Our journey to adoption was nothing short of a meant-to-be miracle. Over the past five years, Derrick and I have been navigating through different avenues trying to determine what God had planned for our family. We knew we would have children; we just weren’t sure how they would come to us. As we went down each path: a little doctoring, a foster-to-adopt license, we dipped our toe into North Dakota Infant Adoption early, we visited the orphans of Uganda, and then finally last October landed confidently on domestic infant adoption. Over the course of that time, we committed to truly enjoying the marriage God had given us. We traveled all over the world and loved the life we were living, not fully understanding the unconditional love and joy a baby would truly bring in our future. Between our busy careers and taking advantage of opportunities, we continued to pray that children would soon come to us when it was meant to be.
Last October I happened to come across a friend of a friend of a friend who shared a flyer on social media (thank God for Facebook!) offering an understanding adoption course of sorts. I messaged her to inquire about her journey and she willingly and excitedly shared her experience with AAU. Overwhelmed by the sheer amount of agency options, I just jumped into this stranger’s advice and reached out to AAU. The response was personal and genuine. It felt right as I spoke with Karen all the way home from work that October afternoon.
Our homestudy was complete in December, we signed on with a consultant in March and were receiving situations weekly.
On a sunny May morning, as my colleagues and I were taking a quick walk, a situation came across my email – a little girl due on Derrick’s birthday who also happens to share a birthday with my deceased Dad. My stomach turned a little, I felt something. I waited for Derrick’s text to see if he felt the same. We didn’t need to talk over this one, we put in our Yes, as we had done numerous times before, but maybe this one was different. I got a call 4-5 days later, I couldn’t believe it. We were chosen. I loaded up the trunk of my car with baby girl clothes that had daddy written all over them and watched Derrick’s face as he opened it that night.
We spoke to the birthmother 2 nights later, on our 9th wedding anniversary. It felt right, it felt surreal. 4 days later, we were on an early morning flight rushing to land before she was born. She was an absolutely perfect, petite little doll. Her birthmother, a beautiful, humble, kind woman, included us in her hospital time, something for which we will forever be grateful. “A baby born to another woman calls me Mom. The magnitude of that tragedy and the depth of that privilege is not lost on me.”
We returned home with this sweet miracle within a couple of weeks. As I reread what I’ve written, it’s incredible to relive these perfect moments; to track how one thing leads to another of the course of life is a miracle in itself. Each piece of this story has its own story, filled with emotions of all kinds that words can’t due justice. All in all, our unwavering faith that God had it under control is the only way we made it this far and is what will drive our lives forever.
Willow June is the most perfect addition to our family. She is more than we ever could have imagined. I thank God every day for writing this journey into our plan, all in perfect timing.
“…And we would choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, we would find you and we would choose you.”
