An Adoptive Mama
Christmas, my absolute most favorite time of the year! The time when we, as a family, gather together to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. Three years ago, our Christmas would be forever changed. You see, we were adopting a 6 year old and we were spending our first Christmas together as a family of 3. My husband, David, and I always say we think God has a wonderful sense of humor. Like the patient Father that he is, He guided us along the path of adoption through the foster care system, bringing wonderful and amazingly prayerful people into our lives as we walked the path he had chosen for us.
Many times we were asked “aren’t you sad you didn’t have a birth child”. My answer is always the same, “No, this is the way God chose for us to become parents.” And the son that God chose to bless us with is the perfect addition to our family. That first special Christmas that we spent together was magical. Watching our son open his gifts, seeing the sparkle in his eyes when he saw the bike that Santa brought him was the best gift we could have ever asked for.
After the excitement wore down, we saw our son get quieter and sad. We knew he was thinking of his biological Mom. We saw the internal struggle he had, wanting to be happy with his new family but also worrying about his biological mother. With an older child, they most likely will remember their birth parent(s) and Christmas, while fun and exciting, can also bring sadness.
That evening, as we put our little guy to bed, worn out from a day of family, food, and loads of fun. We prayed with him for his biological mom and assured him that it was ok for him to talk about her, have memories of her, and continue to love her. We, his father and I, reassured him that we would be here for him no matter what, and he could always talk to us about anything.
As we prepare to spend our fourth Christmas together, I am beyond thankful for the little boy God has blessed us with. We continue to pray for his biological mother and hope she is ok. We thank God for the blessing of parenthood, and pray for those families that are going through the foster or adoptive process. It is NOT easy, but God is alongside you through it.
Merry Christmas & God Bless,
Christie