It began with a promise. At the tender age of 12 a word formed in my heart and I resolved then and there that this was a promise from the Lord for my life. That word was ADOPTION.
The dreams began shortly after in my teens and carried on right up until shortly after I was married. In my dreams I always had a son. He did not come from me, but I knew he was mine.
After Randy and I got married, we began to really discuss adoption but it never seemed to feel right and my heart just couldn't connect. It seemed so weird to me that I wasn't passionately pursuing this dream, but I put it on the shelf and just let God do his thing. Life happened. Our daughter happened. Our little family was awesome and she filled our days with more joy then we thought possible. In my heart I resigned to wait each time we thought to bring adoption to the table again. It just wasn't right and I had to wait on God's timing.
It was late in August and I was having quite the restless night. On my heart was the strong desire for our next child. I couldn't shake it and so I prayed and just felt like it was time to pull that dream off the shelf and hold it dear to my heart once more.
Then the call came
Mom "Honey, are you sitting down?"
Me. "uh huh!
Mom "Its about your sister Sara. Ummm she well she is pregnant?"
Me "What, how? (cleary the how I knew, but I was in shock)
Mom "It was a bad choice. A boy took advantage of her trusting heart and it was just once, but now there is a baby and she is really scared. She thinks that she won't be able to have this baby safely with her medical issues and she knows she can't take care of it with her disabilities. She thinks she has no choices. She doesn't want to do it at all, but she mentioned having an abortion."
Me "No, this is why God woke me all night. This is our child"
Mom "I knew you would say that. Call your sister."
So we brought Sara to stay and we talked. We let her know we would be honoured to do this, but that she had other options and to really weigh them. After the weekend while we were shopping Sara turned to me and simply said
"I CHOSE YOU!" We cried, we laughed and we cheered. We were doing this! This was going to be our child and she chose us.
How do you begin to put into words the impact of being chosen by someone to raise their child? It is an honour and a privledge that we did not take lightly.
We made the decision that Sara would come and live with us so we could take care of her and make sure her epilepsy was under control. She had an incredible pregnancy. Super healthy and strong, no morning sickness except all over my car. TWICE 🙂 We went to 6 ultrasounds along the way praying each time that her medication didn't harm our child. Baby was healthy and strong. We kept the sex a surprise for all of us. Though in my heart of hearts I felt so certain it was the son I always dreamt of, I let that go and was just excited that our child would be healthy.
On April 9th we headed to the hospital. 7 days overdue it was time to help baby along. On the first night they sent me home at 8pm. We were devestated. Sara has cognative delay and under stress it presents highly. It was one of the worst nights of my life, sitting waiting to be called, hoping she wasn't too scared. Finally I was able to go and hold her hand and be with her again. She was so brave and I was so proud of her.
By the morning of April 11th we were exhausted and anxious. The doctors did what they could to try to speed her up.
And then finally at 7:15am it was time to start pushing. I sat stroking her hair and coaching her along as my child came into this world. I learned what is was like for those proud fathers who get to watch the moment when they see their children born. And then He was here. I HAD A SON!
He was the most beautiful boy I had ever seen in my life. He was my promise and I was madly in love.
Sara did amazing. She was so proud of what she did for us crying and saying "This is my gift to my sister. I made her a mommy again. I get to be his auntie." Soon the nurses and even the doctor were shedding tears as they witnessed this amazing miraculous story that God had put together. And so we laughed, we wept, we praised our great God as Randy and I snuggled our new son.
When our boy came home, his proud papa and him shared some of their first moments alone. It was later Randy told me that he let "his Benji" know that He was made just for him. He is our perfect fit, our sweet Miracle. We are overwhelmed by love daily and without a doubt know that no other way would have been the right way. This was the plan all along. God is such a show off 🙂
So please join us in welcoming our son. We would like to thank all of you who have showered us with love, prayers and donations towards the adoption costs. A special thank you to Edie with Small Miracles Adoptions here in Alberta. You have made this process run easy and smooth and worked with such integrity and compassion. God bless you.
Benjamin Jacob Glasel
born April 11th 2013 at 7:40am.
7lbs 15oz 21 inches long.
And the most beautiful boy in the world.
Today we dedicated our Son to the Lord and my beautiful sister stood with us!
