4/16/03

Ten years ago today, we were blessed to give our name to our daughters.  They had been our daughters long before that time by virtue of the love we had for them, but on Adoption Day 2003, Rebekah and Christina officially became Birminghams.

I have no desire to erase the back story of their lives because I see God in it.  

How their mother chose to give them life, even when so many would have counseled her to choose death for them as a means of freedom for herself.  

How they had hardship, but not so much that they were broken beyond healing--and how they have grown compassion and empathy and not bitterness from that rocky soil.

How they were found at just the right moment, in a miraculous way. 

How we had made a home for little ones, and had a love and a longing for them, but were left childless for no discernible reason.

How a friend came into our lives and opened our eyes to the ministry of foster care at just that time.

How we missed call after call, month after month, for placements of infants, and siblings, and toddlers because the time was not yet right. 

How Jamey just happened to be working in the ER the afternoon that Christina was brought there, so that the kind, comforting face of her future Daddy could be her earliest memory of us.

How that day just happened to be Mother's Day.

How the system worked over the following months to catch what should be caught and protect the ones that needed protection.

How the hearts of our girls were knitted so closely to ours, so quickly.

How our extended family--and theirs--came together to form a community of love around Rebekah and Christina that has remained strong and sweet for ten years. 

God has built our family in his sovereign wisdom.  He has blown up our little plans to make room for His big, beautiful vision, which now includes Rebekah and Christina by adoption, three little brothers by birth (the first of whom was born exactly one year and one day after their arrival--lest we ever wonder if God has a sense of humor!), and now two foster siblings, whose story He is also writing.  

My heart is full when I consider the gifts that sometimes come through pain.  My girls had to lose their first home to find ours.  We waited seven years with empty arms in order to have them doubly filled--and then filled again five times over!  I stand amazed!

And grateful.

Happy Adoption Day to my sweet girls, who have showed me in a tangible way the miracle and meaning of my own adoption in Christ, and who bless us every day with light and laughter. 

We love you!