I was inspired today by my very good friend and fellow adoptive momma, Meggan, to share our journey to adoption in honor of November being National Adoption Awareness Month. I know many of you have heard this story, but I don't know if it's ever been posted on my blog before. I think it's vitally important to share our story so that hopefully, it will inspire other families to adopt also. I have been blessed to have several friends credit this little blog as one of the driving forces toward starting their adoptions, so I don't want to let this month pass by without sharing our amazing journey.
So, here it goes...
When Mark and I were first married we knew we wanted to wait a few years before having children, I was very busy with the news reporting career and we were moving a lot because both Mark's job and my job were requiring it. We actually moved four times in just three years to three different states! It was a bit nutty to say the least. Obviously, it just didn't really feel like the best time to be bringing children into the family. But eventually, when Mark's job took us back to West Michigan and we were getting settled more permanently, those conversations began.
I don't know why, but something in me just felt "off" about the whole process of starting to "try" for a biological child. I couldn't put my finger on what it was at the time, but I was frustrated with myself that even when things in life seemed perfectly alligned for us to start having a family, something didn't feel right about it. So, I went to the internet in search of a book to help me sort out my thoughts. I began searching things like, "when you are ready to have children". Well, there aren't a ton of books out there on that topic, (LOL) and when you search for things like that, it actually directs you to a lot of adoption-related sites. Reason being that the things I was searching for are a lot of the things that birth mothers are also googling when they are contimplating what to do with their unborn child. So, that was officially when I started getting distracted with all things adoption. I was an internet zombie for hours reading various adoption sites, then watching videos and then of course the blogs. After that, it was like it all became so clear to me. The reason I wasn't feeling right about biological children was because we were supposed to adopt! It was like God planted the answer to my question right infront of me through Google!
So, I then introduced the idea to Mark, and after he had some time to think and process the idea, he was completely on board. I say all the time that one of the reasons that I know Mark and I are perfect for each other was because of how things transpired with Eli's adoption. To have a man who would jump on board with his wife's crazy idea must mean that he is truly the man for me!
So, the rest is history, Eli is the joy of our lives and we are now knee-deep in our 2nd adoption process. We used to think we would just adopt one time, but obviously that has also changed as time has gone on. This second adoption just felt natural for us. I'm sure that there were some people that were hopeful for a big pregnancy announcement instead, but we don't care about that stuff anymore, our family is built on love, not DNA.
In closing, if you have adoption on your heart or if you are feeling like something is "off" with the traditional method of building your family, I encourage you to look deep into your heart to see if maybe one of this world's millions of orphans or foster children could be what God is trying to put on your heart. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it, I promise. Next to accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior and marrying my husband, it is the best decision I have ever made.
So, here it goes...
When Mark and I were first married we knew we wanted to wait a few years before having children, I was very busy with the news reporting career and we were moving a lot because both Mark's job and my job were requiring it. We actually moved four times in just three years to three different states! It was a bit nutty to say the least. Obviously, it just didn't really feel like the best time to be bringing children into the family. But eventually, when Mark's job took us back to West Michigan and we were getting settled more permanently, those conversations began.
I don't know why, but something in me just felt "off" about the whole process of starting to "try" for a biological child. I couldn't put my finger on what it was at the time, but I was frustrated with myself that even when things in life seemed perfectly alligned for us to start having a family, something didn't feel right about it. So, I went to the internet in search of a book to help me sort out my thoughts. I began searching things like, "when you are ready to have children". Well, there aren't a ton of books out there on that topic, (LOL) and when you search for things like that, it actually directs you to a lot of adoption-related sites. Reason being that the things I was searching for are a lot of the things that birth mothers are also googling when they are contimplating what to do with their unborn child. So, that was officially when I started getting distracted with all things adoption. I was an internet zombie for hours reading various adoption sites, then watching videos and then of course the blogs. After that, it was like it all became so clear to me. The reason I wasn't feeling right about biological children was because we were supposed to adopt! It was like God planted the answer to my question right infront of me through Google!
So, I then introduced the idea to Mark, and after he had some time to think and process the idea, he was completely on board. I say all the time that one of the reasons that I know Mark and I are perfect for each other was because of how things transpired with Eli's adoption. To have a man who would jump on board with his wife's crazy idea must mean that he is truly the man for me!
So, the rest is history, Eli is the joy of our lives and we are now knee-deep in our 2nd adoption process. We used to think we would just adopt one time, but obviously that has also changed as time has gone on. This second adoption just felt natural for us. I'm sure that there were some people that were hopeful for a big pregnancy announcement instead, but we don't care about that stuff anymore, our family is built on love, not DNA.
In closing, if you have adoption on your heart or if you are feeling like something is "off" with the traditional method of building your family, I encourage you to look deep into your heart to see if maybe one of this world's millions of orphans or foster children could be what God is trying to put on your heart. It won't be easy, but it will be worth it, I promise. Next to accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior and marrying my husband, it is the best decision I have ever made.
Until next time...
