SaraH.

​"From the time that I started going on dates and being asked the same get-to-know-you-question of "what do you want to be when you grow up?" I always responded the same way: I want to be a mom. That was it. I wanted to be a mom to a lot of little ones. 

Eventually all my dating led me to my one-and-only. We were excited to be married and start our family. But as each month passed and no baby on the way, I wondered if my hopes and dreams would come true. As we pursued help from doctors, we eventually did become pregnant and had our beautiful daughter. My, how we loved her! Time passed and we were ready to add to our family. We knew we would have to be proactive. We sought medical help again, but after years of trying and a number of miscarriages, we were told that if we wanted to add to our family we would either need to do IVF or adopt. Initially I found myself leaning toward IVF and my husband was leaning toward adoption. We knew that what would give us the greatest comfort and strength would be moving forward with what we felt like God would want us to do.  And so we began praying.  We set an upcoming Saturday to be the day that we would make the decision. We prayed fervently, knowing that whatever trial was ahead of us we would be better able to endure if we were following God's plan. As my husband and I came together that evening to discuss what we felt like we should do. We felt great peace as we confided in one another that we felt that we were supposed to adopt. 

We began the process of home studies, classes, paper work, and meetings. We soon were approved for adoption! But then we had to wait. We tried doing everything we could to "advertise" ourselves: handed out business cards, created social media posts to be shared, worked with bloggers. I would check my email throughout the day, everyday, wondering if a birth mom had contacted us. We had no control over whether or not we would be picked. 

Six months after our approval we received an email from an expectant mother, {L}. We were cautiously ecstatic! Over the next few weeks we emailed back and forth daily. About a month into our emails {L} wanted to meet us. We had a wonderful time getting to know each other and soon learned that {L} had chosen us for her baby girl! We had a few weeks to get to know {L} better before baby girl was born, during which we came to love and trust {L}. She herself had been praying and trying to do what was best for the baby growing within her. It was her love for her baby that led her to adoption. Four days after {L} gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, she exemplified the greatest attribute of motherhood: sacrifice. She placed that little baby in the arms of another mother and let go. 

As years have passed and we tell the story of how our daughter came to our family, we have heard comments and questions like "where is her REAL mother?" or "I would have the hardest time raising someone else's kid!" No harm is meant by these comments, but it has made us reflect and ask what does it really mean to be a mother? We have learned that being a mother means unconditional love, sacrifice, patience, work, lack of sleep, patience, consistency, service and a lot more patience and a lot more love. This list of attributes doesn't only describe what I have experienced as a mom but also what our daughters birth mom has experienced. We both have given a great deal of our emotional and physical well being to this child. And we will continue to do so."