This is the same account we use to raise $7,000 for R's adoption. We would love for our community to help with some of the surprise expenses for R.E.S. We got the surprise phone call every adoptive family dreams about. "When can you get to FL? Birth mom changed her mind. She is signing papers today for you to adopt her baby." Back in August, on the very day we finalized R's adoption, our attorney told us about a Hispanic mother who was pregnant and interested in our family adopting her baby. This was much sooner than we planned, but in the world of adoption we learned to say yes more often than we say no. She was due in Feb 2017. We moved back to STL early so we could settle in and be ready for this new little one. We were tentatively excited. All adoptions carry risk. Birth mother's family promised to help her raise him and she decided to parent. We were disappointed, but also preparing for the bar exam and house hunting. We understood. Then we made offers on houses that weren't accepted. Houses we really wanted, but the timing never worked. It's all been pretty confusing. But we wanted to trust God through the confusion. We reminded ourselves that He has always led us… Meanwhile baby was born 5 weeks early and we continued to pray for him and his mother. We asked God to provide for them and to protect them. I looked at his picture constantly. She bravely tried to take care of him. For two months she fed him and loved him. She helped him double his very low birth weight, but her family never helped. She was alone. She felt like she couldn't give him what he needed long term. She called the agency and asked them to contact us. Would we still take him? Absolutely! She signed papers Friday afternoon while we scrambled to buy expensive plane tickets, find a dog sitter, and get another background check completed. We slept 4 short hours in an Orlando hotel and then drove to pick him up from our agency on Saturday. It all happened in about 22 hrs. We are in love with our Mexican/ Puerto Rican boy. He is two months old and sleeping in my arms as I type. Adoption is full of tension. One of birth mom's hardest days is my best day. And it's all done for the love a precious child. Pray that God will comfort her, she is grieving, and assure her that her boy will be loved well. Pray for us as we tradition to a family of five with only 11 months between the youngest members. Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow (especially unexpected ones).
