For those of you who did know us through that time in our life, guess what!? We are beginning again to bring Declan a sister home.
It took a long time for us to come to the decision to adopt again. We have loved every minute of our lives with Declan (Ok so there were a few days during his 2 year old year and there have been quite a few recently now that he is 3), but we always knew we wanted more children. We would attend events to hear from different organizations and agencies. We would listen to stories of others who were adopting and we would give advice. But, we never felt led to start the process again ourselves. Until now.
The thought began a while back and was triggered by Declan himself. We have always had a bed time routine with him that included prayer. When he was old enough to talk, he would pray by copying our words. One night, he asked to pray alone. We were happy he decided to pray on his own. His words broke my heart. He said one sentence, "Dear Jesus, please bring me a baby sister."
I immediately broke into tears. I wasn't sure where this had come from. I wasn't sure where he had gotten the idea to pray for a sister. We never focused on the idea of having another child in our home. But, I guess kids get to the age where they are very inquisitive and they are soaking in everything around them. Several friends had recently been pregnant and several of Declan's close friends had siblings. I am sure he saw that as something he wanted too.
Whatever the reason, it spurred conversations with Gary and I and we began to think it might be something we should consider. We began to look into different options for adoption than we had the first time. We loved our agency, but wondered if there were different options for us. One name of an agency kept coming up through a friend. I emailed the agency and received some information (this was a year ago). We still never felt quite right about moving forward.
Recently (two weeks before Memorial Day), I decided to fast with a group of ladies from church. At first, I was going to fast alone. I felt led to pray for God's leading in our next steps to adopt. When I talked to Gary about what I was going to pray for, he decided to join me in fasting and prayer. We fasted for 10 days because we were going on a mini family vacation over Memorial Day and knew fasting would be difficult while traveling. We ended our fast and went to enjoy our family of 3 for the first time in 3 years. Every other trip or vacation had included family and we needed time for us.
Our very social son wanted to talk to every other kid at the hotel and play with them. Usually this involved him running around at breakfast while we ate. One morning, he met a little girl and they became fast friends. We sat with her parents and brother while Declan and her played. After a short conversation over breakfast, I mentioned that Declan was adopted. She said, "Oh, our kids are both adopted too." I was shocked. In the next sentence she mentioned who she worked for and gave me her business card. I looked at Gary and we both knew that our prayers had been answered. She worked for the agency we had been hearing about from a friend and we had thought about working with.
Long story short, we are now filling out paperwork and beginning our fundraising. Our first fundraiser has been a T-Shirt designed by Gary. We have already sold some for our first order, but will be selling them throughout our adoption. We know God has our daughter already picked out for us and we can't be more excited to begin this journey again. There are a lot of knowns this time, but still a lot of unknowns. With Declan the process went quickly and we have been told that this agency has a quick placement time as well. 4 months is the average. So, knowing that we are pushing forward with our paperwork and readying our home for another little one (I am nesting big time).
Please pray for us in this journey. Please pray for our birthmother whoever and wherever she may be.
Here are a couple of photos of Declan then and now.
 |
| Three Days Old |
 |
| First Mother's Day |
 |
| First Doctor's Visit |
 |
| Dad at First Doctor's Visit |
 |
| Hong Kong 2 Years Old |
