In honor of National Adoption Awareness Month, I’m sharing stories from other adoptive families. Having these other adoptive moms share pieces of what God has done in their families through adoption is one of my favorite parts of my book, “Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family,” so I wanted to give you have a peek into the community of adoptive mommas God has built in my life.

Today’s guest is Melody Hester. We’re online friends who connected through blogging and then adoption. She considers infertility, miscarriage, and adoption to be painfully beautiful crucibles that brought her closer to Jesus. She blogs about life at www.lifeisabowlofwedgies.com.

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From the time our kids were babies we would recount the day we brought them home from the adoption agency. Complete with detail that included sounds – sound of the phone ringing when we “got the call” and unfortunately even the sound of the police siren pulling us over because we were so excited to get our new baby home that we were speeding. Ooops!

For months and years after we would tell the story the same way and the kids picked up on all the parts of the story so that it soon became their story to tell.

As our children got older the story stayed the same and wasn’t shared as often but harder questions came up along the way. Sometimes it would be in the middle of our son building Legos on the floor. He’d say, “Why would anybody give up their baby?” Other times out of the blue he would point to a random woman and say, “Could that be the lady whose tummy I grew in?”

For adoption to be talked about
openly is a beautiful thing.

{Tweet that.}

They don’t ask these questions in the middle of reading a book on adoption. It’s always when you least expect it and out of nowhere. But it should tell us that these are thoughts going through their minds even when they’re not saying it. So for it to come out in the open is a beautiful thing. Embrace it and don’t be afraid to talk about it.

Innate feelings of rejection and abandonment are natural for anyone and especially that of an adopted child. And no matter how positive you are about the birth parents situation (and we are very positive focusing on the loving decision she made to place through adoption) and no matter how quickly you bonded and are loving toward your children, they may feel a deep sense of abandonment that they might not even be able to express in words.

The ages of six to twelve are important years in developing identity. In these years you might have difficult but good conversations. Life Science class will ask your child to write down their recessive and dominant genes. They might be the only one in class with a blank paper. That’s hard. But redeem this difficult moment for a better understanding of our true identity being in Christ alone, not our genetic makeup. We are image bearers of Jesus Christ. Before they were born God knew what they would look like and where they would call home and who they’d call Mom and Dad. That’s just awesome!

Oh, and what about the people in the Bible who were adopted? We talk about them a lot, too. Moses and, of course, Jesus – we forget about that sometimes, don’t we?

I now look back on some of the hard conversations with our children and I’m thankful we chose to talk through them. Even the times we had no answer, and the pain and wounds were raw. Prayer covers you through those times.

Once your child is adopted into Christ’s family that also is a beautiful thing. Our son said, “Hey, I’ve been adopted twice now!” when he became a Christian. Over time I saw a confidence build inside of him. As his faith grew in Christ so did the assurance of his identity as a believer and as a part of our family. And isn’t that what we desire most? For our kids to walk closely with Jesus on this earth as His adopted children.

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In honor of National Adoption Awareness Month, I wanted to share stories from other adoptive families. Having other adoptive moms share pieces of what God has done in their families through adoption is one of my favorite parts of my book, “Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family,” so I wanted to give you have a peek into the community of adoptive mommas God has built in my life.

Today’s guest is Caitlin Dunbar. We met online and then in real life. Caitlin is a wife, mom, and teacher who is passionate about serving Jesus and making Him known through student ministry and adoption.

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Waiting seems to have been a theme for Jason and me throughout our marriage. We struggled with infertility for five of our first six years of marriage. We always knew that adoption would be a part of our story, but we weren’t sure exactly what that would look like for our family.

When God impressed upon our hearts it was the right time to begin the adoption process, I was so excited and just knew this was going to happen almost overnight. Boy, was I wrong. Adoption is worth it, but it’s also hard and messy.

We prayed for direction, filled out so much paperwork, and completed our home study and profile book. After what seemed like FOREVER, we were able to present our profile to birth moms. This was so nerve-racking. Sometimes it seemed like torture as we waited for a phone call stating a birth mom had chosen us. However, we rested in the fact God chose the right baby for our family long ago!

Through adopting, God really began speaking to my heart about waiting. I fought giving up control as hard as I could, hoping to speed up the process myself somehow. I’m the girl that puts an address in the GPS for places I go every day, just to know exactly what time I will arrive. When I finally entrusted God with everything, I was overwhelmed with unexplainable peace. Psalm 62:5-6 says: “Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.”

After seeing countless situations, presenting to many birth moms and hearing several “nos,” we finally received our “yes” at the beginning of October 2015. A few weeks later, our daughter was born in Utah. She was definitely worth the wait! It is amazing to look back and see how God orchestrated each and every detail perfectly. She brings so much love, joy, and laughter into our home and is a daily reminder of God’s unfailing grace.

Know there is hope in your waiting, whatever the circumstance.

{Tweet that.}

Time and time again, we have been reminded of God’s completely perfect plan. What I had been looking at through frustrated, confused, and impatient eyes, I now see as ways for God to be glorified in all aspects. We see so many examples of this throughout the Bible. The name of the Lord is made known through the periods of waiting, crazy circumstances, and things far beyond our understanding. Whatever you are waiting for, whether it is big or small, trust in His amazing plan and perfect timing.

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