Insiders Adoption Journal

I remember the day that we decided we would adopt. We had a miscarriage after investing money we didn't have into fertility treatments. We had gone from our highest of highs to our lowest of lows in a matter of weeks and after months at not knowing how we would grow our family, we attended an adoption orientation at a local agency. We left that meeting with a renewed hope for a large family. We were excited, relieved, and eager. 

Nothing about adoption was easy, but let's be honest... nothing about infertility was easy either. Having a family was simply not going to be easy for Jason and I. So I guess it was good that easy wasn't a requirement for us. 

Our first few kids came with great health complications, but we were matched much quicker than we had ever dreamed. Our family was growing and I was in my element. I was a MOM! I had dreamed of being a mom since I was 9. I wrote in my third grade journal to the kids I would one day have (Yes, I really did). 

I had my...

It always looks so perfect, doesn't it? My troop of kids with us on our vacations, in our little ranch home with our goats, or eating ice cream at the parlor. We are smiling, or the kids are acting coy... our different skin tones, our random ages and genders. It is all so unexpected and yet awesome to see. And I have to admit, I look at those same photos with the same awe and with an immense amount of love. Yet, there is so much more than the photos reveal. 

After a struggle with infertility early on in our 21 year long marriage, we determined that adoption was not only what we were supposed to be doing but that we were willing to open our minds to the possibility of FOUR kids! Yup, brave us... willing to take in four kids over a course of 5 or 6 years we had figured! So funny to look back now that we have 11 kids of our own and dozens more that we love like our own in ministry. 

Yup, that was the plan! Get licensed and adopt a baby. And just as planned, we did exactly...