Some Light Reading

I received a gift certificate for a specific book shortly after coming home with Mikiyas. After forgetting, procrastinating and finally ordering it in, I began reading it the other night. I love it. It's a collection of true short-stories about families adopting.

Here is a few excerpts from one story that really hit home for me. I've never had to deal with not being able to have biological children, but I've shared the feelings and experiences in miscarriages, and have been faced with the questions about loving your "own" children.

“Funny,” Margaret would sometimes say, “everyone else treats us like losing a baby early in pregnancy isn’t much worse than breaking an ankle.”
It was true. For the most part, their family members didn’t seem to know how to react to their miscarriages. But for Margaret and Bill the loss was cavernous. They estimated dates and knew the ages their children would have been if they’d lived.

…

The conversation turned to children and Joanne told Margaret she had two girls.
“But I’ll always have four children.”
“Four?” Margaret sipped her coffee, thoughtful.
“Yes.” Joanne smiled, but a familiar pain shone through. “I miscarried twice. Those are babies I won’t meet until heaven. But they are mine all the same.”

…

Joanne leaned back in her chair. “What about adoption?”
“Adoption?” The wod sounded foreign on her tongue. Margaret had always pictured their babies coming from her and Bill – not from a stranger. She swallowed and an idea hit her. “Is that how you … ?”
“Yes.” Joanne grinned and a lighthearted chuckle slipped past her lips. “We adopted to sisters, girls who wouldn’t have had a chance otherwise.”
Margaret set down her coffee cup. Adoption had crossed her mind before, but one thing always stopped her from even voicing the idea. “How can you … how do you love them like your own?”
“They are my own.” Joanne’s smile faded some, but a new sort of kindness filled her eyes. “None of our kids really belong to us. If God puts a child in our lives, in our home, then that child is our own for as long as God desires.” A sparkle lit up her eyes. “They’re all on loan, when you think about it.”
Margaret let the idea sink in. all children belonging to God. His to give, his to take, on loan for a season – however long or brief.

A Treasury of Adoption Miracles, Karen Kingsbury 2005, Chapter 4 “God’s Ways”

For those of you faced with similar thoughts or feelings ... be encouraged.