What a beautiful weekend it is turning out to be. The weather was absolutely gorgeous today. I love fall! Aaron and I spent the day at Sauder Village again. He was technically working and I was volunteering, but the work feels much more like fun than actual work. This weekend was Apple Butter Making Days. It is usually very busy and they needed extra hands to help peel and core apples for the apple butter demonstrations. We also helped supervise the straw maze. It is amazing how much joy a simple activity like a straw maze can bring to kids. So many of them would hesitate to go into the maze themselves. They would often stare at me like I was some crazy lady asking them to jump off a cliff at first but with a simple, "I promise you won't get lost, I will be here to help you" they took their first tentative steps into the entrance. A few minutes later I would see their little heads bobbing up and down nearing the exit. As they turned the corner they had a huge smile on their faces asking to go again! I was quickly reminded of the scripture that was read in church last weekend:
"And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:2-4
Oh to have such child-like faith!!
We are meeting-up with the birthparents again tomorrow afternoon. This time we get to meet their two daughters as well. I am a big ball of nerves but excited too! Please pray for all of us as we continue on this journey together.
our journey to parenthood
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Adoption Pictures
Yesterday Aaron and I spent several hours with our high school friend Heather Pohlman. She owns her own business (Heather Marie Photography) taking the most FABULOUS pictures of anything and everything you can imagine. You can check out some of her work here: www.heather-marie.com
Here are some of the pictures she took to help us capture our excitement regarding the adoption process and arrival of a child into our family!
Here are some of the pictures she took to help us capture our excitement regarding the adoption process and arrival of a child into our family!
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Coincidence? How about a "God-incidence"!
I know it has been over a week without any updates. Life has been so busy around here. Work is crazy and I have been having to stay later than usual. On top of that, as you know, I have joined a women's group at church and we are also attending a weekly one hour adult group on Wednesday nights that our church has put together. This past Wednesday was the kick-off and they had this speaker:
http://guslloyd.com/
He spoke about 11 attributes of a magnetic christian (he also wrote a book about this). It was awesome! He also spoke a great deal about how he no longer has the word coincidence in his vocabulary as he believes there is no such thing. Rather, he calls those moments a "God-incidence". More than ever in my life I believe this. God truely puts situations and people in your life for a reason and for a greater good. During his speech I was reflecting on several moments lately in my life that I could pinpoint a "God incidence". One in particular was the day we decided we would be adopting a child sometime in our life.....
The night before our "God-incidence" Aaron and I had an argument. This was back in January/February. I don't really remember anymore what it was specifically about but my guess is it had something to do with our infertility. At this time our emotions, at least my emotions, were not under control regarding this matter. We were embarking on our first IVF after a failed IUI. I was devastated, wanted to keep pursuing treatments, felt like I was being led to give IVF at least 1 attempt and liked my doctor a lot. However, I also struggled with the Catholic belief surrounding fertility treatments (this will be another topic sometime). In the midst of our argument we parted and tried to cool off in separate rooms of the house (It wasn't until months later that Aaron told me during that time he got on his knees and prayed). Later that evening we forgave eachother for our actions and had a much more mature discussion about our situation. I remember both of us saying things like, "I wish God would just tell us what we are supposed to do". We finally went to bed as we were exhausted by that point. Little did we know God had a big plan in the works for us the very next morning.
For whatever reason, neither of us can remember anymore, either Aaron left for work later than usual or I left earlier and we ended up being in our cars on the way to work at the same time. About 15 minutes down the road I heard a radio announcement on the WBCL that started something like this.."Have you ever considered adoption as a way to start your family?" They continued to talk about adoption and gave a specific website that I did not catch. I turned the radio up and continued to listen. I was floored. Weren't we just talking about this last night? I immediately tried to call Aaron but couldn't get through. Tried again and still couldn't get through. A few seconds later my phone rang...it was Aaron! He was trying to call me as I was trying to call him. He had heard it too (at this time Aaron did not regularly listen to this radio station but happened to have it on that morning)! Neither of us caught the entire web address that they were talking about and told eachother to listen throughout the day to see if they would announce it again. They never did. This was a one time only message. WOW! I get chills everytime I think about it.
That night when we got home from work we tried to search for the website and eventually found it. Here is the link for those that are interested: http://www.adoptionjourney.com/
This moment changed our lives forever. While we continued to pursue IVF in March our hearts were opened to the thought of adoption more and more. When our treatment failed we hardly had to discuss what our next step was going to be. Although all "God-incidences" are miraculous we will be forever grateful for this particular moment.
