even right after church we started talking about the hard things... How do you help your older daughter through this? I was able to quickly and clearly articulate that if we do indeed raise this sweet little one, that we hope and pray they can be a part of our family as well... Ultimately, it is in her hands to do whatever she feels she is comfortable with ... her heart may need time to heal...
But her response to me warmed my heart... She has told her daughter that it will be like she is gaining a whole bunch of brothers and sisters... BEAUTIFUL!!! The amazing gift of open adoption to both families...
We dropped the kids off at home to be watched by the older kids and the moms had some lunch and got a pedicure... It was such an amazing treat for me... But even more amazing to do it with her and my sweet friend...
We went back home and spent the rest of the day letting the kids play and getting to know each other better. We sat on the back porch and talked for a couple of hours...
She shared many things that gave me a clearer picture of her life and the pain she has experienced... There were many times... I had to hold back the tears... And I was able to really express to her how I feel about the sacrifice she is making and my tenderness towards her time in the hospital and when she has to leave...
Moments shared that only occurred by the Grace of God! I am an open book... and she was very receptive and so open to sharing in return...
We even named this sweet baby girl together... Honestly, I can hardly believe it... It was such a precious time for me. I do not take this for granted that I had the privilege of getting to know her more...
God takes two completely different people who already love this little one... forges a bond of moms that only He could do... weaves our stories and families together in a whole new way...
While we maybe getting a precious child out of the adoption process, it is really SO MUCH MORE!!! I pray we can be a blessing to both she and her older daughter as we pray for them, minister to them, and love on them...
But really they are such a blessing to us... God is using her and has used the birth families of Isaiah and Hope to open our eyes to a whole new world and for that I am so grateful... (We are so blessed by Levi's family... they just seem to be pretty similar to us:) Besides, we also get the HUGE bonus of understanding our kids roots better and in a clearer way...
All of this is such a gift to my heart!
Do I sound like I am getting ahead of myself... She is going to have this baby in 12 days or less... and yes, she could change her mind...
Would I be sad? Totally, ( that is an understatement!!! But we are trusting that this little one will end up exactly where God wants her... And the time invested isn't in vain no matter the outcome... While it can be a bit emotionally draining... It is so worth it... every single second...
Thanks for coming along on the journey!
No comments:
Post a Comment