This past weekend, Brooke and I attended a adoption orientation with Bethany Christian services. I thought going into this that I was ready, that I was pretty much going to be wasting a Saturday hearing stuff we had already been told. I was looking forward to hearing from the “Birthmother” pannel and the families that had successfully adopted a child. Other than that I wasn’t expecting much, but tried to keep a positive attitude.

I’ll be honest, the birth mothers scared the crap out of me. It wasn’t that they were bad people, or crazy. They were everyday normal people who wanted what was best for their child. What scared me was how involved in the child’s life they remained. Some of them babysat for the child that they gave up for adoption. I knew that we had chosen an agency that practiced open adoption, but I never knew that they were this open.

After this session, Brooke and I went to lunch and discussed how that freaked us out. We both had some concern about how this would effect us. Eventually we landed on this phrase, “What is best for the child?” Being a parent is about putting the needs of your child ahead of your own, kind of like in a marriage. Studies have been done, and people are beginning to see that the best thing for an adopted child is to know, and have some connection to their birth parents. While this will be difficult for those involved, it is whats best for the child.

We both headed back in to the remaining portion of the day with some trepidation, but we were still confident that we were walking in the path God had laid out for us, trusting He knew what He was doing.

After lunch we had an awesome opportunity to hear from someone our age that was adopted as an infant. In her case she never had the chance to know anything about her birth parents until just recently. It was interesting to see from that perspective, how that effected her, and left her with unanswered questions most of her life. Listening to her brought a peace to us about integrating the birth parent into our future child’s life in whatever way was best for the child.

Following her was one of the most inspiring portions of the day, the families whom had successfully adopted. Hearing their stories and seeing their children got us excited. Some waited for almost two years, other waited only a month. One family got the call, the next day they had a baby. This is the portion of the day that I started to freak out.

At this point the families started suggesting that we prepare the essentials of the nursery, get a car seat and even stock up on diapers! I had no clue that this could happen so suddenly. I was preparing myself for the long haul here. I thought that we would wait for awhile, have a birth mom pick us, then have nine months or so to prepare. Most of these families had a month of less.

I didn’t know it at the time, but this was my “Honey, we’re having a baby,” moment! That moment where you look at the pregnancy test and “It’s positive!” It finally hit me that this is real. I sat there and thought about this clip from one of my favorite movies of all time, “Father Of The Bride (Part 2)”

 I started to picture us actually having a baby, and like Gorge Banks I got a little freaked out, and really excited at the same time. Baby G was becoming a reality for us.

Just last night, Brooke and I, spent some time in prayer in the room that will become Baby G’s room. It was one of the moments that I’ll remember for the rest of my life. We sat there together with Usher, our little dog, and prayed for the baby who would soon fill our life with laughter, screaming, diapers and everything else that comes with a little bundle of joy. It got me thinking about how blessed I am to be able to start a family based around the love of Christ. To bring a child into a home where they will be loved, and know the love of Christ.

Like any young parent to be, I’m scared. However, I know that Brooke and I are walking in the will of God, and I’m overwhelmed with the love and support we are receiving from family and friends all over the country.

We are almost complete with all the initial hoops we have to jump through, and we’re hoping to be eligible starting in October. Baby G is coming, lookout world!