So, at the end of March, Todd and I found out that we were expecting our 3rd biological child...that's right...I AM PREGNANT! This pregnancy was very UNPLANNED and UNEXPECTED by us. We had so many emotions rushing through our heads...we were excited, anxious, nervous, and confused. We wanted another biological child but AFTER we brought "baby Ethiopia" home. We didn't know what this was going to mean for our adoption journey and we were scared. When we signed on with AWAA, our adoption agency, it was understood that if we got pregnant, there was a BIG possibility that AWAA would ask us to withdraw our names from the waiting list and reapply when our bio baby was at least 6 months old. We knew God was calling us to adopt and our hearts were set on bringing "baby Ethiopia" home to our family. I went through three weeks or so of really questioning and doubting God's love and sovereignty...I mean how and why did this happen...why now...why would God bring us through all of the paperwork and fundraising to have us withdraw from the adoption waiting list...why...why...why?!? I went into denial mode...which was hard to do because I was so sick from the pregnancy. God kept laying Jeremiah 29:11-12 on my heart almost daily...
"For I KNOW the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
So, we got some advice from another adopting family not to tell AWAA our news until I was in the second trimester and our baby got a healthy report from the doctor. My mom and I went to the doctor for my first appointment and God began to softened my heart and open my eyes to HIS SOVEREIGNTY and HIS TIMING for our future and adoption. I heard the baby's fast heartbeats and saw the baby for the first time!
We prayed that somehow God would work out the little details and allow us to have the "best of both worlds"...pregnancy and adoption! We just knew that somehow God was going to work all of the little details out for us. HE had brought us this far and HE was NOT going to leave us hanging. So...hang on tight...it gets better from here!
Literally the week we were going to tell AWAA our pregnancy news, we got an email from our family coordinator at AWAA telling us that the agency was considering "concurrent family planning" for families adopting in the Ethiopia program...meaning allowing pregnancy or domestic adoption while waiting to adopt from Ethiopia. They were working on the details and would let us know their final plans in a week or two. WHAT?!? Could this really be true...maybe, just maybe we can have the best of both worlds! So, we immediately emailed and called several friends and family and asked them to pray on our behalf over the next two weeks that God would put in place what was best for adopting families and the millions of orphans waiting for families in Ethiopia.
Then, we got THE EMAIL...our most important one so far in this adoption journey (there will definitely be more important ones in the future but this one was pretty important too). Our family coordinator emailed us a few weeks later and told us that AWAA was in fact going to implement the "concurrent family planning" for Ethiopian adoptions!!! We could still continue on this adoption journey even though I was pregnant!!! PRAISE GOD!!! We have paperwork to fill out (of course!) but it looks like as long as the birth of our biological baby and our trip over to Ethiopia to meet our child is not within 6 months of each other, then we will be able to do both in the next year or so!!! We are so excited and thrilled! God has and is still so faithful in bringing us through this adoption journey. He reminds me over and over again..."For I KNOW the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Our pregnancy was not planned by US but God ordained it perfectly according to HIS perfect plan for us and our future!
So we will NOT be "becoming a family a family of five"....I will have to change it to "becoming a family of SIX". Thanks so much for reading this long post AND riding this crazy ride of adoption with us! We are so blessed by each and every one of you!
Stay tuned...more crazy adoption drama is bound to occur sooner or later!
