CHOSEN

July is a very special month in our home. It is the month that we celebrate being "Chosen" for both of our children. Both of those days are etched in our minds forever!

There is one thing that never ceases to amaze me when it comes to building families through adoption, and that is the hand of the Lord. He is so mindful of us all and of our joys and sorrows, our wants, needs and desires, our good and our bad choices. We are quite aware of how the Lord has orchestrated our lives to bring not only our children to us, but their birth families.

On July 24th, 2007 we found out that a beautiful young lady had chosen us to be the parents of her unborn baby. I have already told the story about that day on here so today I wanted to share with you part of Mac's birth mothers story. The part of how she chose us.

"...Then came the time to choose parents for “Peanut”.  At first I felt like maybe the caseworker should just pick one, however he explained many women feel more comfortable in their decision if they make it themselves.  So I got online and started looking at couples from Montana.  I didn’t want the hassle of inter-state adoption laws.  There were about a dozen couples or so from Montana.  Right away the names "B and B" stood out to me.  I clicked on their profile.  Looking at their picture they looked like the ideal couple.  I read their profile and was really interested in the fact they had large families.  I thought that would be good for “Peanut” to be able to be raised around his cousins, in case the opportunity for him to have a sibling wouldn’t happen.  To keep things fair, I looked at the other couples and read all their profiles.  I wrote down each couples names so I could pray about it in the next few weeks. 

Day after day I would pray over each individual couple waiting for some prompting or feeling about each one.  I was starting to get frustrated because I wasn’t getting any answers.  That morning I had read a talk by Richard G. Scott about receiving answers to prayers.  He instructed that sometimes the Lord lets us make our own decisions and then he can approve or disapprove.  So I got down on my knees and prayed:  “Heavenly Father, I would really like "B and B" to be Peanut’s parents.”   I had this amazing peace and comfort come over me which I couldn’t stop the flow of tears.  I knew that He had approved of my decision and I was so grateful for that confirmation.  I called the caseworker to let him know I had made my decision, hoping that they hadn’t been chosen by someone else as I had taken a few weeks to decide...."

Every time I read this, my eyes fill with tears.

Mac will know how he became our son. He will know that he was not just given away, but he was loved so much that his birth mother took her time and prayed about the right thing for him.

It was all for him!

C is such a great example to me in all that she does. She takes my breath away with her love and passion for life and the gospel.

~~~

On July 1, 2010 we awoke to the news that once again our prayers would be answered and a beautiful young lady and a brave young man had chosen us to be the parents of their unborn baby. Mac would get to be a big brother! I can't tell Oak's story, but I quite literally get the chills every time I think about it. It once again was a testament of answered prayers and that the Lord's hand is in it all. And how important it is to listen to the spirit.

Oak's birth parents are amazingly strong and I am in awe of the choice they made for Oak. And not only do they love Oak, but have shown great love for Mac too!

~~~

How blessed I feel to experience adoption and motherhood.

And all because of the strength and braveness of others

and the love of our Heavenly Father.

I shared this video on Facebook last week, but I wanted to share it on this special day here.