IT'S A.... GIRL!!!!

I love being pregnant. Really. What a mystery and miracle, all woven up into one expanding tummy!! Pregnancy amazes me. From start to finish, I am fascinated and captured by the intricate detail it involves. As a labor and delivery nurse for 10 years, I shared in thousands of birth experiences. Some I can remember perfectly, but many of them all run together as just "a days work." But, for every mom and baby I cared for, that mom remembers every detail of her experience. Amazing. Life-changing. Miraculous.

One of my favorite seasons of pregnancy is around the 18-20th week when we enter that small, dark room to confirm the gender of our wee one. So many dreams for him/her already, names swarming in our heads, and mental pictures of what a girl would look like or what a boy would look like. Then, walking out and making the proclamation, "It's a...." as everyone waits with wide eyes. I love being pregnant.

But, over the course of the last few months God has opened my eyes to a different miracle. As I have looked at scripture and really looked at the depravity of mankind, I am taken aback. From the beginning of time God had a plan for the orphan. The Spiritual orphan. He made a way, at all cost, to offer us a chance, a hope, a way out of our natural destiny. In that, He also clearly made and continues to makes a way for the physical, literal orphan. As I look at my biological children, I stand in awe of a God who can do that: take two people and make one person from the joining of the two. But, there is something altogether different about adoption. It is a miracle set apart. It is one thing to be loved unconditionally, entering your family as a welcomed addition. It is an entirely different process to be fought for, pursued, and loved without obligation, but out of sheer love, like Christ has done for us. Amazing. Life-changing. Miraculous.

We initially went into this process preparing to adopt a sibling group. We knew of a family who was unsure about whether their circumstances would allow them to keep their 3 year old twins. We wanted to be ready. Grateful and humbled that God has made a way to keep that family together, we were able to step back, look at our family, the ages of our children, and listen. Listen to what the Holy Spirit was speaking, where scripture was leading, and then to just obey. Mark and I spent several days focusing our prayers regarding the adoption on this one thing: sibling group or one? We were open to the Holy Spirit's leading. As I sat last week reading adoption books... I really wanted to be intentional about hearing what God had to say. As I sat, I repeatedly heard in my spirit, "One at a time." That night as I shared with Mark, he, too, had felt he was being led in the same direction. And, so, it was done. We will likely adopt two, but "one at a time." The reasons are many, but the only reason that matters is that HE said so.

With that (and the fact that we have a daughter who would KILL us if we brought another boy home before bringing her home sister), we are super excited to share: IT'S A GIRL!!!!