Referral Day! Year 3

Three years ago, our family received a phone call that I had painstakingly waited years to receive. It was a call from our social worker notifying us that we had a referral for a baby girl. It's a day I will never forget, and I hope one day, I can accurately share this story and many others from her adoption journey with Bethany.

It was the day before Austin's first day of second grade, and I had planned to do a few last minute errands. Austin and I were dressed and ready to leave, but as I was printing out my final Michael's coupon, the phone rang. I was hesitant to answer because it said "private caller", but I decided to anyway.

I am so glad I did!

Within minutes of our phone call, my social worker sent me an email with these two pictures, and some documents with more detailed information about our little girl.

That one phone call set in motion what can only be described as God's great handiwork. He took a child with no mother or father to speak of, and set her on a path to our family of three. In turn, God gave our family one of the greatest gifts we could have ever received; a daughter for Sam and I to love and care for, and a little sister for big brother to dote on (which he totally does!). Of all the babies that were waiting for homes in Korea, God chose this particular baby for our family, and I can't express in words how meaningful that is to me.

It was five more months before she was placed in our arms, but all of that seems like a blur now that she's been home for two and a half years. Today that little girl is happy, healthy, and thriving.

She is my sweet and mischievous girl who would rather play with swords and balls, than tea sets and dolls. She fearlessly follows after her big brother, jumping from heights no three year old should be anywhere near, but she's deathly afraid of loud noises and people dressed in costume. She is a chatterbox who loves to sing and dance at home, but I can barely get her to say "hi" to someone out in public. She is a girl after my own heart, and it is a joy and privilege to be her mom. We love her dearly, and by the looks of it, she already has mom, dad and brother wrapped around her cute pudgy little finger.

As I give thanks to God today for choosing our family for Bethany, I can't help but think of all the other children who have been left behind. There are so many children in this world who do not have families, and my prayer is for each one of them to first of all, know and experience the precious love of God, and second, for them to know and experience the love of a family. Please take some time to consider what you can do to help a fatherless/motherless child. It may be through prayer, financial assistance, mentoring, donations or sponsorship. Who knows, you might be just the person a child has been waiting for.

Our family has been blessed by the beauty of adoption, and maybe, just maybe, your family could be next.