Forever… Chosen… Loved. So where did that come from? Forever, we have decided to adopt a precious little girl and be a forever family. Loved, she is already and will be loved, forever. Chosen, are you thinking that we chose her? Well in a way we did, but the even bigger miracle is that God chose us, The Altman family, to be her family. Choosing her was easy, but understanding that God chose us to be her forever family is humbling, exciting, and miraculous.
Before I had our third child I had that lingering feeling of deeply wanting another child. When I heard a baby cry, my heart ached for another baby of my own. When I held a baby, I would smell their sweet little head and think of having another baby. God in his grace allowed our family to have that baby, and in April of 2002, Abigail Beth Altman was born and she fulfilled those longings in my heart. Since the birth of Abby I have been content with the size of our family. I can enjoy baby’s that are not mine without feeling sad and wanting another one of my own, like I did before our third child.
When Katie returned home from her trip to China this past summer she and I went to breakfast and looked through all of the pictures she had taken. Then it happened again, just a little bit differently. I saw a picture of a little girl. I didn’t long for another baby, my heart longed for this little girl. To hold her, hug her, kiss her and tell her that I loved her. But how? I knew we did not have the money for adoption, especially an international adoption. All I could think about was how I wanted this little girl to have a family, even if it wasn’t mine. I wanted her to have the love of a mommy and a daddy.
Over the next couple of months God continued to work in our heart as we continued to pray for a family to adopt this little girl. Well God answered our prayers and He chose us. This just amazes me! I know there are other families out there in better a better place financially and maybe even a little younger, but that didn’t matter. God chose US! God has gone before us every step of the way, reminding us that He did in fact choose us.
We have a large part of our paperwork done and we will have our first visit for our home study next week. Pray for us, please. Pray that we will be able to get everything done as quickly as possible, so that we can bring our little girl home.
So, Forever… Chosen… Loved. God chose us to love you forever, precious little one.
