November 30, 2017

Adoption Stories to Empower Your Next Step

My Christmas tree is already up which means November is ending…and with it our celebration of adoption here at lesstobemore. But for some of you, maybe it’s just the beginning of a new journey. I hope these past four weeks have given you inspiration, perspective, resources, and courage. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have more questions; I never would have adopted if it hadn’t been for others who acted as guides for me. Or if you connected with the story of one of my friends, they’d love to talk with you as well and I can pass along their information.

Hopefully you feel a little more confident to take that NEXT STEP on your adoption path, big or small. Don’t be discouraged if your steps seem small at first…trust me, they all add up!

And even if you never plan to adopt, I hope this month has opened your mind to what adoption looks like, and will give you tools to have helpful conversations with others about adoption.

In closing, I’m excited leave you with some parting stories from my friends that may infuse you with fresh hope and faith to take with you no matter what your story may be. And if you want a practical next “baby step”, consider checking out one of the links at the end of the post!!

Closing Stories from Friends:

Lisa: (Private US Adoption) God’s hands were definitely all over this adoption, which sadly we really didn’t see until the day we got the call that we were matched. A few weeks before we got the call, [my husband] and I were sitting on the couch and decided to list our Top 5 girls names and Top 5 boys names and see what matched. There were a couple similarities for boys, but both of us had the same Top 2 for girls: Sarah and Grace. So we kind of decided that if we were matched with a girl, we would name her Sarah Grace.

A few weeks later we got the call that a baby was born and the birthmother had chosen us to be the adoptive parents. The birthmother’s name is Sarah. Knowing full-well that we had the right to change the baby’s name to whatever we wanted, she named her Grace. We kept Grace as her first name but changed her middle name…

Terry: (International Adoption- Korea) I have learned that you need to trust yourself and God in this process. Do what is right for you as a couple and not worry about what others think you should/should not do. It is you who is 24/7 with the child. You are who matters.
I learned that even if I had a rough start with placement, I grew to love my daughter wholeheartedly.

Caroline: (Foster to Adopt) I loved being able to surprise friends and family members. We kept her a secret from a lot of people until we actually brought her home so we could walk into the room with a baby in arms. It was a very joyful time!

Becky: (Foster to Adopt) We were very specific about what circumstances we were willing to consider for an adopted child. My husband and I had different feelings on it, but needed to agree to make it doable. So we wanted a perfectly healthy baby. This can be a challenge when many of the babies are exposed to drugs, alcohol and abuse/neglect. When we heard F’s name and description she seemed perfect! To me her name told me she was the one God had chosen for us. I went out that day and bought all 6mth old girl clothes and baby items… on faith alone that she would be ours. When we were told we were chosen it was like we won the lottery for millions of dollars. That phone call and the moment she arrived to our home were 2 incredible memories of joy like no other that I will never forget.

Pamela: (International Adoption- Ethiopia) We began our adoption journey with a prompting from the Lord on our hearts. We knew that if tragedy happened to our family we would want our children to be taken care of properly. Why couldn’t we be that for another family in need? God took a family in Ethiopia and stitched it together with our American family to make a beautiful blended family. They were praying for help and we were praying to be used. At each stage or obstacle God provided a way, lack of money God provided through a grant, language barrier God used our ESL educated daughter, matched with twin boys but God changed that to a brother and sister, stuck in Ethiopia due to incorrect document friends enlisted senator to bring us home, our lack of diversity God brings another African to our family through marriage. God is all knowing and all powerful which makes resting in Him for all the answers so much easier when challenges inevitably occur.