Have a great weekend everyone!
http://guslloyd.com/
He spoke about 11 attributes of a magnetic christian (he also wrote a book about this). It was awesome! He also spoke a great deal about how he no longer has the word coincidence in his vocabulary as he believes there is no such thing. Rather, he calls those moments a "God-incidence". More than ever in my life I believe this. God truely puts situations and people in your life for a reason and for a greater good. During his speech I was reflecting on several moments lately in my life that I could pinpoint a "God incidence". One in particular was the day we decided we would be adopting a child sometime in our life.....
The night before our "God-incidence" Aaron and I had an argument. This was back in January/February. I don't really remember anymore what it was specifically about but my guess is it had something to do with our infertility. At this time our emotions, at least my emotions, were not under control regarding this matter. We were embarking on our first IVF after a failed IUI. I was devastated, wanted to keep pursuing treatments, felt like I was being led to give IVF at least 1 attempt and liked my doctor a lot. However, I also struggled with the Catholic belief surrounding fertility treatments (this will be another topic sometime). In the midst of our argument we parted and tried to cool off in separate rooms of the house (It wasn't until months later that Aaron told me during that time he got on his knees and prayed). Later that evening we forgave eachother for our actions and had a much more mature discussion about our situation. I remember both of us saying things like, "I wish God would just tell us what we are supposed to do". We finally went to bed as we were exhausted by that point. Little did we know God had a big plan in the works for us the very next morning.
For whatever reason, neither of us can remember anymore, either Aaron left for work later than usual or I left earlier and we ended up being in our cars on the way to work at the same time. About 15 minutes down the road I heard a radio announcement on the WBCL that started something like this.."Have you ever considered adoption as a way to start your family?" They continued to talk about adoption and gave a specific website that I did not catch. I turned the radio up and continued to listen. I was floored. Weren't we just talking about this last night? I immediately tried to call Aaron but couldn't get through. Tried again and still couldn't get through. A few seconds later my phone rang...it was Aaron! He was trying to call me as I was trying to call him. He had heard it too (at this time Aaron did not regularly listen to this radio station but happened to have it on that morning)! Neither of us caught the entire web address that they were talking about and told eachother to listen throughout the day to see if they would announce it again. They never did. This was a one time only message. WOW! I get chills everytime I think about it.
That night when we got home from work we tried to search for the website and eventually found it. Here is the link for those that are interested: http://www.adoptionjourney.com/
This moment changed our lives forever. While we continued to pursue IVF in March our hearts were opened to the thought of adoption more and more. When our treatment failed we hardly had to discuss what our next step was going to be. Although all "God-incidences" are miraculous we will be forever grateful for this particular moment.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Listen for His voice
Well I definately don't have any exciting news like my last post but will do a small update today anyways. We are still moving along week by week. The birthmother and I have been emailing and texting back and forth quite a bit. I really do enjoy talking and planning with her. We have a lot in common and similar personalities. I continue to pray for our relationship to grow so that when January rolls around the rest of this process goes as smooth as possible for all of us. We are all planning on getting together again at the end of this month and again in October so we can meet some of their extended family. She has several appointments, as most pregnant women do, with her doctor and it is the plan right now to for sure make it to the next ultrasound later in the pregnancy (sometime in the 3rd trimester). She is around 21 weeks right now, so halfway there!
The nursery is mostly done except for a few other knick knacks here and there. I have been busily making lists of what we will need right away after the baby is born and what can wait until we have a shower. The plan right now is to wait to do a big shower until after the baby is born and then have more of a "meet the baby/welcome home" party/shower. This set up makes me feel the most comfortable even though I would love to do it beforehand. Aaron has been spending time fixing things that have needed fixed for some time around the house and planning other projects before we don't have time anymore.
I recently joined a "challenge" group of women at our church. It is essentially a share group for women seeking to be R.E.A.L (Radical, Encouraged, Accountable, Loving). We will be meeting once a month for one hour at a local coffee shop to discuss our struggles, how we want to improve that struggle in the next month with God's grace and pray for and with eachother.
Radical: we desire to radically answer the call to follow Christ as young women in the twenty-first century instead of blending into the culture. We seek to cooperate with God's grace in pruning areas of sin, weakness, and hardship. We want to live our lives in a way that gives Him glory and leads other to His Way.
