Thank you all for your continued support of Ornaments for Adoption.
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Jan is another member of the church where Lee and I attend and Lee is the youth pastor. She also happens to be Kristen's mom. I posted Kristen's story last week and this week, I want you to hear the story from another perspective.
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When I was a little girl my
greatest dream was to be married and have children. Through God’s blessing that dream was
fulfilled when I married a special guy and through adoption we received two
wonderful children.
After eight years of marriage and
no pregnancy we were advised by our gynecologist to start the adoption
procedures. We had no clue the paperwork
or process involved for adoption but we will be eternally grateful for the
process and spiritual growth that we experience through it. It was amazing to see God’s hand in bringing
our children into our home. After months
of home studies and paper work we were approved for adoption in May 1975. The caseworker told us that it may be years before
an infant would be available and we needed to just wait patiently. God had other plans. On December 5, 1975 we received a call to
meet with the caseworker on Monday, December 7 to meet our son. I knew the moment he was placed in my arms
that this was the child God had brought into this world for us. He was a precious 5 ½ week old, blue eyed
little boy. Perfect in our eyes! He became our son the moment we set eyes on
him. Words cannot explain the immediate bond with
our son and the joy in our hearts. What a wonderful gift from God! He became a reminder of the special gift God
gave all of us on the first Christmas Day when our Savior was born in a
manger. God’s only Son – a gift for me –
a gift for you!!!! The blessing of being
able to adopt a child is the first beautiful side of adoption.
I have to add that part of the
home study included telling us to teach this child that it took more love for
his birth mother to place a
child for adoption than it would have taken for her to keep him. It is
a selfless act. We do not use the term
“give up” in connection with adoption because everyone knows that a child lives
in the birth mother’s heart forever. A birth mother places a child for
adoption. What a sacrifice for the birth
mother and WHAT a GIFT for
us!
After three years, we decided we
would like to adopt a second child. In
the spring of 1979, adoption proceedings started for another child. In June of that year we were blessed with a
beautiful, curly, blond, 14-month old little girl. Our joy was multiplied. Our little girl’s transition to her new home
was effortless because she loved and idolized her BIG brother from the
beginning. Once again we were the recipients
of another birth mother’s selfless act.
We are eternally grateful. Life at
this point was pretty near perfect!!!
God was shaping and molding our
family in a lot of ways during the years that our son and daughter were growing
into young adults. One of those
experiences happened when our daughter came by our home one Sunday after church
to tell us that she was pregnant out of wedlock. WOW!
This could not be happening to us.
We turn to our Heavenly Father for love, support and direction for our
child and for the child she carried. At the
age of 19 our daughter moved back home pregnant with our first grandchild. We had such mixed feeling during this
time. Another sweet life created by God,
being carried by our daughter. God would
once again make something beautiful in His timing. My daughter and I bonded during this
pregnancy in ways that could have only come from God. I was able to experience pregnancy up close
and personal. It was very difficult when
she decided to place her little girl for adoption but once again God’s love
strengthened us for the journey. That little girl still lives in our
hearts. This is the second blessing of adoption.
Adoption brings its challenges
that are diminished by the blessings. Children
are one of God’s greatest blessings on earth with the greatest
responsibility. Parenthood is a
blessing, an opportunity to share a home and love that can make a difference in
a child’s life, a home and love that can point a child to the Love of God and a
relationship with Him.
Our adoption experience was a
blessing and a wonderful reminder of the blessing of our adoption by our
Heavenly Father. Ephesians 1:4-9 tells
us “Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be
holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His
own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him
great pleasure. So we praise God for the
glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He
purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along
with all wisdom and understanding.” Our
adoption by God is the third and most beautiful side of adoption.
To GOD BE THE GLORY, GREAT THINGS
HE HAS DONE!!
