Adoption Day

He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ,

in accordance with his pleasure and will. Ephesians 1:5

This morning when I woke I wondered if today would seem different. Would the birds sing a little louder? Would the sky be more blue? Would the kids all have (supernaturally) good behavior? But as we got dressed and prepared for the hour long trip to the court house it quickly became apparent that today was going to be no different than any other day. The birds were asleep, the sky was dark and cloudy and the kids were behaving as they normally do--wanting to watch television instead of getting ready, claiming found toys ("mine!"), and dragging their feet when told to get dressed, get down or simply come here! The only thing different about today was that we all woke up an hour earlier and that--as you can imagine--did not set the mood for a wondrous, magical day.

With extra diapers, wipes, granola bars, Cheerios and juice boxes packed, we marched down the stairs and loaded the van. As we drove down the uncrowded highway I glanced in the baby-view mirror and caught a glimpse of Easton as he stared out the window watching the rising sun. His eyes were still sleepy and his chubby cheeks dimpled as he smiled at me when he noticed I was looking at him. As far as he knew we were just going for another ride to church, school, the grocery store or to one of the many other places we go on a daily basis. Regardless of where he thought we were going, his eyes were not crying tears of gratitude, he didn't tell me he was happy to be a part of our family, nor did he speak a single word on why he thought it was such a great idea for us to be following through with God's plan. He was just enjoying the ride.

As I focused back on the drive I noticed the song playing on the radio was not one of the typical Christmas carols that our local Christian radio station plays this time of year. The station had "interrupted regular Christmas programming" to play a song that demonstrated the type of music they play throughout the year. The song that was playing was titled Miracle of the Moment and sung by Steven Curtis Chapman. It was at that moment, I realized the miracle was not that we were on our way to adopt Easton, but that he had been my son all along. The miracle was making the connection that before Easton's heart began to beat, while he was still God' s secret, he was intended to be my child. The court papers, case managers and emotional roller coaster rides over the last two years were just the world's way of putting its two cents in on something God had planned from the beginning.

When we arrived at the court house I was amazed at the calmness I felt. Compared to other trips there, this time I wasn't afraid of the outcome of the hearing or worried about running into Easton's biological family. There was no anxiety as we entered the doors and went through the detectors. We were greeted with smiles of understanding and made our way to the third floor to wait for our attorney. --This is where the supernaturally good behavior would have come in handy but as I mentioned above, this day was no different than any other.--The boys got bored and the baby was squirming to get down and crawl on the floor that I'm sure was covered in over a thousand different types of bacteria, not to mention filth. Eventually we made it into the court room and were sworn in. Our attorney asked us the typical adoption questions one being, "Carrie, why do you want to adopt Easton?" To which I answered silently with tears. The judge said with a smile, "I think that says it all." The hearing lasted all of ten minutes and before we knew it we were back in the van headed to a family favorite restaurant.

On the way home I thought of all the "miracles of the moments" we've experienced over the past two years. The first, accepting a scrawny baby boy into our home--they could have called someone else, we could have said no. The next when I told a friend I had a feeling this baby was going to be with us for a while--only to have the baby leave three days later. Another moment came when Eric prayed at our church altar for the baby's protection as well as salvation. The next miracle was five weeks later when Easton came back to us. Other miracles were the amazing support and prayers we received from family and friends, the health of Easton and the unexpected but wonderful blessing of another pregnancy. A big miracle came on September 9, 2006, when parental rights were terminated making Easton free for adoption. And finally today, December 20, 2007, 729 days after Easton came back to us, officially adopting him into our family.

I know that just as we were predestined to be adopted into God's family through Jesus, Easton was predestined to be adopted into our family according to God's pleasure and will!

For information on adoption visit Steven Curtis Chapman's website: http://www.shaohannahshope.org/