What Adoption Has Taught Us - Part 4

.....about our children.

What adoption has taught us in regards to our children is this:

They may not have an ounce of genetic traits from us, but they do have something of ours, and that is our hearts! And they captured our hearts from the moment we met them, and the stinkers haven't let go! If anything, they keep squeezing harder and harder :o)

Again, some honesty. Many years ago, when we briefly talked about whether we should adopt or not, the fear of not knowing whether we could love someone else's child was a huge hurdle for us. We wrestled with the question of would we ever see that child as our daughter/son. We were concerned that we would never be able to look past their adoption, and always see that first when looking at our children. And if we couldn't have our "own" children, then adopting was not something we wanted.

Praise God for His ways!!! And that in the end, it was His plans that He made known to us!

While those fears are definitely real and understandable, we learned very quickly many years later, that we wanted to parent. It became apparent that we had a desire to parent, which completely overtook our desire to pass down our genes. And so we started the journey of adoption.

That question though of whether we would really see them as ours was always in the back of our minds, that is, until we held each of them. And we have never asked that question again.

Instead, we proudly shout: YES, this is OUR daughter!!!!!

And this is OUR son!!!!

So our children taught us many things and will continue to teach us for as long as the Lord allows this relationship to grow. But one of the biggest things they taught us has been nicely summed up in this poem:

And that is the truth. And the beauty of it all is it doesn't stop there. The two of our children come from very different genes, backgrounds and circumstances. But we have been blessed with the gift of watching how that doesn't matter to them one iota. For these two blessings absolutely love each other. Yes, they have their moments, but they are few and far between. These two are not only siblings through adoption, they are playmates and best friends. We pray that God will continue to bless this relationship.

And that is the end of our 4 part series of what adoption has taught us. I hope you enjoyed it. Do feel free to email me if you ever have any questions at all in regards to adoption. I will do my best to answer them.

If you are at a fork in the road of life as to whether to pursue adoption or not (whether you have biological children already or not), may you be given much strength and wisdom to seek His will. Be ready for His ways, as you never know where He may lead you.

If you are on the road of adoption, hold fast to Him and know that He has a plan, which can be so comforting in all the ups and downs. And I pray that your desire to have a (another) child may be God's will for you and your family.

And if you are just reading for interest sake or that you know of someone close to you that is journeying down this road, pray for them. Pray also that you may be a shoulder to cry on, as well as someone to keep them looking to God for their help.