Memory Monday....

Well, since some people do special things on Thursday, Fridays, and so forth; I thought I would do Memory Mondays.

This is my baby. Her name is Riley. She came to Chris and I in a very special way. Chris and I had not been able to have children for 7 very long years, and we deeply wanted to start our family!

Chris and I were not active in the LDS faith when we were married (yes, we were raised LDS), and we played, traveled, did whatever we wanted for 4 years, but we just felt like we were missing something in our lives. We decided that we needed to attend church, and boy was it hard! Eventually, our testimonies grew. On June 14th of the year 2000, exactly 4 years from our wedding date, we were married in the St. George Temple for time and all eternity. Things seem to be going great, but still no children. Needless, to say our faith was struggling.

Finally, Chris and I decided to forgo the conventional way of having children, and looked into adoption. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, people we knew were adopting, families members were having children right after another, friends were even adopting and having children at the same time! My lowest point was a night I knelt next to my bed and cried to my Heavenly Father asking why He did not trust me with one of His children, was I a bad person? Eventually, through prayer, fasting, and scripture study, we became stronger. We realized that even if we did not have children, we would be okay; Heavenly Father still loved us.

For about a year and a half, Chris and I just kept praying for the phone call that we had been chosen to be parents. We lived life like normal, we even started college again (and graduated), and we planned vacations...we could not let this pain rule our lives. The wait was killing us!

After graduation we planned a vacation to Kentucky with some of Chris' family (Chris is from Kentucky). We were going to drive out, and see the great USA! However, some things happened with family schedules, so Chris and I just decided to fly out to Nashville and go that route to Kentucky. We even planned a trip to Nauvoo and St. Louis. We were so excited. We were leaving June 27th of 2002. Little did we know, but our trip was going to get even more exciting.

June 18th, Chris was at work, and I was in the shower getting ready for work....the phone rang...I did not hear it! About 30 minutes later the phone rang again....I heard it this time, but I could not understand the man on the other end of the line. It was Chris, but I could not understand a word he was saying. Eventually, he calmed down,but still crying he told me, "there is a woman who wants us to be the parents of her baby girl!" We both started to cry, we litterally did not speak for 3 minutes. Chris went on to tell me exactly how Rodney broke the news to him. Rodney stated, "I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is we have found a baby for you...the bad news is the baby is in Ohio, and the birth mother wants to meet you before she gives birth." Chris was shocked beyond belief at the divine nature of this phone call....Chris simply told Rodney through his tears, "we are going to be out east in a week."

We were set to go, we had our plane tickets, we were packed, and a very thought-out gift and letter for Carrie the birth mom. We were SO nervous, but excited to be meeting our child. We set off for Las Vegas, and caught a plane to Dallas, Texas. While in Texas, we were experiencing some flight delays....nothing new.

Meanwhile, Chris and I were sitting in the boarding area and the loud speaker informed us that the plane was overbooked, and they were looking for volunteers to catch a later flight. No way, was our first reaction...we had been sitting here long enough! Again, the speaker informed us that nobody was volunteering so they were going to give the volunteers $200 dollar vouchers to put towards a future flight. Chris had a VERY strong feeling, and looked at me and said, "I think we need to volunteer, I just feel really strong about it." Annoyed, I followed Chris to the ticket counter and waited in line. While waiting in line the speaker, again, informed us of volunteering...the pot had gone up to $300 per ticket and dinner. We took it! We now had enough vouchers to pay for our tickets to come back in August to pick up our newborn baby. Thank goodness Chris listened to the spirit because we did not know how we were going to afford all the expenses of adoption. I quote my dad..."Heavenly Father will find a way for you."

If you thought that was proof enough that the hand of the Lord was in our adoption, just wait. Our troubles did not end with delayed flights; our credit card was rejected when we went to pick up our rental car, and we were still in Nashville! We sat in the airport broken and tired. Finally, Chris' Aunt Sue purchased a taxi to take us to Kentucky. However, we did not have a rental car to go on to Ohio to meet with Carrie in 4 days!

Our vacation was good, it was nice meeting all of Chris' extended family and friends. Chris' Aunt showed us around Bowling Green, and we stopped and visited old family friends. Meanwhile, Chris and I never stopped praying for an answer to our rental car problem. Chris' Aunt did not have a vehicle we could use, and she would have if she could. Also, our credit card was still rejecting (later we found out our hotel in Vegas overcharged). Well, anyway, while we were out visiting old friends and family, Chris' Aunt Chris suggested we come to church that coming Sunday. Chris and I both declined, but Aunt Kris and Sue talked us into it, eventually.

Well, Chris and I decided that we would fast that Sunday, and ask the Lord to help us with our car situation. We could not miss the meeting with Carrie the birth mom! We both prayed for help, and strength. The church meeting was wonderful, very inspirational. The talk was about Abraham Lincoln and the trials he had to endure in his life, and the faith he had during those trying times. How appropriate, I thought! Anyway, Chris and I got up to leave the chapel inspired, when we heard a womans voice say, "you can use our car." Did I hear her right? "You can use our car." Chris and I were overflowed with the spirit that we both could not hold in the tears. How did this woman know? Turns out, the woman was a dear old family friend of Chris' mother and father. To this day we still do not know how she knew. "Heavenly Father will provide a way."

Long story short, we met Carrie, and I felt Riley in her tummy. We hugged, cried, talked of hopes and dreams for the unborn spirit, but most of all, the greatest miracle of all was the trial. Carrie was struggling with her decision, and did not know if this was what was right, but when Chris and I told her of the miracles we experienced just trying to get to her, she simply cried and said, "I know now that this is right, Heavenly Father is in this." We hugged, and I said to her, "you are my hero," and she said, "no, you are mine."  How can I deny that my Heavenly Father provided a way?

With many prayers and help from family, this adoption became final on June 7th of 2003, and later we were sealed for time and all eternity to our beautiful little girl on June 14th, exactly 3 years on the day from our Temple marriage, and exactly 7 years from our actual wedding day. Boy, were we blessed.

I know this memory was long, but I have been wanting to write it down for so long...thanks for putting up with it. Thanks for being in my life to share it with me. I can't wait to share our next adoption!