Monday, July 21, 2008

Referral Day-One Year Later

"Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." Robert Frost

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

17 comments:

Rhonda said...

I love the two pictures. She is so dang cute. I loved watching this journey unfold for your family and seeing Ella enter your lives. It was a miracle to watch and having adopted children made it all the more touching.

kara jayne said...

I've heard similar words come out of my sister's mouth. I can't thank you enough for your willingness to spend your time and story with her. I know how busy it can be when you are visiting and it means so much that you were so proactive in helping us. I'm so glad you have been so blessed through your experience. I know Ella has.

LindaJ said...

I remember that picture. It is amazing the wonderful things adoption can bring. Friendship, and community.

happy referral day!!!

Rebecca Lily said...

Ronda, that was a beautiful post. I so enjoyed reading the story of how Ella came to you. She is so beautiful, and there is no doubt that she was always meant to be yours. :) Wonderful!

Rebecca

Michelle R Photography said...

What a beautiful post. Our stories are very similar in that we wanted as young as possible for our first and adopted Leila at 32-months old and then we wanted older for our second - the reason we went the special needs route in the first place - and adopted Mia at 13-months old. God has better plans for us, that's for sure! Ella is such a beautiful little girl!

Trish said...

What a wonderful story. It is amazing how that little whisper or nudge brings us to our little ones.

Somewhere In The Sun said...

Ronda, your daughter is so beautiful! I got teary eyed reading about your phone call and how you followed your heart. I'm looking forward to reading all about your family!

~Lynn

Sylvia said...

Ella is so beautiful, and your story is so sweet. Happy referral day!

(It took me SEVEN long years to convince my husband that we had a daughter waiting for us in China!)

Joanne said...

What a beautiful post! Yes, we also took the road less traveled and I highly recommend it :)
Happy Referral Day!!

Jboo said...

Oh my -- what a sweet post! Wow --such a beautiful referral photo and she's even more beautiful now.

Thanks for the comment on my blog. I'm sure you're in the pool A LOT in Arizona. Enjoy your summer.

Janet

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness, she such a beauty!!!

day by day said...

Hi Ronda!

Oh, your Ella is so beautiful, too!! I loved reading this story. Funny thing is that Deniece was also the one who called us with the match of our Ella AND our Ella also has a corrected VSD. How neat is that?!

So happy to meet you!!!

Erin said...

This made me cry tears of happiness for you, and also because I recognized some of the elements of your journey. SO many Dads are hard to convince. Mine certainly was... maybe because he felt the weight of supporting our family. It does seem that so many families have uncannily similar stories about how their children came to be with them. It is an indeniable miracle... maybe that is why we all keep reading along on one another's blogs...

Erin said...

I meant My HUSBAND was hard to convince...

Andrea said...

Thanks for sharing Ronda. I'm always reminded of the attention our Father in Heaven pays to every detail of our lives when I hear beautiful stories like this.

Michelle R Photography said...

Hi Ronda,
I'm just hoping all is ok with you and your family. You've been kind of quiet.

Michelle R Photography said...

Hi Ronda,
I'm just hoping all is ok with you and your family. You've been kind of quiet.