I've been meaning to get this post done for weeks now. With Thanksgiving now a memory and November, which is National Adoption Month, now gone too I figured I better get this posted now since adoption is at the core of the gratitude I feel this season.
Saying that this year started completely on the wrong foot would be an understatement. After 4 years of waiting, 2 failed adoptions, being emotionally abused twice and suffering some financial loss due to travel expenses twice, we felt like closing the door on our dreams to grow our family. Fortunately before the adoption scam we had decided to sign up with Everlasting Adoptions, an adoption advertiser. We decided we couldn't waste the 2 year contract we already paid.
I know God has particular people enter our lives to act out His will. I am so thankful to Carol the owner of Everlasting Adoptions. She played an integral part in bringing Emma to our family. I don't even want to think how life would be now had we not had her involved. The sections she had us write for our new profile had us include bits of information about us that I don't know if we would have included otherwise. It was those bits and even the look of the profile that resonated with Emma's birth family and ultimately helped them decide we were the right family.
Even though Emma's birth family found our web site because of our own networking and marketing efforts, our new profile listed the Everlasting Adoptions number. It was Carol who answered their phone call, rallied for us, and got the ball rolling. She is so personable, so caring, and a great listener which also resonated with Emma's birth family. She provided comfort and reassurance for both sides during a trying time and kept communication open until our adoption agency took over. Carol even continued to check on us until we were on our way to back home to Idaho.
I cannot express how grateful I am for Owen's birth parents and Emma's birth parents They became instruments in God's hands as they answered our many, often tear-filled, prayers by placing their newborn babies in our arms. I am in awe of their bravery in holding fast to their selfless choice amid the pain. I came across the singer Katherine Nelson as she is part of my favorite bands, The Nashville Tribute. She just came out with a new album called
Born Brave. It includes the song
Whats Mine Is Yours that I'm simply love as it encompasses the feelings of adoptive couples and birth parents perfectly.
Sorry this cuts out near the end but here are the lyrics.
Counting down days since nine months last summer
From the baby quilts to the sunshine light-switch cover
All the plans she made
Wall-papered dreams she made for him someday
Doctor hardly glanced her way, shut off the monitor
As he walked out the door said “You’re young, there’ll be others”
No sirens or loud screams
No rushing or comforting
It was just over
On the longest road toward home
She parked in the church lot and cried
And said
What’s mine is yours
It’s always been
What slips through my hands has your fingerprints on it
I’m letting go
Remembering
Though Heaven’s doors feel shut they’re wide open
What’s mine is yours
Teenage girl clinging to the gates of mercy
Holding the weight of the world and her newborn baby
Trying her best to be brave
Wrapped in hope giving him away to a longing family
When her courage met their eyes she saw
Somehow her baby was born to be in their arms
And cried
(Chorus)
In this life we come and go and say goodbye
But there’s more than we can see with our own eyes
And when my faith’s a thread-bare blanket and I can’t take it anymore
I remember
What’s mine is yours
I’m letting go
Remembering
Though heaven’s doors feel shut they’re wide open
What’s mine is yours
I'm so grateful for our little family!
