When I was a child and adults or other children would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I didn't know how to answer. All I ever really wanted to be was a Mom. I played with baby dolls much longer than most girls and I had decided that I wanted at least six children.
My dream came true early in my adult life. Trevor and I had our first child a month after I turned 19. Nothing could have ever prepared me for the feeling that I would feel as the doctor held my baby boy up so that I could see him for the first time. And, nothing could have prepared me for all of the work and heartache involved in caring for the very challenging, colicky baby that God had blessed us with. Ha ha. I loved every second of it though.
I watched my husband grow from a rebellious teenager to a protective Father in an instant. That tiny little life that we lovingly created together changed both of our lives forever. We knew instantly that we wanted to have at least one more child. Of course we went on to have another son fairly easily. If you read my testimony earlier, you'll know that we had loss after loss as we tried to have our third child. During that time, I investigated adoption and talked at length with my husband about it. It was because of all of our losses that he didn't want to adopt at that time. He was afraid that we would begin the process, be matched with a child and the parents would change their minds. So, we just pressed on in our efforts to have another child and I'm so glad that we did.
Thoughts of adoption never really left our minds though. We were so Blessed to have three healthy boys. We love them so very much and knew just how much joy that they bring to us that we wanted to share that love and joy with another child. It made perfect sense to adopt an older child and a girl this time.
I began to look into adopting a local child through our foster care system. We completed our classes and we were cleared to adopt. Trevor immediately felt a connection with a child that was on the FL Adoption Exchange. We had no idea that this child would eventually, after many, many, twists and turns, become our daughter.
I'll never forget the weeks and months leading up to our first visit with her. Just knowing that our child was out there and not being able to see her or talk with her was agonizing. She was going through so much and we just wanted to reassure her that she was going to be okay. Looking back, the wait was short though. Our first visit was great. I will remember it as clearly as I remember seeing each of my boys for the first time.
There is no way to describe the love that we have for this child. We love her as much as we love our boys. We have the same hopes and dreams for her as we have for them. Our worries are the same. She is and always will be our child. We are so blessed to have her in our lives and it's amazing to think that God had this planned before we were ever born.
There are so many, many children out there that need a loving home. They live here in the US and they live in foriegn Countries. So many people believe that it costs thousands upon thousands of dollars to adopt. That is not always the case. If you have love in your heart for a child, especially an older child (over 5) or a sibling group, and you can afford to provide basic needs for that child, chances are that you could afford to adopt.
If you have a heart for children and don't want to adopt, keep our older children in mind. There are hundreds of children that age out of the foster care system every single day. They go off to college and many times have no one to go home to for the holidays.
If you have questions about adoption through our foster care system or foster care, please leave a comment with your email address. I'll try to answer your questions. Things are different from state to state but at the very least, I can point you in the right direction.
I snagged the info below from http://www.faithfulfroggers.blogspot.com. Hop over and check out Heather's beautiful family.
The Top 13 Reasons Why Adoption is For You!
1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.
2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.
3. You can’t watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.
4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.
5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.
6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child’s “real” parents.
7. You have ever been “pregnant” with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth. (2 years!)
8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you He will provide.
9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half-way around the world with a child you just met.
10. You believe God’s heart is for adoption.
11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.
12. You know what the word “Dossier” means, and you can actually pronounce it!
13. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.
Stephanie
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