Lead me, guide me....Part II

It was fast Sunday, 2/3/13. Craig conducted our wards sacrament meeting and bore his testimony. He talked a bit about the purpose of that days fast for our family. We had been strongly guided to be ready to adopt, had been approached by two different birth mothers due the same week and neither had worked out for us. Craig explained that despite things not going our way we were faithful and knew that Heavenly Father had a plan for us. We were fasting that day for specific guidance on how to move forward with adoption.

Craig was on the phone when he came home from church. He told me he was talking to his cousin Julianne and that she wanted to Skype with us. To make a long story short, her adoption plan was changing. She wanted to place baby Emerson with our family instead of the one she had originally chosen. While we were overjoyed at the thought of a new baby we were concerned about the family that was currently on the path to adopting Emerson. We immediately began calling social workers we knew and had worked with in order to obtain professional advice. Three different professionals couldn't have had more polar opposite advice. "Don't go just to get a baby. You would be responsible for a disrupted placement." "Are you sure you really want this?" "Pray about it. If it's right then Heavenly Father will take care of the other family." We spent the next two days in fervent prayer.

On Tuesday afternoon it was very clear that we were to fly to California with our whole family and proceed with the adoption of Emerson. It had been confirmed to us. We always follow the Father's promptings even when they seem hard. My heart was heavy as I thought about the other family and the sorrow they were about to encounter.

We boarded a flight to California at 6am on Wednesday morning. We met up with my mom, in Atlanta, who had agreed to travel with us for moral support. After layovers and delays we finally made it to LAX. My awesome sister-in-law, Stephanie, met us at the airport. She had Julianne and baby Emerson with her. Talk about love at first sight. What a wonderful baby! We enjoyed the evening as a family.

Thursday morning we met with an adoption attorney. Paperwork was signed by Julianne and we were given paperwork to take to Jesse, birth-dad, because he was not available to be at the office with us. We drove to his house and surprised him. He couldn't believe we were there. He said he had been praying for someone to show up and then there we were. It was a miracle! He signed paperwork, we drove it back to the attorney and were on our way. We spent the afternoon at Babies R Us shopping together. It was fun to all be together. Four parents for one special little baby. Can you tell that I love open adoption!

The next few days were full of the spirit. Craig and Julianne's aunts and uncles came to visit. We had family dinners, game nights, and talked and laughed for hours. The only way to describe it was that it felt like Heaven.

Tuesday came way too fast. It was time for Craig to get back to work and the kids to get back to school. I drove them to the airport and cried as I said goodbye. I didn't know how long it would be before I could be with them again. I was told that 10-14 days was average. I was grateful for my mom and her willingness to fly back with Craig in order take care of our kids.

I cried the whole way home. I stopped at my sister-in-laws house to hang out for a bit. That's when I received a call from my attorney. I had been legally cleared to return home with baby. The process that was supposed to take 10-14 days had taken 30 hours. In the words if our attorney, "Someone is watching over you. I have never seen this happen so quickly." She called it an ICPC miracle (that's the acronym for MD and CA connecting and making it all legal).

I spent the next few days preparing things to return home on Saturday. I visited with friends and family and so forth. I dreaded Friday night and having to say goodbye to Julianne and Jesse. It proved to be an emotional farewell as I knew it would be. I sobbed as baby was placed in my arms. We knelt in prayer and asked for our Father to continue to guide this journey according to His will.

Emerson and I flew out Saturday morning and made it home uneventfully. I enjoyed telling people on the plane and in the airport about Emerson's amazing birth parents.

Emerson will always know his first parents, Julianne and Jesse and the brave choice they made when they placed him . I'm thankful for my Father who has guided me along His path. Throughout the past two weeks I've felt comforted by the words from Esther, "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Old Testament, Esther, Chapter 4). Heavenly Father prepared me to enter the scene of this adoption. He allowed me to overcome my fear of "causing a failed placement" in order to follow His plan. I know that I was prepared for "such a time as this".