The other day I was asked if I was keeping a journal for all the things that are going on in our lives right now. I told the woman asking that I have a blog, but that I have not been able to put all the pieces together well enough to articulate the things that have happened since August 4th, 2018.
Our little boy was placed in our home on that date. We had waited a long time to have a placement.
We began our journey in 2016 after a divine appointment with a woman who came to the school I was working at as a teacher’s assistant. She is a Nursing Instructor at a local school and the students in her class had to do a rotation at the school that I was employed at.
I just felt the need to share my heart with her about our infertility and miscarriages. She encouraged me to look at adoption and asked me to let God speak to me about it. Little did I know the course that conversation would take. My husband was not on board. I prayed and prayed and soon he was open to the idea. So on February 23rd, we began the process of looking at agencies. On May 16th, 2016 we began taking the necessary classes and the long arduous steps to being licensed to adopt. There was a mountain of paperwork, FBI fingerprinting, doctor visits, vet visits, CPS caseworker visits, and home study visits. We had to have a fire inspection 3 times because we failed the first one and the second had expired before we got our license.
We did not actually receive our license until August 26th of 2017. And then we waited for what seemed like forever for a match. We did get matched to a few children, at which our home study was presented. And because of extensive medical reasons, we did turn down a little girl.
Another Christmas came and went and we still had not received a placement.
When I became ill with the flu of 2017, I heard God tell me that he wanted us to do respite care. At the time we were in a bible study Experiencing God. And through the study, we were focusing on listening and obeying the voice of God. I clearly heard his voice while walking out of HEB where I had gone to get more medication for my illness. I told James, and he was not on board. And so this time I told him to pray. Soon we were taking children for respite care.
Respite care is where you, as a licensed to foster or adopt couple can take in children for 72 hours (paid) to help foster families have a night out or just a break.
Soon we met the little boy that we wanted to adopt. That was in February of 2018 exactly, to the date that we began our journey.
As soon as I saw him my heart jerked in my chest and I just knew at that very instant he was ours.
God confirmed it in April when we found out inadvertently that we are related to him, but by 12 generations, though James’ mother’s side of the family.
We still had ups and downs to face. We were not sure that we would be able to have him placed with us.
We rushed to get a dual foster to adopt license and we prayed.
A home study still had to be submitted for him and some other family could have received him instead.
Two weeks before my 40th birthday we got the call that he was coming home. And on my birthday we loaded my car and James’ truck with all of his belongings and we came home as a family.
I do not know how to express all that is in my heart.
I read in the Bible where Mary hid things in her heart. And that is how I feel.
There are things too precious to share. Things that only God and I can know. I am not ashamed to share or afraid, they are just special to me. A gift.
I can only give the facts and share the timeline (a little) to explain the awesomeness of God.
He did this!
There is no way to explain it otherwise. He has written our story and filled our lives with joy and color. 
We celebrated AJ’s birthday a few weeks ago. And we met a few of his personal family. We plan to keep him connected so that he knows who he is and where he came from.
But he also has a larger family waiting to greet him
Grandparents, aunts, and uncles who will cherish and love him.
God blessed him, and us.
This little boy was chosen.