Encouraged: as woment, we need a safe place to share our hearts, the areas in which we are struggling the most, the pieces of our lives most in need of prayer. We form a sisterhood for sharing, knowing we are not alone on our journey to Heaven.
Accountable: we are serious about holiness, but we know the flesh is weak. We will strive to keep each other accountable in areas of sin, weakness, to encourage each other in areas that need growth. Having monthly reflection helps keep us motivated and supported as we cooperate with God's grace at work in us.
Loving: It all comes down to love. True, Christ-like love. We want to follow His example of love in action both within our sisterhood as well as with our friends and family when we leave. We want to learn how to love as He loves.
The woman who thought of/started this group works at the same hospital as I do but in a different area/wing. Our paths don't cross all that often and I only sometimes happen to be at the same mass as her on Sundays. I actually met her a few weeks after our miscarriage in 2010 and attended a group back then but my heart was not ready. My faith was weak at that time and I needed to sort things out on my own. A few weeks ago I began to think of her again and happened to see her at the vending machines by my office. I didn't say anything to her about joining the group again that first day. Then I saw her again the next day at the same place. I felt my heart stir but felt silly approaching her after initially falling off the face of the earth. However, I saw her again for the third day in a row (this is rare). I knew God was telling me something and she felt it too. I finally approached her and inquired about getting back on her email list. She responded so graciously and told me about this new "challenge" group that was starting up. Two days later we got a call from our adoption agency that a set of birthparents wanted to meet us. I truly believe the Holy Spirit was at work that week. I didn't even need to say so as my friend said it for me the first night our share group came together. It is amazing how the Lord can work in your life when you listen to Him. So often I let other voices drown out His.
The nursery is mostly done except for a few other knick knacks here and there. I have been busily making lists of what we will need right away after the baby is born and what can wait until we have a shower. The plan right now is to wait to do a big shower until after the baby is born and then have more of a "meet the baby/welcome home" party/shower. This set up makes me feel the most comfortable even though I would love to do it beforehand. Aaron has been spending time fixing things that have needed fixed for some time around the house and planning other projects before we don't have time anymore.
I recently joined a "challenge" group of women at our church. It is essentially a share group for women seeking to be R.E.A.L (Radical, Encouraged, Accountable, Loving). We will be meeting once a month for one hour at a local coffee shop to discuss our struggles, how we want to improve that struggle in the next month with God's grace and pray for and with eachother.
Radical: we desire to radically answer the call to follow Christ as young women in the twenty-first century instead of blending into the culture. We seek to cooperate with God's grace in pruning areas of sin, weakness, and hardship. We want to live our lives in a way that gives Him glory and leads other to His Way.
Encouraged: as woment, we need a safe place to share our hearts, the areas in which we are struggling the most, the pieces of our lives most in need of prayer. We form a sisterhood for sharing, knowing we are not alone on our journey to Heaven.
Accountable: we are serious about holiness, but we know the flesh is weak. We will strive to keep each other accountable in areas of sin, weakness, to encourage each other in areas that need growth. Having monthly reflection helps keep us motivated and supported as we cooperate with God's grace at work in us.
Loving: It all comes down to love. True, Christ-like love. We want to follow His example of love in action both within our sisterhood as well as with our friends and family when we leave. We want to learn how to love as He loves.
The woman who thought of/started this group works at the same hospital as I do but in a different area/wing. Our paths don't cross all that often and I only sometimes happen to be at the same mass as her on Sundays. I actually met her a few weeks after our miscarriage in 2010 and attended a group back then but my heart was not ready. My faith was weak at that time and I needed to sort things out on my own. A few weeks ago I began to think of her again and happened to see her at the vending machines by my office. I didn't say anything to her about joining the group again that first day. Then I saw her again the next day at the same place. I felt my heart stir but felt silly approaching her after initially falling off the face of the earth. However, I saw her again for the third day in a row (this is rare). I knew God was telling me something and she felt it too. I finally approached her and inquired about getting back on her email list. She responded so graciously and told me about this new "challenge" group that was starting up. Two days later we got a call from our adoption agency that a set of birthparents wanted to meet us. I truly believe the Holy Spirit was at work that week. I didn't even need to say so as my friend said it for me the first night our share group came together. It is amazing how the Lord can work in your life when you listen to Him. So often I let other voices drown out His.
“Blessed are your eyes because they see,” Jesus said, “and your ears because they hear,”
(Matthew 13:16).
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