Serendipity

Serendipity: the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely.

November 20 marks three years since we got THE call asking if we'd consider adopting a four year old from China with a heart condition. (November 20 also marks my mom's birthday!! Happy Birthday, Mom!) We'd started the adoption process a year + prior seeking a healthy baby girl...then after a while we broadened our scope and requested a baby with special needs. After all, our then almost seven year old, Emily had been a fragile "special needs" baby and deserved a chance...and we thought maybe we could help another baby who might be otherwise overlooked. But a FOUR year old hadn't really ever crossed our minds. One or two years old maybe, but we never even thought of a FOUR year old. But God did :) He was preparing our hearts for the perfect child for us.

Shortly before we got THE call, I'd felt drawn to some blogs of families who'd adopted toddlers and older children. Reading about their successful bonding began to open my mind to new possibilities and we agreed that yes, we could fathom adopting a two year old. As we waited, we knew that IF we were presented with a child on the list that we'd have the opportunity to scrutinize the photos and medical records before agreeing to accept any child. As word came that a new list of special needs children had arrived at our agency we prayed that God would find a child for us. We agreed that we did not want to play God by picking and choosing and we prayed that He would present the ONE who was meant for us. We prayerfully agreed that we would not reject any child presented to us whether it be boy or girl, young or old, healthy or not. Surrendering that decision seemed to be a critical point in our journey because within a day or two of coming to that decision our pone finally rang. We got THE call from our social worker!!

We were at the bottom of the waiting list, so there were no guarantees that we'd get a call at all. The list had been in for almost three weeks now so our odds weren't looking so good. By the time we got the call most of the children had been placed and they only had one girl left who had been deemed too old by others. When our case worker made it to our name on the bottom of the list she sounded shocked when I immediately said yes, we would consider a four year old with a heart condition. I was a little thrown by the age myself, but Andy and I had JUST recently come to this decision and I knew God had His hand in the process. When our case worker assured me that we could take a pass and wait for a baby as we'd requested I had to explain the prayer we'd just prayed. We'd prayed that He would present us with child that was meant for us. And He did :) Three years later I can tell you it was a scary leap of faith at the time, but He did know what He was doing!!

Olivia has been the perfect fit for our family!! I'm so glad we let Him do the choosing because at that point neither Andy nor I would have ever had the courage to seek out a FOUR year old. Left to our own devices, we would have really missed out on one of our biggest blessing!

How about you? I'd love to hear what kind of serendipitous events have happened in your life. Have you had any leaps of faith that you're thankful for now?

P.S.
I'm so behind on scrapbooking that my "current" photo is really pretty out of date since she's now missing her two front teeth! I'll have to take some new closeups to post what she's REALLY looking like today :)