Dear Birth Mother. . . wherever you may be.

Dear Birth Mother,

I am sorry that we never got to meet. I am sorry that our conversations were so short and so trivial. I wanted to meet you, to share with you, to raise and love a child together. I don’t know where your heart is right now. I don’t know if you are honest or lying. I don’t know if you will really love the little girl who is growing inside of you. I bet you already do. Maybe that’s why you changed your mind. Maybe you are wanting to live your life differently because of this little one.

Either way, I want you to know that we prayed for you. We will continue to pray for you. We pray that the Lord would encounter you. We pray that he would speak to you all the things in his heart. The way he loves you, the way he formed you, the way he longs to speak to you day in and day out. We pray that you would have dreams in the night about him. That in your sleep you would encounter the creator of the heavens and the earth, the God of all, the one who knows every hair on your head. That He would say things to you that your heart longs to hear, things that only you have whispered in your heart, things that have never been spoken. That He would answer the deepest questions of your soul and fill the void that has been empty for so long. We pray for you.

We prayed also for the little one inside your womb. We pray that she would be protected from the arrows of the enemy. That she would grow strong in mind and heart. That she would be healthy- with 10 fingers and 10 toes. We pray that she would be beautiful. We pray that the Lord would speak to her- even in the womb- of his undying love, His adoption of all of us into his coming kingdom. We pray that she would know the love of the Father in heaven at a young age. That she would grow in mind and heart quicker than those around her. We named her Bethany Joy- that she would live a life of radical love- as in the spirit of Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:42 - 11:1 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.") And that she would live fully- joyfully. That joy would follow her all the days of her life.

We will continue to pray for you both- and for whatever reason, the Lord wanted our paths to cross this winter. He knows all the plans of the world. He rains on the righteous and the wicked. He knows where the one is who is to come into our home, and though it is not the one in your womb, He knew that too. It is not a surprise to Him. Our prayers will continue to be with you both. Our hope is not in this age, our hope is in what’s to come. Our hope is when He will make all things right. Our hope is set on the age when there will be no more orphans. There will be none without fathers and mothers, and there will be fullness in the families of the earth. Thank you- for forcing us back into the arms of our own Father. Thank you for letting us into your life, if only for a moment.

the harrigan clan

Adoption News. . . See these two amazing things-

Hello again, those of you who read here every once in a while. I thought I would point you to two really interesting things. For one, my dear friend Candace. She put up a post today on her blog about Bethany, and the fight that we are facing for this next new member of our family. Candace is a dear friend, and when she writes on her blog she often says the emotions of my heart better than I can get them out. This post is just one of them. Read it and be blessed!

This second one I don't know at all, but it is a really cool site. Randy Bohlender (an adoption junkee on the leadership team at IHOP) posted this link about a movement in Colorado to have all the kids in the foster system adopted by 2014. It seems like a crazy and ridiculous goal, hardly unachievable, but they are totally on track for completion! You should look at it, it's pretty cool. It's also really interesting to see other places where the Lord is moving about adoption, totally disconnected from us. Be blessed friends!

You gotta see this. . .

So our friends up here in KC have adopted three little girls in the last two years and oddly enough, found out they were pregnant with a fourth girl. They are an amazing family, living as intercessory missionaries for years now, on staff and IHOP, and recently starting a foundation to help families adopt. Great people- if you don't already read it, I totally recommend you start reading his blog- http://randybohlender.wordpress.com It's really cool, but I wanted to share a particular entry. There is a small town in rural Texas called Possum Trot (and for those of you familiar with the rural south, you know what a great name that is for a town). Anyway, the town has three hundred people in it, 200 of them attend a Missionary Baptist church. In the last few years, members of that church have adopted 70 of the state-classified children, hardest to adopt. The story is amazing, and though there are always financial needs when taking care of children, the gospel that these faithful few are preaching is above and beyond anything I have said in the last several days. It's amazing what can be won when fighting the battle with the love of Jesus closest to you. . . enjoy!

http://randybohlender.wordpress.com/2009/04/28/hats-off-to-possum-trot/

By the way, here's the link to the church itself- really cool place.