A heart for adoption

We interrupt this blogger program to bring you the following:

The Bridge
She endured the agony of labor.
I bore the pain of fruitlessness.
She savored your first sweet cry.
I dried your first real tears.
Her soul aches to remember you.
My heart breaks to think of her.
She will wonder who you became.
I will consider where you came from.
She will view us through a looking glass.
I too will see the great divide.
You, my adopted angel, will be the bridge.

I wrote the above poem shortly after we adopted our first child, Olivia. It was a time of incredible joy and elation that followed many years of empty arms and dark, quiet pain.

You know, it was really hard to find myself completely broken before God, and to trust Him to form that brokenness into something better, something that worked for my ultimate good and His glory. In the midst of such pain, it was also very hard to believe that my God could pick up one of the broken pieces of me (Me!) and use it like a prism to reflect the light of His love into the hearts of others in similar circumstances. I'd like to think He is holding up one of those broken shards right now as I share a part of our adoption story with you; the part where baby Brandon made his recent debut.

We had no idea (zero, zilch, none) that Brandon was about to join our family this past Christmas season. The call came on December 18Th. Out of the clear blue (literally),we were asked if we would be willing to care for 3 day old Brandon. We gave a definite "YES!" and made the 6 hour drive that day to get him. We spent the night in a hotel, waited through a few court hearings the next day, then headed back home to Indiana. He has been with us ever since.

As it had been two years since we last fostered (due to following my husband's displaced job out of state), we truly believed God was done growing our family. Let me just say, God is not done 'til He is done, regardless of what I think. During all those painful years of struggling, how we wished we could have "planned" our family the way most couples do. How I wished back then that I could silence His voice asking me, "Am I enough?" And how I would have loved to see the future "finished product", my brokenness reformed into the beautiful thing He intended; that of an adoptive family of six.

Yet, had I known all along how the journey would have unfolded, would each adoptive experience have tasted so wonderfully sweet? And would I have grown as much in faith and patience and strength of character without the pain? I think not. I know not.

Just wanted to share some of Brandon's grafting on our family tree with you. March 9Th is the next legal step of faith we walk out with him. Please bathe that day in prayer for our family as we continue to share steps of the journey with you. And now, back to our regularly scheduled program of bloggery.

Jer 29:11 (NIV) "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."