By Kristine Jacobson
November is National Adoption Awareness Month. It’s an understatement to say that our family has been touched by adoption. With three children, three nieces, two nephews and one sister-in-law joining my family through adoption, it’s easy to see why I’m an adoption advocate.
The “baby boom” of adoption started for our family in early 2004.
We adopted our son, Sam, in 2000, and we were so happy with our sweet ball of energy. He was the cutest baby we had ever seen, and life was good.
But, my husband and I had always pictured our family with a houseful of kids — a brother for Sam to play catch with or maybe a little sister for Sam to annoy and defend.
So, I sent up my prayer one morning in the shower. Of course, I had sent up these baby prayers many times before, but this time the river was rising the floodgates were about to burst open.
“God, please send us lots of babies!” was my prayer that day.
The flood waters started with a trickle in May. Sam asked one night when he would be getting a baby sister or brother. I told him to ask God as it was in His hands. After evening prayers, my husband and I were asking Sam about his prayer. He told us that God said on Thursday he would be getting a brother or sister.
On Thursday, we received a call from the Nebraska Children’s Home. We had been chosen! The birth parents wanted to meet us the next day.
We were so excited yet fearful that the birth parents wouldn’t like us. But, they did.
Three days later, we brought home our tiny bundle of joy, Andrew!
Two months later, my sister and her husband received word from the Nebraska Children’s Home that they were chosen as well! We welcomed my niece, Lillie.
That fall, we received a call from Sam’s birthmother telling us that she was pregnant again and was learning toward an adoption plan. Although we were a bit worried about having two children so close in age (Andrew was only four months old when she called), we said, yes. And in April of 2005, we welcomed our daughter, Ella.
In the meantime, my husband’s brother and his wife were fostering a 2-year-old boy, and they decided to officially adopt him. At about the same time as Ella was born, they were also matched with a family on the East Coast who wanted to place their daughter for adoption. So, they adopted Ty and Elizabeth.
So, there it was. Five adoptions in one year! The floodgates were open wide! Thank you, God, for your generous blessings on our family.
A few years later, one more nephew and one more niece were added through adoption to our family.
As I mentioned earlier, my sister-in-law is also adopted. My in-laws adopted her into their family through the foster care system when she was a teen-ager. She now has four children of her own and four grandchildren.
Without adoption, where would our families be?
Thank you to God for hearing and answering our prayers and to the most generous, loving birthparents whose selfless love made our family possible.
Click here to go back to the list of National Adoption Day stories.
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