Our Adoption Story Part 2

Numerous times when we were going through our infertility struggles, and even after we adopted Beth and Michael, people would tell us stories of how they knew people who conceived after adopting a child. I must admit that I thought that would be marvelous. Not just because I wanted the experience of carrying a baby full term and giving birth, but also because I always wanted a large family....lots of kids!
It didn't happen.
But my August 7th miracle gave me the comfort of knowing that our family was in God's hands....He would decide how many children we would have.
My faith become more important to me as we went through the struggles of infertility and after we became parents and I realized the importance of handing on the faith to my beautiful children. I felt the nudge to homeschool. Beth started kindergarten two weeks after we brought Michael home and then went to first grade at our parish school the next year. But she was bored, terribly bored in school and it showed up in her behavior at home. So after lots of prayer and talking, for Beth's second grade year, I found myself homeschooling.
It was an exciting year. She made her first confession that December and I actually talked Mark into going to confession for the first time in 17 years...it was awesome. Our faith was becoming more important to both of us.
Spring brought Beth's First Holy Communion. We were eagerly awaiting it and I loved getting her ready to receive our dear Lord. An older woman at our church would talk to Beth, knowing that she was going to receive our Lord soon and told her that when she was a little girl, her grandmother had told her that anything she prayed for to our Lord on her First Communion Day, the Lord would give her. Beth loved that idea! I was a bit concerned, wondering what she might pray for. I told her that God would only give her something that He felt was good for her.

Her First Communion Day was a rainy one (just like mine!) but it didn't seem to matter, we were all so happy. I cried little tears of joy as we went up with her and she received the Eucharist for the first time. What a blessed day!
After Mass, our families all came back to our house for a party that lasted well into the evening.
After everyone had left, I did some cleaning up and then went up to Beth's room to read to her and talk before she went to sleep.
We talked about how wonderful the day had been; then she told me what she had prayed for after receiving Communion.
"I prayed for another little brother, just like Michael!"
Wow! I thought. She gave you a big order Lord!
I told her that we would have to wait and see if God thought that would be a good thing for us.
Then she added, "maybe Michael's birthmother will have another baby and give him to us." I told her not to count on that! I had been writing Michael's birthmother through the agency but we had never heard anything back from her.
We finished up the schoolyear. May flew by and now it was June.
On June 9th, exactly 40 days (a biblical number there) I received a phone call from our social worker. I had not spoken to her since Michael's adoption had been finalized (two babies were the limit). She told me that Michael had a 21 month old brother who was available for adoption and the family wanted us to have him. I almost dropped the phone. I couldn't believe it.
We said yes, of course.
Beth was so matter-of-fact about it. "That's what I prayed for!"

So the next week, we brought our little John home....another story in itself for another day.
I always say that John is our third adoption miracle, but most of all, he is Beth's First Communion miracle.

A blessed day to you all.....