#1 of a 4 Part Series | “Blessed Beyond Measure”
Adoption has always been very close to my heart. I’m the oldest of 16 children, 13 of whom are adopted. I grew up learning that adoption is a wonderful way to grow a family and it is the perfect example of how God adopts us into His family, when we place our trust in Him. I always knew that I would adopt children of my own someday.
My husband, Matt, and I had discussed the topic of adoption many times, even before we were married. We love children and know there is such a need for good Christian homes for children in the United States and around the world. After being blessed with a biological son and daughter, we began the classes and paperwork to adopt from the United States. In less than a year, we added two little boys to our family. Our hearts were full and we were so thankful for the gift of being parents to more children.
When Matt and I say “Yes” to a child, from that moment on they are our very own. We love them with an unconditional love and they immediately become a part of our family. We think about them, pray for them, and yearn for the day we get to hold them in our arms and bring them home. I always like to say that my biological children grew in my stomach and my adopted children grew in my heart. Each one is such a part of me and I know that the love a mother has for her children is one of the strongest bonds on earth.
The next several years flew by with homeschooling, sports practices, church activities, and life with four young children. Not long after moving to a new town, Matt and I began talking about the possibility of adopting again. After doing some research, we felt led to adopt from the country of Haiti.
We had no idea what was in store for us as we began the process to adopt from Haiti. After four long years of paperwork, many trips to Haiti, an earthquake, and being featured on national television, we finally brought our daughter home. Her story is an amazing testimony of God’s provision and the miracles He still performs today. It brings tears to my eyes as I think back over the obstacles and trials we faced during her adoption and the joy and excitement we felt as we brought her home forever after so many years of waiting. I will share that whole adoption adventure at another time in another series of posts.
During our long adoption process from Haiti we were blessed with a wonderful, unexpected surprise. We received a phone call about a little girl whose agency was having trouble finding a home for her due to her special needs. She has deletion in the 16th chromosome which causes her to have seizures, speech and developmental delays. Matt and I had never really talked about special needs adoption, up to this point. After reviewing the information we were given and meeting this amazing little girl, we just knew she was our daughter. We felt equipped to deal with the delays she has and work closely with her doctors at the Mayo Clinic to keep her seizures under control.
We were pretty content at that point in life, three girls and three boys. Little did we know that God had something so much more amazing planned for us than we ever could have imagined. We were about to embark on a journey that would forever change our lives in so many ways.
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