An Unexpected Love Story

by Lori Wurth

“Love can be found in unexpected places. Sometimes we go out searching for what we think we want and we end up with what we’re supposed to have.”

-- Kate McGahan

There are hearts everywhere right now, signifying Valentine’s Day is here. This month brings thoughts of the most impactful, though different, love story of my life: the unifying love of strangers for one little girl.

When my husband James and I started trying for a family, we faced the heart-wrenching process of infertility. James was open to building our family through adoption – I was not. 

With three attempts at In Vitro Fertilization, we had one miscarriage, the birth of our healthy son Noah, and the death of our son Daniel at 20 weeks gestation. At this point I was grieving the loss of our son and I so longed for another child and requested help from my church. 

After Daniel’s death, my church sent me a “trained listener” to walk me through the process of grieving and then healing. She, too, lost a baby at 20 weeks and, unable to get pregnant again, adopted her three children. Hmmm…there it was again – adoption.

Adoption

It was six months of the home study and approval process (interviews, CPR/First Aid training, paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork), then we finally got the go ahead to create our “book” to be shown to birth parents. Two months later we were chosen to parent a child by a teenage couple that desired an open adoption. That day we gained a beautiful new daughter, along with lifelong additions to our hearts and family:  lovely birth mother, wonderful birth father, and their respective families. Because of the love for a little girl, our hearts are now joined forever.

Setting aside my plan and trying a new direction, I received a gift of not just a child to love, but an extension to our family with many more to love. 

Are you longing for more love in your life?

How can you open your heart to love coming from unexpected places this week?