The Beginning

Over Labor Day, our family went to a nearby park and had a picnic and a beautiful day together. As we munched our lunches, we got talking about the recent adoption information class we'd attended and whether we should continue pursuing in-state adoption of a newborn-6 year old boy, since most children available for adoption are 8 years old or older or are part of a sibling group.

Adoption had been in our hearts for years, but we were finally taking the first few steps to start the process. We felt like we "needed" to adopt a boy because we already had 2 girls and a boy, so that would round out the statistics nicely and logistically it would be easiest. But we'd be open to whatever God brought our way.

We knew we didn't want to adopt a child older than our oldest child, but weren't sure about other ages; we just knew that under 6 years old would be most ideal. So as we talked about what we should/could do, we realized that, really, we could make it work if we had a brother/sister sibling group... I mean, if families in pioneer days could fit a family of 6 in a two-room cabin, we could probably get creative and figure out a place for another girl!

Or.... Daddy said..... should we just try to have another baby? My heart skipped a beat. I've always wanted one more baby. Ever since our littlest was born, I've occasionally caught myself looking for one more, like someone was missing, and realizing, no... I have them all. But my husband wasn't so sure. He thought that maybe we would be adopting in the future and he also felt the financial responsibility and strain that our family of 5 had on his income. So for the past 5 years, I'd been trying to honor this decision and give up that longing for "just one more"... which maybe wouldn't really go away even if we DID have one more! Who knows?

Anyway, the kids were all excited and couldn't decide which would be better, a ready-made "playmate" (and realistically, a child who needed a family, as they were learning that this adoption idea isn't so much about us "getting another child" as it is about "being the family a child needs") or a brand-new baby. We decided to pursue both and see where God led us....