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National Adoption Month Series: Donna’s Story

November 22, 2014

Parenthood is an amazing adventure. It is a road riddled with twists and turns and unexpected bumps. It’s also a journey filled with wonder, grace, and joy. Pat and I never intended to have six children. When we were first married and talked about how many children we would have, I wanted four. Pat wanted two. In the end, we did both. Our first three sons arrived the conventional way. Our next three children arrived through the miracle of adoption.

My older boys were in their early teens when Pat and I became foster parents. One beautiful June evening, we were asked to open our home to a three year old girl and a seven month old boy, both of whom had the chicken pox. A few hours later, Patty arrived clutching a much-loved doll. She had big, brown eyes and a fearful, but beautiful smile. Anthony came into my arms and snuggled into my heart. A few years later, a judge made official the adoption that took place in our hearts that night. We had four sons and one daughter.

Shortly after Patty and Anthony’s adoption, we learned that their birth mother was expecting another child. We agreed to accept this child also. While my boys wondered who would have to share their room and Patty and I wondered if this baby would be another boy or if Patty would have to share her princess status, my husband wondered if we were nuts. When we received the phone call that a baby boy had arrived; I laughed and said, “We needed another one of those.”  We picked Connor up from the hospital when he was just three days old. 

Adoptive parents never really know for sure exactly what we are getting into, but birth parents don’t either. There are days in the lives of every parent when you want to tear your hair out and cry, “This is not what I signed up for!” I have been picking up Legos for 29 years. I have finally graduated out of car seats. I have slept in hospital beds with my arms wrapped around a sick child. I’ve worried when they’ve come home late. I’ve attended hundreds of parent-teacher conferences and countless holiday performances. I’ve lent my son an earring. I’ve overseen enough homework assignments to fill a library. I’ve had pool water spit in my face and baby spit-up on my shoulders. I’ve been blessed with tadpoles and dandelions crushed in a chubby fist. At one point we had one son in the Navy, two sons in college, and our baby in day care. I can bore you to tears telling you about my kids’ accomplishments. I am fiercely protective of them and want only the best for them.

We do not know a lot about our children’s birth mother, but this one thing I do know, she loved her children. She loved her children enough to give them life and we are so grateful she did. Our children, all of them, have enriched our lives far beyond what anyone could have told us.

~~~~~

Donna is a wife of 34 years to Pat and blessed with quite a lot – 5 sons, 1 daughter, a daughter-in-law, a dog and a cat, a house, a bunch of furniture, and a garage filled with everything but a car. You can follow her on the blog, HoliMess, where she shares about noticing God in the midst of our daily life through crafts, recipes, devotions, comforting words, and encouragement.

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5 Comments Filed Under: Adoption, Adoption Month, Foster Mom, Guest Post, Motherhood Tagged With: adoption, blog, blogger, blogging, children, Christian, church, domestic adoption, Family, foster mom, God, Home, mom, mother, motherhood, National Adoption Awareness month, national adoption month, Parent, sibling group, story, woman

Comments

  1. Jennifer says

    November 22, 2014 at 6:52 pm

    As an adoptive mom myself, I understand that side, I’ve never been a biological mother, but I couldn’t love my daughter any more or we’d explode! Today I wrote a post about something I’ve been struggling with in my heart about all the emotions of adopting that don’t get resolved. http://heavennotharvard.com/2014/11/22/dear-birthmom/

    Reply
  2. Barbie says

    November 23, 2014 at 9:49 pm

    I love reading adoption stories, and how God places children into just the right homes for them. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  3. Sharon Harding says

    November 24, 2014 at 6:13 am

    This is such a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing it with Mummy Mondays. #Team MM

    Reply
  4. tiffanyhutto says

    November 25, 2014 at 10:55 am

    What an absolutely beautiful story! How blessed you are. Thank you for sharing.

    Tiffany
    http://www.themommyglow.net

    Reply
  5. Jill says

    December 3, 2014 at 2:30 pm

    What a lovely story!
    Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!

    Reply

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Hi! I'm Wynter. Wife to Jonathan and mama to Chloe, Adaya and Liam. I am a writer, artist, MarCom professional, freelance editor, and an avid gardener, TV lover and chocolate-covered cherries addict. Come back here each week for new, powerful stories of motherhood from real moms across the mother spectrum. Read More…

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