Unanswerd Prayer = Best. Answer. Ever.

I’m about to tell you why sometimes God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. (And yes, I’m laughing at everyone who will now be singing Garth Brooks for the next five hours.)

We are adopting newborn twins. In May. WOW!!!!!

So here’s the story:

We have some great friends at church, Freddie and Jen, who have walked with us through much of this adoption journey. They have an eight-month-old daughter that they adopted through the agency we began working with last summer. About three weeks ago, Jen got a phone call from her mom’s foster daughter (we’ll call her A) saying that she had a pregnant friend who was looking to place her child through an independent adoption. That afternoon Jen called and talked with me about it. We agreed that Jen would talk to A and see how the birth mother (B) wanted to proceed. (These girls’ names actually DO start with ‘A’ and ‘B’, by the way, which is weird. I just want to keep their identities private.)

Over the next few days Jen talked back and forth with A and then called me to let me know how B’s doctor’s appointment went. I will never forget it – I was in Los Angeles with my mom to visit my sister Molly, and we were having lunch at Venice Beach when I saw that she had called. I walked out to call her back, and while I was standing there looking out at the Pacific Ocean and the mountains when she dropped the bomb. They had just found out that B was pregnant with twins.

So naturally I wrapped up my conversation and went on to my lunch with Mom and Molly without saying a word to them. Sorry, guys!

In the days that followed, Jen was able to talk with B and eventually meet her. We slowly learned more and more of her story, and on Saturday the 5th of March, the four of us met for dinner. Let me tell you, I’m not sure I’ve ever been so nervous in my entire life. Tim said he thought I was going to shake everything off the table. But it was great. She was sweet and quiet and honest. It took us all a little while to warm up, but by the end of dinner we were chatting about all kinds of things.

B is a 19-year-old who already has a young daughter. Because she is unable in her current situation to care for another child (children), she knew early on in this pregnancy that an adoption plan was the best choice for her and the babies. She began to research just what to do, and decided that she did not want to use an agency, partly because she was uncomfortable with the cost for adopting parents. The same reason that moved us more toward independent adoption!

The due date is May 19th, but it is common for twins to go anywhere from two to five weeks early. We are “planning” for the end of April or first of May, and hope to have it narrowed down as she continues with her doctor’s appointments. Oh – and I almost forgot! They are 99% sure one is a boy and fairly certain the other is a girl. She hasn’t quite turned the right direction in the ultrasound, but hopefully she will soon so we’ll know for sure!

There are so many other cool parts to this story. (In the words of one of my girlfriends, “Is that not cool enough?!?”) Let me share…

The one great-grandchild on my mom’s side of the family is biracial. Well, B is Caucasian and the birth father is African American, so we will now have two more biracial great-grandchildren! (Not to mention a biracial grandchild too!)

Having Jen and Freddie involved is another amazing part of the story. While going through their adoption process, Jen began contemplating how she could get more involved. She has contemplated just what that means - working for an agency, becoming an adoption counselor, starting an agency, etc. Over the past few weeks she has done an OUTSTANDING job as the liaison between us and B. She tells me that she has loved it, and that it has given her even more encouragement and confidence to move forward. Jen and Freddie are now looking into the possibility of starting an adoption agency.

We have another dear friend involved as well. They attorney handling things on our end is our friend Dave. Just recently, Dave left a large firm in a big city to open a small, two-man firm in his hometown. While in the process, Dave had mentioned that adoption law was something that he’d really like to get into. Well, now he is, and he gets to start with us!

Not to mention that the very first adoption possibility that we were ever presented with from our agency was a boy and girl twins. Aaaaaaannnnndddd… we’re back full circle!

I will never, ever say that what we’ve been through the past few years was easy. Heck, I’ll even admit that when I heard the same old “It’s all in God’s timing… God has a plan…” I smiled and thought, “uh huh”. Of course we always knew that was true, but it was so hard to understand.

To look at it now… and the story God has written to involve all these people we love dearly… we are thankful that our prayers went seemingly unanswered for so long in order for it to be this way. Only He knew where Jen and Dave’s hearts were and where He was leading them. Only He knew that Tim would finally start a full-time job the same week we were presented with this opportunity. Only He knew that there was a girl out there who would feel the same way we do about agency adoptions.

And only He knows how we’re going to handle TWO BABIES!!!!!

I have to end by saying thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone out there. We know that there have been more prayers lifted up for us than we could ever imagine. There have been listening ears and encouraging words, kind hearts and sweet spirits who have been with us every step of the way.

We ask that your prayers would continue. Not just for our preparation and the health of the babies, but for B. She truly has a sweet heart, and mine breaks at the unfortunate situation she is in. She is so mature and selfless despite everything, and my prayer is that she will be able to improve her life as she says she desires, and ultimately to discover the love that only Christ can give her.

If you need even MORE details, we’re happy to talk to you about it. Just give us a shout! Look for an update from Tim’s perspective soon.

Guess our life really is about to turn upside down!