Our friends Bessie and Purnell Cameron had been praying about adding another child to their family through adoption, for months. Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long! They were matched with a BM in March and the baby was due to be born in May. Bessie headed up to Georgia a few weeks early, in anticipation of Lilly's arrival. The day after she got there, little Lilly was born! Bessie was in the labor room and got to cut the cord! I can only imagine the elation that my dear friend had that day! They had spent 2 weeks with that sweet baby, because Georgia state law says that a birth mom has that long to make a final decision about the adoption. On Monday June 4th, our friends got the phone call that they had been dreading the entire two weeks, the one that confirmed that the birth mom changed her mind.
Tuesday morning the text I received was from Bessie, "please pray, she changed her mind!!!" I could feel her pain through those words! Tears immediately started streaming down my face. I was so incredibly broken hearted for them. But I immediately thought to myself, "Could THIS be what you had in mind for this unborn baby?" It was never about us! I can't explain the weight that was completely lifted from my heart as I realized what was happening. I went from sobbing to jumping! I couldn't contain my joy. I felt like I was holding all of the answers to Bessie's pain, but how could I share this with her? Her world was totally shaken and she was grieving that little Lilly! I texted her back and just said, "I will pray, but God may already be at work!!!" I was hoping she would question my subliminal message, but of course she didn't!
I was in contact with the lady, Miss Fran, that was trying to find a home for this unborn baby. I shared with her the story about Bessie and Purnell. I told her that I knew they would want to move forward with this adoption, but that I needed a few days before I could share it with her. I wanted to give her sometime to grieve and deal with the loss of the first baby. After talking with Jason about what to do, we decided I should continue to give Bessie space, and instead of calling her, I should email her with more information. I didn't go into full detail. I just spoke indirectly about her calling me when she was ready to hear more about the "situation" I wanted to share with her. She never responded to that email! Time was slowing running out before Miss Fran needed to call DCF and proceed down that route. I was so torn. I thought that God had revealed his will for this baby's life to me, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe it was just what I wanted for the Cameron's?
Jason and I prayed more and came to the decision that if the Cameron's decided not to move forward with the adoption, then we would! WOW! That was a big decision. I was so nervous, again! I just didn't have true peace with this "decision". I just felt like I needed to really talk to Bessie about it. I knew she was a kind, level headed person, and even if she didn't feel this situation was for them, she would appreciate hearing about it. So I did the big girl thing, and texted her again! HA This time I spelled it out! I said, "I need to know if you want to hear about this new baby I have been trying to tell you about?" She called me right away and said, "what are you talking about?" I could not believe she didn't know. But then again she had a lot on her mind, she didn't catch any of my "subtle" hints to her. I am so thankful that I made one more attempt! She talked to her husband that night and I put her in contact with Miss Fran.
On Monday, one week after hearing the heartbreaking decision, Bessie met with the new birth mom. And on July 4, 2012, one month to the day from letting Lilly go - Liberty (Libby) Grace Cameron was born into this world. Bessie was there in the room and got to cut the cord! In Florida, the window of deciding is only until the birth mom is discharged from the hospital. That window came and went, Libby was theirs!
Why am I telling you this story here? Well, Libby was a huge part in our adoption of Jessa. After it was all said and done, Jason and I had long discussions about our "decision" to add another child into our family. Although I never had true peace about Libby being ours, Jason did whole heartily decide that he could open his heart to another child. I told him that I felt like our 5th child was out there, but that she was much further east! I wanted to go back to China! After months of prayer, our story was unfolding! On August 15th, we saw her face for the first time! Libby was, without a shadow of a doubt, the catalyst to our Jessa!
I am sobbing as I write this post. I can't help but stand in awe of how God works sometimes. He can take an awfully sad situation and turn it into something so beautiful! He was taking care of things even when we couldn't see it. He never intended for us to be Libby's parents, but he used this sweet baby to show us that we were meant to parent again! I have certainly learned that God does not intend for us to go through every open door. I am thrilled to say through this story, our faith has grown, our relationship with the Cameron's has grown, and our family has also grown! Thankful that he graciously lead us both down the path He intended all along!
I had the joy of photographing Libby and her big sister Leila Bess today! At the end of our little session, my Jessa came upstairs to see what mama was doing. She loves baby's and is so sweet with them! Bessie said, "hey why don't we get a picture of the girls?". I was so glad she thought of that. I knew right away that I wanted to blog about their neat story!
Thank you Lord for bringing these two beautiful girls into our lives!
They share a connection that can only come from you!
