The Beginning Of Our Journey

The following is a letter that went out to some of our friends and family tonight...unfortunately, I don't have everyone's email address that keeps up with us through the blog, so I thought I would post the same letter here as well.  =)

Dear Family and Friends,

I don’t know how to start this letter other than to preface it by saying this is not a letter written out of sadness. Rather, a letter written out of hope…a letter about God’s perfect plans…and our very long journey to realizing those.

Ben and I have recently found out that we are not going to be able to have children naturally. To many of you this may come as a shock, and we sincerely apologize that most of you are just now finding this out.  But please try to understand… It’s not that we haven’t wanted the prayer and support of our precious friends and extended family, or that we don’t trust enough to allow you all in to our lives. It was a personal decision which we felt very strongly about that allowed our family to have some private time to truly seek God’s will and direction for our lives. And, without knowing any details, many of you have been praying for us just the same - for that we are truly grateful. Your prayers have been felt on many occasions, and (unknowing to you) have given us strength when we thought we had none left.

Looking back, we see many blessings and many times that God was holding our hand through this entire process. I am not going to lie and say that any of this has been easy, or that our decision was made without any period of grieving, because it most certainly has not been that way. We’ve had to come to terms with the fact that the picture we had painted in our heads of what our family will look like is not our reality. God has a different plan…a different picture. It’s amazing how He molds our lives, our hopes, and our dreams into something completely unexpected yet completely wonderful.

Now, on to the second part of our news… (And, to what may come as shock #2 to you)… We know that there are many options out there in regards to our next steps in starting a family – many of those have been wonderful choices for some of our friends. However, we feel God’s direct call on our life to ADOPT, and we are very excited about this!

Obviously, there were many hours of prayer, research, and consultations that went in to this decision. And the outcome of all that is, not only do we feel called to adopt, but we feel called to a very specific adoption path – one that we know is a much longer road both emotionally and financially. We have chosen to do a private domestic (United States) adoption of a newborn infant - an infant we bring directly home from the hospital after birth. Our ideal situation is to be paired with a birthmother during her pregnancy that is not able to care for a child due to young age or insufficient support. As I said, definitely a long road ahead, but it’s a road that fills us with hope and excitement for the future.

A quote that I recently read sums up our experience perfectly… “The process of adopting a child takes more courage than you think you have; offers more self-knowledge than you think you want; and reassembles your characteristics into someone familiar, but changed. It is an incredible journey through a rich landscape of hard truths.”

Fortunately, God could not have placed us in a better network of family and friends to help us through this process. We are forever grateful for you. The main reason for this letter is that we are asking for your prayers in the requests below, and know that you will faithfully join us in this journey ahead.

1. Pray for the baby that God has prepared to place with our family.
a. 1 Samuel 1:27 – I have prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord.
b. Jeremiah 1:5 – Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born I set you apart.

2. Pray for the birthmother – for her strength and for her health. We give praise for her completely selfless decision.
a. Phil 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
b. Romans 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

3. Pray for our strength as we begin this long process…that we continue to trust and seek after His will.
a. Jeremiah 29:11 - I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you; to give you a hope and a future.
b. Isaiah 55: 8-9 - For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.

4. Spread the word. Please forward this email to as many friends and family that you have who will join us in prayer.

We will be updating everyone on our adoption journey through our blog (http://holpeterson.blogspot.com), so please be sure to check in there for regular updates.

And with that, we’ll leave you with the words to a song that have spoken peace over our house many times as we are trusting God and slowly learning how to fly... 

We love you all very much, 

Holly & Ben Peterson

Too many times,
You’ve heard the same old lines.
Too many smiles,
Try to tell you that it’s alright.
But they never know what to say,
To completely convince your fears all away.

Night brings the dark
To blanket your breaking heart.
Each distant star
Reminds you of how small you are.
But in that quiet place,
Come the words of a Father and his healing embrace…

And he says,
“Take my hand, I’ll carry your load.
I know you can’t face this world on your own.
And though this place seems hard, I know,
I want you to see that I’ve not let you go.
You’re soaring with me because you’re under my wing.
I’m showing you how to fly.”

Like tarnished silver,
Like a candle that’s burning low,
Life makes us weary,
And battles leave us wounded and cold.
In the moment where hope seems to end,
He comes to our side, and he whispers again…

“Child, take my hand, I’ll carry your load.
I know you can’t face this world on your own.
And though this place seems hard, I know,
I want you to see that I’ve not let you go.
You’re soaring with me because you’re under my wing.
I’m showing you how to fly.”

“Those who hope in the Lord receive fresh strength; they spread their wings and soar like eagles…” Is. 40:31