Adoption signs

God is definitely telling me that adoption is next. At least, I'm 99% sure (you never do know with him).

Since struggling with despair last week, I have been asking God to put me on the right path, or to at least let me know that I'm already on it. I think my exact prayer was to have some sort of wisdom, knowledge or understanding of what is ahead. And since then, one theme has popped up over and over again - adoption. 

Yesterday, I posted about this a little and how an actress' words got me thinking about being happy with what you have and also about not having to give birth to a child for them to be yours. Well, people.com did it again (who would've thought it? I usually have to avoid the site due to all the baby announcement!).

Here's an excerpt from the latest article that made me cry. It's a beautiful article written by actress Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding). Here, she's describing her priest blessing their newly adopted three-year-old daughter:

The priest said the words, "Today you have given birth to your daughter," and I began to cry. It all poured out. All the grief, all the anger, all the angst at the difficult and long journey to parenthood. And that outpouring of tears was quickly followed by a peaceful gratefulness.

I held my daughter in my arms and thanked God for bringing her to me. If the standard route of creating a family had worked for me, I wouldn't have met this child. And I needed to know her. I needed to be her mother. And in that moment, I knew why it had all happened this way: So I could meet this little girl. She is, in every way, my daughter.

And that brings me to the video that has already been posted on several blogs. It is my new obsession. I love it and it makes me love adoption. 

I seriously can't get enough of it, and I also can't watch it yet without crying. (On a side note, I love the music! I've already learned all about the guy who sings it and he's awesome... he went to Steubenville and studied bioethics in Rome).

I hate saying that things are signs. Obviously, these articles and videos are out there for everyone to consume. I'm not implying that God had all of these people conspire just so I could know that adoption is what he wants of us! What it's about for me is how I've reacted to all of these things. Each and every time it comes up - from the conversation with my social worker the other day to a sudden influx in stories about adoption on the internet - I find myself not only excited about adoption but actually touched that I've been chosen for this path, and thankful. That's definitely a change in my attitude since a year ago, or even last fall. 

My heart has changed dramatically, and this week God is showing me that. That there's nothing to be afraid of, and that this isn't a second best life. He answered my prayer for insight this week and I wanted to recognize that. 

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In other news, please pray for Lifehopes. She wanted me to let you all know that she started a new cycle the other day. She's going away for a couple days with her husband so she didn't get a chance to post about it. Keep her and her husband in your prayers and please, Lord, bring her peace!