Unexpected Adoption Blessings-1

Life has taken an interesting turn for our family right now.  Although I cannot go into detail just yet; I do ask that you pray for our family.  There is a wide facet of things putting us in a weird place of limbo, one of them being our adoption.  Although we know wholeheartedly that we are going to adopt again, it is on a temporary hold.  So with that said I want to focus on the unexpected blessings of adoption.

Before our sweet EJ came home I was in a place of having a deep, deep desire to be a Mommy and years of that not happening.  The wonderful blessing of being able to look back on that time would bring me to one of my favorite people.  My second mom, my beautiful friend Barb.

 

On a trip to Texas with other special friends we met up with Barb and Mike (he also is a wonderful blessing).  Now I did know Barb because she was a health/physical education teacher for me in school growing up.  So I knew I liked this lovely lady already, but what I didn’t know was the bond we would have many years later.

That bond was not having children, but always having the deep desire to be a Mom.  And let me tell you this woman is a wonderful Mom.  We laid it all out in the back of a minivan with tears and smiles, but we each connected on something deep in our souls. 

This bond continued to grow between not just Barb and I, but all of us.  Mike, Kent, Barb, me, and about a year later Elena.  We loved these God fearing, Jesus loving folk.

And then the bond grew even more.  When God led us to adopting precious Mo in Ethiopia the time came where we knew we could be traveling within a month or more.  I knew that our sweet EJ, who was only 2 ½ at the time, would need Kent or I at home while we were gone for around 7 days.  I also knew that I needed to be the one to go to Ethiopia, but I knew I couldn’t do it alone.  So I prayed to God and asked who should go with me, and almost instantly Barb’s name came to mind.  My mind just raced.  Would she want to do this?  What will she think when I ask?  Will she think I am nuts? 

Not too long after we were at the short’s home for a gathering, and I was being a chicken about asking.  Can you imagine being chicken about something God plainly asked you to do?  At any rate my husband asked Mike what he thought and his response was she should go, ask her.  Not too long later I happened to be in the kitchen with Barb and Kent, and my dear husband says “Carrie, don’t you have something you need to ask Barb?”  And then he pretty much evacuated the room.

So I stood there I think probably stumbling over my words at first, saying things like, now you can say no, and I know this is a lot to ask, and we will pay your way, and etc.  So when I did ask if she would like to go to Ethiopia she was a little surprised to say the least.

My memory from here won’t be exact, but here is the awesome part of God’s plan and story for all of our lives.  That very same morning I had asked Barb to go to Ethiopia, she had sat down and prayed asking God what is it you want me to do?  I am willing to do whatever you have in store, and then I come around that night and say, hey want to take a trip all the way to Ethiopia with me?  Easy Peasy right?!  Ha!

So Barb prayed and said yes, and after our trip told me she would have been so wrong not to go.  That trip was life changing for both of us, not just sweet Moses.  Here are a few pics from our trip:

 

 

 

Our adoption bond doesn’t end there though.  When we adopted our boy Isaiah, guess who were some of the first people to meet him?  That’s right, Barb and Mike.  We ended up living with them for almost 3 weeks while we waited to bring him home from Florida. Talk about gracious, loving, and giving friends right? 

But the whole point of all this is they are more than friends, they are our family.  My whole family loves them so much and we are so blessed to have them in our lives.  Guiding us, loving us, living life with us…

 

 

 

God is soo soo good!