A wooden table. For six. My parents joked in our wedding card that six chairs would at least "get us started."
Indeed, we loved family and children.
And yet, here I sit, looking at so many empty chairs,
thinking about all the plans I had for filling it up. I wonder at the meaning
of it all.
Never-the-less, God has made it easy to surrender. His hand
is all over our adoption story.
In 2017, after hitting wall after wall with conventional
fertility treatment, we began treatment that was viewed us
as whole people with dignity and deserving of respect. Indeed, we were told, "this care
isn't for everyone, but it is something that needs to be available for those who
seek it." Luke, our son, was conceived right at the time we began working
with this holy provider who had the courage to pray with us and for us. He
admitted he wasn't replacing God, and he certainly couldn't promise a
pregnancy, but would do his best to bring health and healing. No, it was not I
that conceived Luke, through his infinite mercy and plan,
God destined him for us from the beginning.
That summer, I also began praying that God would send us a
baby that truly needed us. Scared of taking advantage of a birth mother, I
prayed for a child who needed us as parents. Later, devastated after watching a
documentary about how nearly all babies with Down Syndrome are aborted in
Iceland, I prayed in earnest about converting our home study to a special needs
adoption. On September 11, I moved forward with surgery to treat
underlying medical conditions and improve fertility. Two days later,
while home recovering, we received the call about Lucas Asher.
"Would you consider a baby who potentially has some special needs?"
How God wove all of those stories and prayers and inklings
together is still just a marvel. The initial visit turned into an adoption
"match," which led to another visit. Coffee, prayers, doctor's
appointments, and family meetings with his beautiful and Spirit-Led birth
family marked the days, and before we knew it December was here. Due on January
21, his expected arrival was January 13, and we anticipated a flurry of
plans and shopping as soon as we passed the Christmas holiday. On December 17,
we had agreed to babysit for our dear friends' children. Pregnant with their
sixth child, we hoped to offer them time to rest and prepare for their upcoming
arrival. It also gave our son, Anthony, time to enjoy with friends. With a house
soon to be full of children, the phone rang.
"Your baby is here"
Lucas spent the first 30 hours wrapped in the love of his
mother and her family. Snuggled, fed, prayed over, and dedicated to God,
they then placed him into our loving arms to carry on the love that they
started. Indeed, he was loved from the start, through and through.
Welcome home, Lucas Asher
