For those of you who follow this blog, I would like to introduce myself: Hi, I’m Linsey! I am first and foremost a child of God. I am also a wife of almost 7 years, a mother of two, and a campus minister to college athletes. I am new to the adoption community as my daughter, Hadassah, that I was given through adoption is only 3 1/2 months old! I have a 1 1/2 year old son, Hudson, that God graciously gave to me through a natural pregnancy. I am sure both of these precious gifts will provide me with many blog post ideas (as they are already proving to be God's tools in my sanctification!)
So many unexpected things happen throughout an adoption. Some of them good and others, not so good. One of the surprises that happened to me in our adoption journey was the relationship with Hadassah's birth mother (I’ll call her T to keep privacy). We had an open, domestic adoption. We received the call that we were chosen by this birth mom only 5 days before she was due. I didn't have much time to build a relationship with her. When the social worker told me she wanted to talk and pray with me once we accepted the placement, I knew God had something special in store. How do you begin a conversation with a woman who has just asked you to take her baby as your own? What do you say when you are thousands of miles away and you know very little about her? I asked the Holy Spirit to give me words and I opened my mouth. I told her how this is how the body of Christ is suppose to work, by helping one another in a time of need. It is what Jesus does (and did!) best. He takes mistakes and turns them into something beautiful for His glory.
When we arrived in Louisiana on Monday we went straight to the agency and to our surprise T was there to meet us. It was evident that God had prepared our hearts to meet each other. The conversation was easy and our personalities clicked. The social worker said she had ever seen an adoptive mom and birth mom be so relaxed around each other the first meeting! Then came the waiting game. While my husband and I expected to be in and out of Louisiana in 4-5 days, our baby girl took 10 full days from our arrival to come out! Out of that waiting, God was able to further develop the bond between myself and T as we went to her doctor’s appointments together, texted daily, and talked constantly. As much as I wanted to control the situation, the 10 days of waiting forced me to trust that God had a better plan than me. I need to be reminded of that every now and then!
The morning of Hadassah’s birth is a day I will never forget. Not only did I get to witness the birth of my daughter, but I also got a chance to hear T’s life story in the 5 hours leading up to her delivery. She told me how God had used this pregnancy to bring her into a relationship with Jesus. 10 months prior, I had specifically begun to pray for the future birth mother of whatever child God would have for me and my husband.
How great is God? October 13th will always be a day that points me back to God’s grace. That day He gave me a specific answer to a very specific prayer 10 months prior. He also gave me a daughter. Hadassah. Hadassah Grace.
