Thursday, December 29, 2011

Our Miracle

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true, there is life and joy.

Proverbs 13:12

It has taken me almost a month to post about this...I just am at a loss for words! It is hard for me to put into words the joy, and happiness our family has experienced over the last few weeks. It is with a thankful heart that is bursting with joy that I can finally announce - we are a family of FOUR! On December 5th I recieved a phone call from our social worker around 12:30 in the afternoon. He asked if I was ready for an early Christmas present??? My heart almost beat out of my chest as he told me to call Ryan and meet him at the hospital as soon as possible. A little boy had been born two days earlier and his birth parents were considering an adoption. They had not signed the termination papers, so this was an "at risk" placement. Ryan and I met this sweet little angel, and it was most definitely love at first sight! That is when the fun began....we had 45 minutes to race to Target to buy a carseat, blankets, clothes, diapers, wipes, formula...everything! Thankfully we had amazing family and friends who quickly came to our rescue and brought all of the nessecities to help us through that first night! We had nothing...partly because we were not prepared at all for a placement that quickly and also because I didnt want to stare at baby things for months and months before we were matched, it was too painful. We brought our sweet little boy home around 5:30 that Monday evening! Talk about a whirlwind!
The next day, we went back to the agency to meet the birthparents and hopefully to get the TPR signed so that we could breathe! Their story is another post in itself...but the short version is that this was not a typical adoption placement at all. They are married, and have five children at home, they are incredibly poor, no phone, no car, and no means to care for another child. My heart absolutely ached for them. Despite their choices, I truly believe they are good people and they LOVE their children. It was heart wrenching watching them make the hardest, most selfless decision of their life. Ryan and I both loved them, and we pray for them daily. After a few hours, we left with the baby (still no TPR signed) and finally received a call that they both signed the termination papers late that afternoon. It was definitely mixed emotions of joy for us and agony for them. (More on them later)
He was ours!!!
Chandler Henry Farrell has been an absolute blessing and a gift from GOD! We love him so much and he is such a perfect fit for our family. God's plan is breathtaking.








The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

Psalm 126:3

Thursday, December 1, 2011

EXPECTING Again!

I am sharing this from one of my favorite blogs (Share Adoption with Mama J) ...these are my thoughts EXACTLY.

I know, it's crazy isn't it? I can't believe it myself I was not going to put it on here but wanted to make it official............ I mean who would have guessed that I'm expecting!!................... yup it's official.................. we are expecting Christmas in just over 6 weeks!!!! Re-post if you have any sense of humor!

I don't know about you all, but I have a witty sense of humor! With that being said, I do not find the above post to be funny. Even though I didn't give birth to my daughter, I feel that my husband and I "beat infertility!" I have no desire to get pregnant because I'm at complete peace with what my body can't do because my God can and did better than my body. With this being said, it doesn't mean that the post above never upset me. I will never forget when my friend's teenage sister posted the above status and the way it made my heart feel for the quick second that I thought she was expecting another baby.

Give or take a few...it is estimated that one in six couples are affected by some degree of infertility. If I did my math correct, if you have around 200 friends, you have 33 friends who suffer from some degree of infertility. So the next time you think you are being funny or posting a harmless joke, please stop and think about the friends you might be hurting. The friends who are longing to become parents who have a hard enough time with pregnancy announcements (add the Holiday season to the pain of wanting a child) don't need to be "punched in the gut" with jokes about EXPECTING!

The next time you see the above status, instead of re-posting it, please share a link to my blog post instead! You never know whose heart(s) you will be sparing this holiday season.