Monday, November 10, 2014

Our Adoption Story: Part 1

Last November, David and I discovered The National Down Syndrome Adoption Network online. Adopting a child with Down syndrome was a desire that that the Lord had placed on our hearts years back, and our adoption homestudy had been approved since June of 2013. We were so excited to find the NDSAN because what they do is connect birth families who have received a Down syndrome diagnosis with families who want to adopt a child with Down syndrome. So, we made a profile introducing our family and telling a little bit about ourselves, and we got on their registry. Then we waited.

In June of this year, I got a call from a lady with the NDSAN. (Incidentally, that call came the DAY after I published this post on waiting. Sometimes the Lord's timing makes me smile.) She told me that our family had come up on a report for a little baby due in October. She told me what she knew about the baby and birth mother and asked me if we would like to have our profile shown. They were going to send 4 family profiles to the birth mother. David and I talked about it and decided that of course we wanted our profile shown! We figured it was kind of a long shot and tried not to get our hopes up too much. I expected that I would be on pins and needles until I heard a "yes" or a "no" from the NDSAN, but I actually had such a peace about it. I know that peace totally came from the Lord.

A few days later, we got another call from the NDSAN letting us know that the birth mother had felt a connection with us and wanted to get more information about our family. She asked for a few weeks to think of questions for us. That phone call was SURREAL. It was during the week of Arts and Sports Camp (VBS) at our church, and anyone who has helped with VBS knows that it is basically the craziest week of the year! I told David the news, and again, we were really excited but tried not to get our hopes up too much. I just prayed that the Lord would protect our hearts and lead this birth mother to the right family for her baby, whether that family was us or not. And again, I had a supernatural peace. David and I didn't tell anyone about this as it was happening. On one hand, I was dying to talk to people about it, but on the other, I didn't want other people to get their hopes up and possibly be disappointed too. 

The next week, we went to the beach as a family. It was during that trip that we began to email with the birth mother. That was such a wonderful experience and one that I will never forget. We connected instantly because of our common love for Jesus. She ultimately ended up choosing our family because she wanted her baby to grow up in a family where he or she would be given the opportunity to know the Lord. It still gives me chills to think about how God brought us together and orchestrated every detail of this process. I can look back over our entire adoption journey and see the Lord's hand in all of it. Francie was absolutely meant to be our daughter, and I am in awe of my sovereign God. That week at the beach where we emailed back and forth with the birth mother and she ultimately chose our family for her baby is one that I will remember forever.

So, in June, we knew that we were "expecting" a sweet baby! That gave us several months to prepare...

2 comments:

Mary Louis Quinn said...

Oh this just gives me chills! Can't wait to hear the rest of the story! :)

Bech and Marley Evans said...

Wow...what a beautiful story! I can't wait to see pictures of your new baby girl!