Our Greatest Surprise (Our Disney Baby!)

This was the moment we met Liam.  We were overcome with love.  What a miracle!

After Christopher and Connor died two years ago, we spent time to grieve and try to figure out what God’s will was for our lives. That period of time (being in the valley of the shadow of death) was a long time, but we needed to grieve fully in order to grow. God has used our pain and experiences to help others, strengthen our faith, and strengthen our marriage. I took a year off teaching. Then, last April we decided to start the adoption process. We felt that God was leading us to enlarge our family through adoption. We applied for the domestic program through Lutheran Social Services. We also put our names on a waiting list for the South Korea adoption program with Bethany Christian Services (but they were not currently allowing new adoptive parents in the program). Then on July 1st we were officially put on the waiting list for our domestic adoption. Next, began the process of waiting for God’s timing and plan.
In November we thought we were going to get a baby. The birthmother changed her mind after her daughter was born. It was difficult for us, but we had to trust that the little girl was not meant to be ours.
Then, in March we learned that we were selected to proceed with our South Korean adoption. Bethany is the only adoption agency currently taking couples for the South Korea program, and they only accept a dozen couples a year. We felt that because we were selected as one of the few couples, God wanted us to continue with that adoption. However, we could not be on two adoption lists at once. So, we talked to our social worker at Lutheran Social Services about our options. We started attending meetings and working on homework for the Korea program, but hadn’t officially sent in our formal application. We had the application all ready to mail in, but decided to wait until after Spring Break to mail it in.
On Spring Break we went to Disney World with my family. While at the Magic Kingdom on April 9th I received a phone call from Susie, our social worker with Lutheran Social Services. She said they had received a “cold call” from a birthmother, she had picked us, and we had a son waiting for us at the hospital. We tried to change our flight home, but were unable to do so. We rented a car and drove eighteen hours through the night to get home in time for Liam to be discharged from the hospital. Our social worker actually brought Liam to the house for us, since we had driven all the way from Florida. We would have had to drive another six hours once we were home to get to the hospital and back. On April 10th Liam arrived at our house. It still amazes us how instantly we fell in love with him. Once we held him we knew exactly what God’s plan had been all along. Liam is such a miracle and an answer to prayer.
Liam’s birthmother had known all along that she wanted to give him up for adoption, but waited to choose a couple until she had delivered him. She did not look at him or hold him once he was born. Her mother looked at him, but did not touch him. Liam’s birthfather wanted him to be aborted. This is a semi-open adoption, which means that we will have no contact with the birthmother. All communication will go through the adoption agency, if we should need to communicate with the birthmother for any reason. We will finalize the adoption in six months. Please pray that everything goes well with the adoption process. Please also pray for Liam’s birthmother. We can only imagine what she has been through and what she will continue to go through. We are very thankful for her - she chose to give our son life. We are so happy! We had been so heartbroken for so long, that it is wonderful to be on this side of grief. We still think about Christopher and Connor every day and miss them. We also think of them with joy and picture them in heaven with their Savior. God has prepared us as parents through them. We have learned not to take anything for granted. I cannot even express in words the joy we now have.
When Liam is a year old we can start the adoption process again. We are not sure if we would like to do another domestic adoption or pick up where we left off with the Korean adoption. For now, we are enjoying every second with Liam and praising God for the miracle that he his.