Hearing the news: from a dad’s view.

? We both woke up early in the morning, as we usually do during the workweek, and got ready for another day of work. At 6:30 A.M. I was out the door and on my way to Dallas where I had scheduled to take a Pack Test for the Wild land Hand crew Team, as well as go to work on my regular shift after the test was complete. Selina woke up as she usually does around 6:30- 6:45 and got ready to go to work as well and she was out the door by about 7:45 on her way to work.

For both of us it was just another day. Another day of life, another day of work, and another day of waiting to see if we have been matched. You see, on March 24 at 5:30 P.M., we received an email that said: I wanted to pass along this newest situation for you to review! It looks as though the birth father has already signed the appropriate documentation for the adoption to proceed. Although she prefers a FL family she is not opposed at looking at other families. Look over everything and if you have any questions let me know. If you would like to present please let us both know. Selina and I looked over the situation and fell in love with it immediately and presented right away. We would pray and pray day after day, just waiting and anticipating that we were going to be either chosen or once again shot down. It seemed like this would be an impossible match since the BM wanted a FL family and we were a TX family, so we were really nervous and doubtful that we would be chosen, but God had put it in our hearts that this was the situation that He wanted us to present to at this time, so we followed our hearts and just prayed that we would be chosen.

It was not easy to present, it never is!! There is so much at stake! Your emotions get messed with, your anxieties rise, your fear rises, you risk your finances (in this case it was $10K at risk if we were matched), and just so much goes on. Your mind is racing with both negative and positive thoughts! You can’t think straight, you?re stressed out, and there is strain on yourself and your marriage (which I will talk about in another post). But, we presented anyway and tried to trust the fact that God is sovereign and He has a plan whether we are chosen or not!

So back to our story, meanwhile, we are both at work, I am doing my pack test and Selina is teaching her students. We both know that today is the day that we hear a yes or no, so Selina is staying close to her phone and I have my phone in hand as well. If we didn’t hear anything by noon, Selina was going to call the agency and see what was going on. As I am doing the last part of my pack test (3 mile walk carrying a 45 pound pack), the music in my ear buds stop and my ringtone begins. I know who it is. It is 10:02 A.M. and I answer the phone nervously and say,Hey babe, what’s up?? (As I take a deep breath of nervousness). Selina is on the other side of the phone and in my ear crying and crying. I tell her to calm down and as I do she struggles to get out the sentence that I have been waiting to hear for months/ years [as I write this, it still brings me tears of joy just thinking of that day]. Between her cries, she manages to say, I just got called, you are going to be a dad! I burst into excitement and let my friend next me know that I am going to be a father!! The emotions are running through me and the adrenaline is high! My friend congratulates me and I praise the Lord with Selina and we rejoice for a few minutes and then get back to work. So, many thoughts running through my mind, so much joy, so much anxiety, so much to think about!! I am going to have a girl and I cannot wait to meet this angel!! I finish my test and go to the station. On my way to the station, I call my mom, grandma and immediate family and let them know the good news! I get to the station and keep everything under wraps (I’m scared of telling people because it seemed to good to be true and what if it all fell through, then what?), I was just nervous. I am 12 hours into my shift and one of my fellow firefighters says I got a call on the backline (my cell phone was dead from calling everyone all day), I go to the front room to answer the phone and my wife is standing at the watch desk with a big smile on her face. By this time all the firefighters knew I was going to be a dad. She hands me a book by Jimmy Fallen calledYour Baby’s First Word Will Be DADA?. I loved it!! She totally surprised me! We both celebrated together at the station and then she went home and I got back to work.

? We both had no idea that April 6, 2016 at 10:02 A.M. that our lives would be forever changed. That call was literally life changing!! We now have a relationship with nurses, adoption agency reps, an awesome consultant, and a completely different family that we got to be introduced to through the birth of one beautiful baby girl!!

If you are waiting for that call, or a situation, or have already gotten the call; I for one am so happy for you! Adoption is a blessing, it comes with so much joy and love and responsibility! Adoption is awesome, but it is not perfect either. The waiting is tough, and other aspects are tougher, but just know that God is with you during this process and has planned the perfect family for you. We are so glad that we passed up on some situations and were even toldno? to situations we presented to. I believe we ended up with the best situation and the best birth family and the best baby in the world (even though she can be difficult sometimes and give us a hard time sometimes). So, keep waiting, keep praying, keep working, and keep dating. Your day is coming, it happens when you least expect it and it happens against the odds. It happened for this TX family who was blessed to be a part of this FL family and now are joined as one family! Isn’t adoption amazing?