Adoption and my family

You could say that adoption runs in my family. This week my entire family was together here in Colorado for Thanksgiving. My parents have 3 children and including the two babies in my womb, 12 grandchildren. Six of those grandchildren are adopted!

My brother and his wife were the first to adopt. They adopted a sweet baby boy at birth and then 18 months later they got a call from his birth mother announcing she was pregnant again, same birthfather even! She asked my brother and his wife if they would adopt her second child. It wasn't exactly in their plan to have their children 18 months apart but of course they said yes and welcomed a precious baby girl into their family.

Then Shaun and I entered the adoption world in 2013 when we finally adopted our twin girls who had been with us for two years by that time. What a beautiful gift and picture of Christ restoring the broken things in this world. When I think back to that time I remember the extreme emotions I dealt with every day. The Lord gave me the grace to handle those months and years and we can look back now with relief and thanksgiving. We continue to pray for both of their birth parents, knowing they are in dark places, needing the light. I only hope we will meet in heaven again someday and rejoice over the story God wrote.

All of the wonderful people who came to our girls' adoption

Now, we are expecting twins who are adopted. It's a strange thing to most people that I could be pregnant with our adopted children, but this is the day in age that we live in. We are doing a teeny tiny part in helping ease the problem of frozen babies waiting in limbo on ice for someone to give them a chance at life. I asked Shaun when we first found out about a second set of twins if he wished we had only implanted one embryo and he didn't even hesitate before he said, "No, not at all. This is the plan God has for our family." Boy, I do love that man!

This week as my family was visiting I had some good conversations with my sister (who has identical twin boys so I guess twins run in the family too!). She brought up a great point that I have been pondering ever since. She knew I was hoping for only one baby because the thought of doing twins again was a bit scary, but she pointed out that God has formed our family in the most amazing way. There are six adopted children and each of those precious lives has a biological sibling! I had never thought of that, but as I've been thinking about it, I am so thankful there are two babies growing inside of me right now! I realize that children who are adopted often have to process through a lot of emotions as they grow into adults and having a sibling there who completely gets it and is able to listen and empathize will be a vital part of their development and acceptance of the story God has written for each one.

Today I am thankful for a fresh perspective on the things the Lord is doing in my life, in the lives of my precious children, and in my entire family. I truly believe adoption has changed how each of us views family, children, and the world in general. Praise be to God!