2012: The Year We Got the Surprise of Our Lives

2012 is a year I will never forget.

God proved Himself over and over throughout this year; however, nothing quite compares to the miracle that we received in August.

Baby Girl entered our lives early one Saturday morning, and after having had a baby almost exactly one year before, it could not have been a more different experience!

Jeff and I got the call around 5am that our little girl would be here soon and if we didn't hurry we would miss it. Well that just wasn't an option, so as vain as I may be- there was no time for my normal "full face" of make-up. I was not going to miss the birth of my child just to look good! As it was, I BARELY made it and our princess was there less than 25 minutes after I arrived. 

Thinking back to the year before, I wasn't the one waiting on the call. I was the one people were waiting on. I was laid up in a bed. I was laboring. But now someone else had chosen Jeff and I to raise their child. Someone else was laying down their rights as parents to do what they felt was best for their child. They chose life and they chose to give it away. They didn't have to make those choices, but I'm glad they did. What an awesome responsibility we have been given. 

I was incredibly honored that the birth parents allowed me to be a part of Baby Girl's entrance into the world. And we are incredibly blessed to have both of them still be a part of her life and ours. She will never doubt their love for her. They made a sacrifice for her and we are reaping the rewards.  

When I saw her for the first time, the past few months quickly flashed through my mind. It was only three months before that we found out this little girl was on her way. At that point she was not ours and we had no idea how our lives would forever change. From the moment we found out that this unborn child would be placed for adoption, we knew God had called us to offer to adopt this precious baby. We had no idea what her birth parents would choose to do, but we knew that we would be in disobedience if we did not offer. 

It took us less than an hour to make that decision.

For the first time in my life, I knew without a doubt what instant obedience felt like.

And now I see what instant obedience looks like. It looks like a miracle from God.

My healing after having R took months. I was on pain medication for weeks and exhaustion from the pregnancy carried into those early infancy days. That was not the case this time. No hormones. No weight gain. No nausea. No labor. I didn't even have time to get stressed about bringing a new baby home. By the time we found out that Baby Girl would be joining our family, we only had two months to prepare! I'll be honest... I preferred this pregnancy : ) 

My favorite story about how different our two experiences were was that the day after she was born, instead of being laid up in a hospital bed on all sorts of medication Jeff and I walked across the street from the hospital to Starbucks. We were just biding time and waiting for them to release our daughter. We sat outside in shock and awe of what had just happened. I secretly wondered that if we were sharing such a joyous occasion, what were all of these other people conversing about? Did they know that in an instant our lives and family changed forever? We were just given a life, a daughter. I just wanted to stand up on the table and yell it to the world. But instead I sat there quietly, sipping my coffee and soaking in the moment.

So what did I learn from my experiences in 2012? A lot. But the main thing I took away- Be open and be obedient. You will NEVER go wrong doing what God has asked you to do, even if it seems crazy. I had people tell me over and over again that what we were doing was going to be very hard and ask me if we were sure we heard from God. To me that seemed like a silly question on so many levels, but the one thing that resonated the most was that no one ever said that doing the right thing would be easy. In fact, I would go so far as to say that most of the time it won't be easy, but it will be worth it.

Be open. Be obedient.