A Story only the Lord could author

Hold on folks, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

I have a story to tell you, a story that only God could write.

This afternoon, around 2:00, I received a phone call from the Charleston agency we were expecting to hear from on Wednesday. I held my breath, said the quickest prayer of my life (Lord!), and ran out the back door to take the call on the back deck. Denise informed me that the placement committee had decided to meet over the weekend and that she wanted to let me know they had chosen another family.

Hope was not going to be a Ferguson after all.

As she described the family they had chosen I realized what a perfect fit they were. The selection committee chose an African American couple, that had no other children and had a pediatrician in the family. What a beautiful provision for sweet baby Hope! Two parents that could dote on her with their full attention and provide her the necessary medical care should any special needs arrive. They were the perfect fit.

Now I could see how the other family was a perfect fit- but that certainly didn’t mean I FELT like she should grow up with them!

No, I just felt like I forgot how to breathe.

The little baby I was already beginning to love was not coming home.

So after I hung up with Denise, I decided to call my mom and then Niles. Through tears I briefly shared our disappointment. Niles lovingly assured me that we would be OK and I believed him- but I just didn’t feel like it. I then called a couple other close friends to share the sad news. With each call my heart was encouraged by our family in Christ that cried when I cried and grieved when I grieved. They prayed for us and promised to give us space to grieve but said they would be minutes away should we need anything.

With each call the news became more and more difficult to share so I was preparing to send a text to share the news with many that had been praying with us.  Well the thought of that was more than I could handle, so I called Niles and asked him to please come home. Of course he said yes and was on his way in minutes.

Then I just got the idea to call Sharon, the director of our agency in Rock Hill. She was the one that had given us the information about baby Hope. She and I had spoken over the weekend as well while I was a little stir-crazy in my waiting and needed advice. Sharon answered right away and I told her who I was (I’m sure she didn’t recognize my voice with all the snotty, sniffles and tears!). I told her that the other agency had decided to place Hope with another family. I told her how happy I was for Hope but how sad I was for us. She listened so patiently and comforted me. I then started to tell her of my plans to give our portfolio to a local attorney to see if he too could help us look for our baby… then she said:

“Honey, I have news for you that is probably going to change everything.”
To which I replied- “alright I’m ready!”

Then she said
I’m just walking in the door from an appointment with a birth mother and...

SHE PICKED YOU.


I literally fell on the grass in the back yard! It was as though I was in a TWISTED dream and I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t! Turns out that just an hour before (when I was getting the call about Hope’s new family!) the birth mother had chosen our family for her baby! She was excited about us for a number of reasons but the one Sharon shared with me was because I was Puertorican! As it turns out, she is part Puertorican as well!!

Side note- if you’ve been following this blog since the beginning you know that the FIRST place we felt led to look to adopt from was Puerto Rico! Now I see why that didn’t work out- she was part Puertorican but living in York County!

So from the beginning of my grief to this incredible twist the Lord allowed just over an hour! What immense grace and mercy- what a gift.  A beautiful picture of Psalm 91:4- covering us with his feathers and sheltering us with his wings!

There is so much more to tell, so much more to process. But for now I wanted you all to know that your prayers were answered. Baby Hope is going to grow up in the home the Lord perfectly and sovereignly chose for her. Your prayers for her healing have been heard and the Lord has MOVED AND HEALED! I am convinced that if Niles and I had not been in the running for her placement there might not have been anyone to pray for that sweet baby. And thanks to all of you I am sure hundreds of thousands of prayers were lifted up on her behalf. Thank you for your obedient and faithful prayers. Thank you for hoping with us and for your encouragements. I pray that our story sheds light on the awesomeness of GOD- on his goodness and his steadfast love of his people. To him be ALL GLORY AND HONOR!

And now we have the added joy of being “expectant parents” again! I promise more details soon but for now I will leave you with a tease-

Our baby’s mother has a scheduled c-section on Monday, August 13th!
That’s 49 days from now :)

In his Word we hope, by his strength we wait.

As we wait to hear (Wednesday) if we will be baby Hope's forever family we will wait with expectant hope!

As we wait we will also celebrate the mighty HEALING the Lord has already done in this precious baby!

