September 3, 1987 – Rebecca gets a call from Mrs. Stafford, our Gladney caseworker, telling her that they have a baby boy that she thought would be an ideal match for us. She couldn’t have been more right. Our lives turned upside down. They’ve never gotten back to “normal” and I hope they never do.
We had endured infertility treatments, followed by a fairly long wait with Gladney, but adoptive parents are nothing if not persevering. We never envisioned Phillip as an only child and were anxious to approach Gladney again to complete our family. In the meantime, we got pregnant twice, but suffered through two miscarriages.
Four years after Phillip came on the scene, we got a similar call from Gladney telling us about another ideal match – a baby girl. As Rebecca and I waited, Phillip carried his new little sister, Hayden, in his arms and presented her to us. Now our family was complete. Or so we thought.
To our surprise, we got pregnant again. This time, Rebecca carried the baby to term, but she was stillborn. This was somewhat overwhelming, but we continued to persevere. One more pregnancy, and Phillip and Hayden had a baby brother, Sam.
An unconventional way to form a family, but Rebecca and I wouldn’t trade a minute of the ups, as well as the downs, for anything. We have the three wonderful kids God intended for us, and we’ve been shaped individually and as a couple, by these events. Our faith has been strengthened every step of the way. Faith is forged from adversity. And we are the richer for it.
Now we are able to witness life come full circle, as our kids (21, 17 and 15) begin to embrace the notion of giving back. Hayden volunteered as a “buddy” at Gladney’s inaugural Family Camp and will likely participate in an overseas service trip this summer working with orphans. Phillip has spent this Fall working as an unpaid intern for Gladney in Ethiopia. A few weeks after he arrived in Addis, we received a video in which Phillip is seen handing an Ethiopian baby to his new American parents. Full circle, indeed !
AUG 2011 UPDATE: Now our "kids" are 24, 20 and 18. You may notice that we've added one in our family picture! Phillip married Katie last summer and they moved to China for a year. They are now back in the US and planning to live in Denver. Hayden is heading back to College Station for her second year and Sam will be a freshman at Northwestern. A lot changes in 3 years!