Well, the Word is Out, so Here's my Perspective

I guess if you have a facebook account, then you've maybe heard the news. We are being blessed with not one, but TWO babies!! So, let me set this story up from the beginning and fill in all the gaps. If you have followed our blog for very long, you know our heart to have more children--and you know that many options we have tried have failed. It's been a process, but we had finally gotten to the place in life where we were ready to accept that we might just have one kid, but we were going to be joyful in God--after all, Hab. 3:17-18 was the scripture that we wanted to base our marriage on. God has given us many opportunities to praise Him in the midst of nothing going the way we thought. Anyways, back to the story.

I was becoming more and more convinced that I was done with the adoption process. I was becoming so weary, and nothing seemed to be working out for us. I had friends adopting from places like Haiti, and we would look into that possiblity and learn that it wasn't possible for us because we didn't meet an age requirement or haven't been married for 10 years. We tried going through the government, and after waiting for a year to be matched, we learned that we would have to foster first if we wanted to adopt. China was a 4-7 year wait. The place here that was known for Ethiopian adoptions went bankrupt. So, about 5 weeks ago, Craig and I sat down and had a long, hard conversation. We had decided that we would give it one last kick at the can. We would try a domestic adoption within Alberta. Well, we had training planned in November in Edmonton (5 hour trip), and it worked out perfectly because Craig's parents were going to be there for a wedding, so they would be able to look after Hudson while we were in training. But then that training got cancelled and there wasn't another training until January. About a week before that training in January, Craig and I decided that we would go to this training, but if we weren't matched with a baby by the end of 2011, we would be done. We would just accept the fact that Hudson would be our only one and move on.

Two days later, I got a phone call. It was my sister. She was pregnant. She already has 2 boys (9 & 7) and is a single mom. She wanted to know if we would adopt the baby. WOW. I was blown away. I talked to Craig, and of course, we decided that we would do it. Maybe this was the very reason we hadn't been matched or gotten pregnant before now. God knew this baby needed us. We were so happy to think of the possiblities. We were cautiously optimistic. We weren't sure what the birth father wanted to do or if my sister would change her mind. So we proceeded with caution. But we gradually began to let ourselves feel excited that by September, we could be bringing home a baby! But we decided to keep it on the down low. Let's wait until the second trimester--wait until we hear from the birth father--let's just wait a little longer to make sure this is really going to happen. But then yesterday happened.

Yesterday, my sister went for her sonogram and found out that there was not just one baby in there, but TWO! She called me right away, and I was shocked. SHOCKED. Then she told me that this was just confirmation to her that she was making the right choice to give the baby to us. She knew she could not give one baby the life that we could--let alone 2. She knew she loved her babies, but she just didn't feel she could raise them. God had a plan all along for us, and I am so amazed at how He thinks outside of the box. He doesn't do what we think He should in the time we think He should. But He molds us and grows us. He challenges our faith, and He waits to see if we will still be joyful in Him and follow Him. Then when we least expect it, He does this!! I am totally in awe of His faithfulness to us. And even if He chose not to give us any more children, I would still have chosen joy and thankfulness for the blessing He has already given to us in Hudson. Which speaking of Hudson, he's thrilled. I asked him yesterday if he thought we could handle two, to which he replied, "You betcha Mommy. I will help you!" And I believe him.