Monday, September 19, 2016

Happily Ever After Day





When we got married, my maid of honor concluded her toast with, "Now let's raise our glass and cheers to love laughter and happily ever after."  While I thought our life would surely be that of a fairy tale, I was wrong.  In our first few years of marriage; my husband survived a horrific brown recluse spider bite, my father was tragically killed, and devastatingly we received the news of infertility.  

Thank the Lord our adoption process was on the brighter side! We were matched pretty quick and then graced with Baby Finley's presence 9 weeks early. We spent a few very stressful weeks in the hospital awaiting our legal gaurdianship and we spent many sleepless nights praying about our preemie and the health of her future. 

When she got to come home, it was as though she just filled up our home with joy via her sweet spirit! It was indescribable. I get tears just thinking about how amazing it was. 

Then, a year later, on September 19, 2014 we were getting ready for what we anticipated to be a simple court hearing. Since we'd considered ourselves Finley's parents from day 1, we expected to just sign some papers and be on our way. Nothing could have prepared us for the impact of this process. Our friend, Brian Perry (Perryfield Films), had witnessed a finalization court hearing before with the adoption of his neice and nephews, so he understood what was about to go down. I'm so glad he was there to capture it and that our sweet photographer friend, Rebecca Ryan, offered to come take beautiful pictures to document it!




I will forever cherish them.

Someone once told me, "When our lives look exactly like we imagined, we’re probably not following God’s will, but our own instead." This road the Lord has us on is not what I thought I’d have chosen, but here we are: Parents to one very special little lady. 


We are the luckiest. 


I chose the use the popular term "Happily Ever After Day" to give this date extra special meaning. It was the day that my husband and I signed our first birth certificate. We became legally parents to a child. Our child.

I'll never forget this day, it's one of the fondest memories I have. As always I must say thank you to Finley's birth parents for choosing life and then choosing to place that life with us. Adoption is an incredible thing! Today was the day we got to literally feel what it means to live "happily ever after"- thanks to two amazing people. 

Here's the link to watch our Adoption Video, you may want to grab a tissue! 


(You'll hear a beautiful guitar in the background of our video. Our friend Brian, wrote that for his son that passed away at birth. It means so much to us that he used this song for our video. You can read more about their journey at www.carryingcolin.com) 


2 comments:

  1. The most beautiful story. I teared up....then cried my eyes out! Until I got pregnant I was considering adoption, I hope to still one day adopt. Your family's story, inspires! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. This is such a beautiful story! God bless you all

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