Here is part of the report I received last Thursday:

The MRI scan was done last night. Everything appeared to be NORMAL J. No signs of brain injury were noted at this time. In addition, her nurses and doctor told me that they are very optimistic & that Hope ‘appears’ to have “appropriate neurology”…. A kidney scan was also done and that looks good; no problems were noted there either.

Isn't the Lord AMAZING!!

Hope is still on a ventilator. She has a lot of secretions in her lungs so it is anticipated that it might be a couple more days before she is able to breathe on her own. The good news is that the ventilator is almost on the  minimal setting! Let us continue to pray that the secretions find their way out of her body so that little Miss can begin breathing on her own and taking a bottle! Maybe she's just waiting for her Mommy to give her her first bottle...hmmm... maybe! :)  Let’s keep praying!

As I mentioned above, early this week the agency will form a placement committee (Tuesday) that will meet to make their decision.  Please join us in prayer that the Lord will make ABUNDANTLY CLEAR which family is Hope’s forever family to the entire room.  Pray that they would all seek the Lord individually and depend on HIS guidance to make their choice- not merely the facts on paper in front of them.

The committee will notify all waiting families by Wednesday.  We hope and pray that above all the Lord’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for your prayers and support.  You all mean the world to us.

In all of the uncertainty we are facing we will lean on the steadfast love and strength of our LORD!

Hope

Oh how I have hoped for this day! I am not sure how else to begin this post than just to get straight to our news:

THERE IS A BABY.

Niles and I received an email yesterday from the director of our agency passing along information (from another agency) about a baby girl in Charleston that needed a family.

Here is what we know:

·        She was born last Wednesday, June 13^th, at MUSC in Charleston.

·        She weighed 7lbs 4 ounces at birth.

·        When she was born there were medical complications and she had to be resuscitated.

·        It is possible that during and after delivery this baby’s brain was injured- we are not yet sure if this is the case nor to what extent.

·         She is in serious but stable condition in the NICU of MUSC.

We also know that her mother made a selfless and loving decision to surrender her parental rights at the hospital.

Before she surrendered her rights, she named the baby...

Hope.

Hope.  Of all the names in the world this sweet baby girl could receive… apart from maybe “Ruth”the name “Hope” could NOT have spoken any louder to us. 

Just last weekPastor Skip preached from 1 Samuel 10 in a sermon entitled

“God, Signs and Confirmations” (I encourage you to listen to it!)…

In this Sermon Skip taught us about the way “God Calls” his people, then gives signs of confirmation and then empowers them to do what He has called them to do.  (God has great timing- don't you think? J)

Lets just say that the Lord gave us sign after sign after sign yesterday! 

I want to share some of these with you in the hope that your faith will grow as our has!

·        The baby’s name is Hope.

·        The placement fee (money due to the agency at the time of placement) is the EXACT amount we have raised to date.

·        After Niles heard the news of baby Hope he went to a Godly friend and co-worker to ask her to pray.  When he gave her the information of Hope’sbirth she said “we share the same birthday!”

·        I received a letter, just 30 minutes prior to our news, from a young lady that said she hoped our Ruthie would be in our arms“sooner rather than later” and her last name HAPPENS TO BE Hope.

·        Baby Hope is to be discharged from the Hospital just days after Niles’s summer bonus hits our account which will cover all of our expected legal fees.

·        The entire time I was on the phone outside with the agency, attorney, friends/family (at least 3 hours!) I was SURROUNDED by butterflies.  Seriously, they were everywhere.

·        When Niles and I sat down last evening to write down some of these “signs” this song came on our Pandora station

And the list goes on and on! We are so grateful that our Father has shown us so clearly what our next step should be- we are pursuing this little girl and praying that she will join our family!

So now what happens?

Now, again, we wait.

We wait for the agency to receive our adoption portfolio as well as our approved home study (tomorrow morning). 

Then, we wait for the agency- here is a part of an email from them: 
We are in the process now of collecting home studies & portfolios from families that are seriously interested &committed to following through with adopting this little girl, should they be chosen.  Our goal is to find the very best family for her that is equipped to deal with any special needs that she may have.  I anticipate that we will make decision on this within a week or less.

So we wait.  And we hope.  And we wait some more.

We desire for baby Hope to join our family and become Ruth Hope Ferguson.  Our greatest desire is for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. 

Amen.