A Message to a Birthmom, On Your Daughter's Birthday

I woke up this morning to a message from a sweet adoptive mama I've worked with in the past. It's their daughter's third birthday this morning and the day is filled with plans to celebrate her. But in the midst of the celebration, Krissy shared that she has another mama on her mind. Her daughter's birth mother. She chose to have a fairly closed adoption so several times a year, Krissy faithfully shares pictures and updates with the agency which are then shared with her daughter's birth mother. But their family longs for the day their daughter's birth mom might be ready for a more open relationship.

This morning, she wrote this beautiful letter to her daughter's birth mother. On the birthday of the daughter they share. With her blessing, it's an honor to share it with you today.

To the sweet momma that gave her the gift of life:
As her birthday approaches, you are on my mind more than usual. There's hardly a time I don't think of you, but in the weeks before her birthday, I think of and pray for you even more. I think of what you must have been going through. I think of what you were thinking and dreaming of for her as you felt her kick and move. I remember the day, exactly one month before she was born, when we found out you had chosen us. Our happiness and joy overshadowed by my mommas heart almost sensing your heartbreak.
So, today, I will hold her for you. I will kiss her chubby cheeks covered in icing. I will take so many pictures with you in mind. I will probably let her get away with more than I should, because her day is more than a birthday. It is the anniversary of a monumental, life altering day. A day that you made one of the hardest decisions of your life. A day that we, as mommas, held each other and cried like babies over this precious little girl that changed our lives forever.
So, with you on my heart, I will document every detail of this oh so special day. Photos I'll send, praying that you get them and see the love surrounding our girl. Then, when the day is done, and the cake has been washed off her chubby cheeks, we will pray. We will pray for you and talk about you and read "Tell Me Again About The Night I Was Born" and I'll do just that. I'll tell our sweet, brave, beautiful little girl about a sweet, brave, beautiful woman, and the monumental, life altering day that she went from your arms into mine. And then, with wet cheeks, I'll hold her and tell her just how much she's loved.
Happy birth day. You, sweet momma, are loved.

Adoption Story: Nathan and Vanessa

"Do you think a birth mom will ever choose a large family?" It's a frequent question from families who have children since it's a common myth that birth families will only choose a young couple with no children to raise their child. Nathan and Vanessa had a large family with six children when they started with Christian Adoption Consultants last September. But once they were home study approved in June, they were chosen just five weeks later by an expectant mom who knew they were the prefect family to raise her son. Today Vanessa shared how their family of eight became of family of nine!

Six years ago, God gave us a heart to adopt a child into our family.  After much prayer and waiting on God’s timing, we finally made the decision to go ahead with the adoption process.  It took awhile for us to complete all the paperwork and home study but on June 10th, we were ready to officially apply to various agencies.  Several situations came and went, but on July 8th, we were emailed a situation that we both felt very excited about and at peace with. 

This is where our story starts with God bringing Nicolas into our lives, although He was working way before we even knew. We learned about a mother seeking to make an adoption plan for her baby boy and was going to be induced on the 15th of July, only one week away! We prayed over the situation as we knew it would be very challenging for our large family to make this happen (we have six other children!). We decided to step out on faith and let God work out the many details. We notified the adoption agency that we would like to present our family to the expectant mother and were told that she would make her decision over the weekend. Saturday around 5 pm, we received a phone call from the agency saying that we had been chosen! Our evening turned into a whirlwind of excitement, packing, and planning!

We ended our evening in prayer and with tears as we knew this was going to be hard to leave our oldest four children with their grandparents as well as the big change this would be for our family. We flew out the next day in the afternoon and arrived early in the morning, the day the birth mother was to be induced.  Nicolas was born in the evening and was doing wonderful when we got to hold him for the first time.  

We were both overjoyed at this little blessing God was giving us. We had to wait almost four weeks for the legal paperwork and process to be completed. Our reunion at home was a blessed time as the older kids got to meet and hold their new baby brother for the first time!

God is good and through this journey we learned a lesson about faith.  When we step out on faith and out of our comfort zones, God works in amazing ways.  He provided so much and continued to answer prayer after prayer.  When we started to doubt or fear, His peace would come over us and comfort us.

Nicolas was worth the wait and we are humbled to be called to raise him for the Lord. We are looking forward to the many years we have ahead with him.  Welcome to our family Nicolas! We love you!