Faith Preceeds The Miracle

Happy Monday!! And for these Brinkerhoffs, it is a VERY Happy Monday!

There was a very unhappy post put up last Monday... Please disregard that one...

As I was writing that post, my heart was broken. In a very short time - less than two weeks - I had fallen completely in love with our soon-to-be-born baby. Last Monday Cindy and Tyler (who was out of school for the day) went to the local baby consignment store and bought out the preemie section. As I was writing about how we had decided not to adopt, I could see the smallest little onesie I'd ever seen, and in my mind I pictured a teeny tiny baby filling it, kicking her teeny tiny legs. I cried.

Tuesday, I did my best to force myself to move on, but there was a gaping hole in my heart. I knew that the logic, the world-view said we were making the "smart" choice. But my heart told me without a doubt that we were making a horrible choice. Praying for wisdom only confirmed this.

On Wednesday, Cindy told me that she was feeling the same way, so we called our attorney back and told him that since we hadn't cashed our refund checks yet, he could just keep our money and proceed with the adoption. Our first order of business was to file a motion to find out what SPECIFIC neurological disorder the father has, so we'd know what we're going to be dealing with.

Friday after work we went to the hospital to meet with Katie (our baby's birth mother) and see how she's doing. She's still eating, and is very excited that we're adopting her baby! While we were there, we got to hear the heartbeat, and Cindy got to feel a kick. (I would love to feel our baby kick, but it was just too weird to be putting my hands all over some other woman's abdomen... so I just listened...) Afterward, Katie told her mom that she loves us, and that our visit meant the world to her. We will be visiting regularly for the next couple weeks.

This past weekend, we talked more in depth amongst ourselves, and decided that it really didn't matter what the father's conditions are, we are going to adopt this little girl either way. We were now committed, acknowledging that all the signs are pointing to this being a big part of God's plans for our life. With Him as a partner, there was no question that we would love our new baby and sail through any storms that may come with her.

Last night Katie's mom called us with some news that literally blew my mind... The father we were so concerned about, has had a vasectomy, and is definitely NOT the father of our baby! Katie had been keeping the "other guy" a secret, but told her mother that she loved us so much after our visit, that she wanted to tell the truth. The actual father of our baby doesn't seem to have any neurological disorders, just lots of bad habits.

After so much anguish and worrying about problems that may or may not happen, it wasn't until we truly committed ourselves, and put our trust in God, that it was revealed to us that our greatest hope for the baby was a reality.

It's been about 12 hours now since we found out, and I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around all that's gone on in the last three weeks. All I know for sure, is that on December 5th, our new daughter will enter this world, probably spend a little time in the NICU, and then come home with a family that is 100% ready to shower her with all the love a baby can receive.

We also have a real-life testimony of the Biblical principle that before a miracle can happen, you must have faith.