Happy 1st Birthday Henry!

I remember January 18, 2010 so clearly. I remember the anticipation, the excitement, and the nerves we all felt leading up to this picture. I remember sitting in my best friends kitchen anxiously checking my cell phone for news of Henry's arrival while the kids played and Kate slept in her car seat. The call came and Henry was here! Kimmy and Charles were on their way to meet their precious baby boy. Everyone could breath easy now.

It was fun to hear about the first sleepless nights, the exploding diaper, the first bath, and all the other “firsts” new parents experience. It was even better to meet and hold Henry. We could not believe how long his fingers were and just how much a one pound weight difference made when we compared Henry to Kate. It was one of the best weekends we have ever spent as a family.

I will never forget the phone call on our way back to North Carolina. The tears shed in the car and the utter disbelief David and I felt. We asked ourselves… “How could things change so quickly? When we left they were going to the doctor for a weight check and now they are packing up Henry’s things.” “Surely this isn’t true, it will pass, the birth mother will change her mind, right?” “This all seemed like God’s will. What is God doing now?”

But the birth mother didn’t change her mind and with sad hearts Kimmy and Charles had to give Henry back after taking care of him as their own for 10 days. Some have compared a failed adoption to the death of a child. In many ways I think that’s true but in some ways I think a failed adoption is harder. You know the child is alive (thank God) but you don’t and probably won’t ever know what happens to the child.

To this day I don’t know how they survived this past year but they did and they did it with such grace. If you know Kimmy and Charles you know that “grace” is something that they do naturally. It’s a big part of who they are. It would be an understatement for me to tell you how proud of them David and I are. As we close the door on the past year we are all excited and filled with hope for 2011 for we know that God is in control, he has a plan, and is always faithful! That is why today we want to say “Happy 1st Birthday Henry!”