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Our Journey
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Luke 1:37 “For
nothing is impossible with God.” |
Kevin and I were married on November 1, 1980. Our son,
Ted, was born on Valentine’s Day in 1986. Ted has been an
absolute joy to us. What a privilege it is to be his
parents and watch him grow from the wonderful little boy
into the wonderful young man he has become. Soon after his
birth, we began to consider having another child. What
followed were years of failed infertility treatments and
failed domestic adoption attempts. Throughout those years,
we felt God slowly and steadily close the doors to another
child, but in December of 2005 those doors began to open
again. That led us to China and to Philip. What an amazing
journey that has been – at times filled with deep
heartache, while at other times filled with so much hope
and a joy that it is often hard to put into words. We have
learned many things on this journey. One of the lessons we
have learned is that God is there with us at all times no
matter what. Another thing we have learned is that He
keeps his promise.
When Ted was in first or second grade and Kevin and I were
in the midst of infertility treatments and adoption
attempts, a friend of mine was on her way home from church
one night. She called to say that she felt God nudge her
to tell us not to worry – that we would have our second
child someday. We have never forgotten those words and
have held onto them for all of these years; however, we
just couldn’t see how it was possible as time went by
until recently.
When we applied to adopt from China in March 2006, the
wait to receiving your child was 8 – 10 months. Since then
the wait has grown steadily longer with it looking like it
would be two to three more years for us. At the first of
this year, we began to think God was again closing doors
to our second child. We were beginning to think that
instead of praying for our second child, we should start
praying for God to help us let that longing for another
child go. Then we saw Philip’s picture, and the three of
us knew he was the one we had been waiting for! Since
seeing his picture, this process has really sped up, and
it looks like we will be traveling to bring him home
sometime in June or early July. Wow!
Often throughout these past two years, we were encouraged
by people, events, sermons, and Bible verses. It has
seemed like God has spoken to us through these. Last
October Kevin and I were taking a walk in our favorite
woods on a partly sunny day, free from rain. Out of
nowhere there was a double rainbow – just as spectacular
as it could be. Kevin said that day he believed that was
like God’s promise to Noah. It was a sign to us that
things were beginning to happen in our adoption. A week
later we saw another double rainbow, again a day without
any rain in sight. The rainbows were both so beautiful and
unusual that we felt the need to mark them on our calendar
in case we found out later that something had indeed
happened in our adoption around that time. Then the first
of this year came around, and it was a dark period in our
adoption journey. It was a time we began to think we would
not receive our second child. The wait was getting too
long, we were getting too old, and doors seemed to be
closing.
When we saw his picture, everything changed. Upon
receiving Philip’s information, we noticed that his
medical exam to ready him for adoption was around the same
time we saw the rainbows! Incredible! Kevin had been
right. It had been a sign of a promise to us!
We could go on and on about the parallels we have since
found out about our lives and Philip’s life during his
three years on this earth, but the most striking one to us
is this. As we were letting go of Ted’s youth during that
bittersweet year known as the senior year of high school,
a time when parents help give their children wings to fly
into adulthood, Philip’s birthmother was letting go of him
so he too could fly in this life. Philip was born with a
cleft lip and palate making it extremely difficult for him
to take in nutrition. His records say that he was found at
the gate of a village when he was only two days old,
weakened because he choked when he tried to drink milk.
Perhaps his mother could not help him get the life-saving
lip and palate surgery. Perhaps that is why she placed him
where he would be found. We will never really know the
reasons she had for placing him there, but we do feel for
certain that he is our son and little brother. We will
always love his birthmother for giving him life. Now we
can help give him wings. Overwhelmingly, we feel he was
placed on this earth to belong to our family. He is ours,
and we are his. |
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