The Golden Gleam: Growing our Family {Sunday Parenting Party}

I was in my mid 20's when we began to try to build our family. ?I thought it would be easy, but the journey to conceive was one of the hardest things I have ever experienced. ?We eventually conceived through IVF to bring to life our beautiful girl, Miss E.

The tears, questions, waiting, and sacrifice were worth it because we got to be parents. Being a mother has been the most joyful and satisfying endeavor for me. ?My husband and I work well together to parent our little girl who has grown up to be a happy, healthy, and bright five year old girl. ?She is our dream come true. ?

We wanted to continue to grow our family. ?This time it was even harder. IVF didn't work this time, and I was at my emotional and physical limit. ?

But there was this hope of mine that I had cradled in my heart since I was a teenager. ?I wanted to adopt. ?

But our family wasn't ready yet. ?I thought my dream of a home filled with more children was never going to happen. ?

I grieved for a long time over my lost dreams, and I fought my sorrow like I never fought before. ?Along the way, I realized fighting wasn't helping our family or me. ?

I made a decision to stop fighting, and I was going to be a builder. ?I would build myself, my family, and ?my marriage, up. ?I would let go of the sorrow and build new dreams. ?

Then one day, I heard a sermon telling us to pray for our wildest dreams. ?I was now happy with our family of three, but buried deep in my heart was still the wish to adopt. ?The pastor told us to pray and add a number to it. ?The biggest number you could imagine. ???

I had stopped praying for our family to adopt because I believed it was impossible. ?I took the advice of that pastor and sobbed hysterically to God for him to bring us 3 adopted children to our home.? I cried so hard because I still couldn't imagine it coming true, and I didn't want to lose faith in God who denied me my heart's desires. ?

After that prayer, I didn't feel more hopeful, but I did leave my dreams in the hands of God. ?I felt more free.?

For awhile, we continued on our lives as a family of three. I was living out new dreams and happy. ?

Many months later a miracle happened. ? Our lives changed, and we were ready to adopt and love more children.??

I thought it would be easy once we had completed all the requirements for adoption certification - classes, paperwork, and home studies. ?Again, we had heart ache and stress while waiting to grow our family. ?There were lost hopes and many tears. ?

Finally, our day has come, and the waiting is over. ?We are welcoming three beautiful children to our family. They are sibling group of one four year old boy and twin three year old girls. ?

While we were open to less than three children, God answered my prayers and made our dreams come true.

This journey of building our family is much like parenting. ?Raising a family of four children is going to be harder than I ever imagined. ?There will be tears and pain. ?But we will be building hope, love, and dreams as a family. ?

Some things as a parent of adopted children might be so hard that I might feel like it's never going to work out, but that's when I need to remember to be a builder, and leave it in the hands of God. ?

As parents, we can all relate to these feelings. ?Whether building your family was easy or hard, we are all now on the same journey of parenthood together. ?Parenting isn't easy and the journey can be scary. ?But there are so many moments of love, laughter, and learning that make it an honor and privilege that we can experience this path.?

Parents, I invite you to share your parenting experiences with us at the Sunday Parenting Party. ?Your stories can pull at our heart strings, make us laugh, or share a lesson. ? This is a space to walk our parenting journey together. ? Now, that I have shared a piece of my story, ?you are welcome to link up a parenting article from your own blog. ?

Source: http://www.thegoldengleam.com/2012/09/growing-our-family-sunday-parenting.html

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