July 3, 2007 was our referral day. A day that I thought would NEVER happen, but came to life through an unexpected phone call from our adoption agency. In May 2007, I received an email from our agency requesting that each family update their medical checklist and return it back to them by June 30th. All during the month of June 2007, I tried to convince my family to raise our requested age from 0-2 years to 0-5 years for our new medical checklist. My family did not want an older child, but my "mom" instinct keep telling me that the age needed to be changed. I finally convinced my husband to up the age range on our checklist. I called my social worker and told her to go forward with the checklist asking for an older child. On June 28th, our new medical checklist was received by our agency. I expected to wait at least another 4-6 months. When the phone rang on July 3rd (5 days after our checklist was received), I thought our agency was calling to talk about the new age range that I had chosen. When I picked up the phone, I was greeted by Deniece from CCAI telling me that they had matched us up with a little 3 1/2 year old girl with a corrected VSD. I lost my composure because "the call" was not suppose to happen this way. The morning of July 3rd was so un-ordinary...my children were not even in the state-they were vacationing with grandparents. Bart was at work and I was home cleaning. I was so unprepared that all I could say was "ok-send me the email." Deniece sent me the email with the following text "I hope you were able to get your composure back. We are thrilled to introduce this sweet child to your family. We look forward to hearing your thoughts regarding this possible adoption." I called Bart and sent the same wave of shocks through his system as I had just felt. I took one look at the information in the email and knew that she was our daughter. The story of Ella is long; 2 years to convince my husband and another 2 years before she was placed in our arms, but referral day is one that I will always cherish. All along the way miracles happened, doors opened while others shut. People came into our lives that would shape our adoption road. Everything happened for a reason-all in His timing so that we could be led to our Ella. Ella is treasured and loved so much. Our family was not complete until she joined us. I am so eternally grateful for the quite whisperings of the Spirit and even more grateful to have the gospel in my life to give me the guidance I need to do what He wants me to do. Our road was the one less traveled-older, special needs adoption, but for our family, it has made all the difference. We love you Ella and look forward to watching you grow up, spread your wings and soar to the heights you dream of.
“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all” ~Mulan
