For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a
time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a
time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and
a time to laugh;a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time
to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to
embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek,
and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a
time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to
love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3We had planned to adopt our little baby Grace all through the nine months that her birth mother was carrying her. I was at every doctor's appt. and was there at the time her mom found out she was carrying this little one. We spent hours in prayer for Grace and for her sisters and mother. I was there as she took her first breath and we brought this beautiful baby home with us. It was a heart wrenching, emotional time as we walked out of the hospital with this baby knowing what a great sacrifice that was being made on the part of her birthmother. Two weeks later, Grace's birth mom changed her mind and decided to take her back.
We were devastated. For several months, I couldn't speak about her with out bursting into tears. Tyler was in 1st grade when Grace went back home to her mother. In his journal that year, he was asked to write what his best and worst days were. He said his best day was when "Hope came" and his worst day was when "Grace left." We were broken hearted and thought we could not adopt again--it hurt so much to have lost our daughter.
A few months later, my best friend called to tell me that she heard of a Christian Adoption agency in Alabama that had babies waiting. The children were reaching a year old and did not have homes. This agency was based out of Birmingham, Alabama and they had not done transracial placements--placing full AA babies in Caucasian homes. I told her I would take a look but that we couldn't adopt again...
I took a look at the pictures of the four little babies on the website and immediately was drawn to a beautiful little 7 month old named Brennan. His sweet, shy smile definitely pierced my heart--and to think that this agency was searching for families for these kids. I called Mark right away and then called Lifeline, the agency in Alabama.
I shared with them that we had limited financial means and that we were interested in adopting Brennan. They said that they really wanted to place him because of some health concerns in the foster family but they were reluctant to work with us because we were from Minnesota. We would have to fly there for an interview before we could be considered. We really felt that this little boy was meant to come to Minnesota and we made our plane reservations on faith that they would want us to come once they read our application/homestudy.
One month later, the finances we all in place and we were driving to Alabama to bring home Brennan. His foster parents are now extended family to us. "Mama Cheryl" took such incredible care of Brennan and we are forever grateful for the love they shared with him those many months.
Out of our sadness, God had picked us up out of the rubble and brushed us off. He had a plan when we could not see it. If we had not lost Grace, we would not have Brennan. We are thankful that Grace is with her Mom and surrounded by a strong Christian Church family. And we are so thankful that God blessed us with Brennan...
Brennan loves dirt biking, skateboarding, and video games. He is a very sensitive, healthy 10 year old. He has a great sense of humor and and a tender heart. He was the baby of the family for 6 years. We really thought he would be our last. I cherished each moment with him because I could feel the time going by so quickly. We played at the park, enjoyed watching trains go round, jumped in the leaves and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the back yard. He went off to kindergarten and we gave away the baby stuff ...and then came Kaden, Evan, Elijah, Nakia.....
