Faith & Unanswered Prayers

For 7 and a half years we were on a journey to become parents. That is a long time and in other ways it went by so fast. The whole time we were praying and trusting that God had a plan and that if we trusted him, he would be glorified. And in that time we realized that meant truly searching our hearts and praying that if the answer to us having kids was no, that we would be ok with that too. Just simply trusting God. Much easier said than done, I know. I remembered a good friend speaking to us when we lived in Spearfish about God putting longings in our heart. I remember praying that if God didn't intend for us to have children that he would lessen the longing or take it from my heart. I think I knew all along that he had a plan for us though. That he meant for Max to be a father. Something that I could see him being amazing at from the day I met him. And as time went on the feeling that I just needed to trust God and let his plans unfold continued to calm my heart and mind.
 I spent the last 7 and a half years trusting God had a plan and that it would be more amazing than anything I could ever dream up. I trusted that every tear, heart ache, and all the ups and downs would be worth it in the end. Sometimes it was easy and sometimes it was hard. There were definitely times when I let fear and doubt take over. After hearing the sermon in church yesterday I couldn't help but thinking that trusting God doesn't mean that we never have our rough days. Or that doubt, sadness, or confusion will never enter our minds. Having faith is trusting that God knows what is best and choosing to trust him, ESPECIALLY when we are feeling that way.
I heard so many times from dear family and friends that once we had our baby in our arms every painful step of the journey would be worth it. And I clung to the words, knowing that they were right and that God would lead me to things greater than my mind could ever fathom. And that is exactly what he did.
I will probably never be able to truly put into words the way I feel when I hold Liam in my arms. From the moment I saw him I knew that he was our son. That God had planned this and made him just for us. I can see how perfectly he was meant to be ours in so many little ways that I can't begin to explain. This is the baby that God has had growing in my heart for the last 7 and a half years. This is the baby I saw in my dreams. When I hold him I feel like I have known him forever.
You have probably heard the saying, "I thank God for unanswered prayers." And I can not begin to explain how thankful I am that I every prayer for pregnancy and for adoption wasn't answered until now. I wouldn't change a single thing that has happened in our past. Liam is our miracle. The baby that God had picked our for us since before the foundations of the Earth were made. Just incredible. Thank you Jesus for this incredible journey and for the gift of our sweet baby boy.
I am always surprised to learn of more and more people that read our blog. So for anyone out there who is on a similar journey or who is experiencing heart break in other areas of your life, I just want to say a few things. Cling to God and trust him with all your heart. It won't make things better, it won't mean that you won't experience pain, hurt, and all those other crappy things. But by trusting him you will know that your journey will glorify him. And that he will take care of you and will never leave your side. Tell him your longings and then trust him to take care of you. Every tear and heartache will be worth it in the end. And if we can be praying for you please send us an email. We will be happy to keep you in our prayers!

1 Month

On April 16th our little peanut was 1 month old already. I can't believe how fast this time is flying by. One of our best friends from church blessed us with an amazing gift. She came out to our house and took some pictures of Liam for us. Here is a little sneak preview of a few of the many pictures she took. The last two are just a couple that I took, one of him on his 1 month birthday and 1 of him with his favorite Uncle D.  

At 1 month old Liam is already scooting himself off of his play mat and right down the changing table. He is very alert and loves to hear stories. He absolutely love listening to music and singing. He loves to coo at me when we sing songs. A-dorable. And this kid is strong people. He loves to stand up and hold his neck up to check things out. He is letting his mama and daddy get some sleep at night too which totally rocks. And you won't find a happier and more content baby anywhere. We are parents to the most awesome little man. 

We love you Liam Wayne and have been soaking up every moment with you. We can never express how thankful we are that God and your Birthmom wanted us to be your parents. We love you dude!!

They Do Exist

On the 1 day we had between hearing we were going to be bringing Liam home and the day we got him we went to Babies R Us to register for baby stuff and grab a few things we needed right away. As we were going down one of the aisles scanning items I noticed another woman in the aisle watching us. She looked like she was around our parents age and smiled when I saw her. She looked at the blue items Max was scanning and said "you must be having a boy". Max explained that it was a boy, but that we were adopting and that we got to bring him home the next day. I told her we had just found out the previous day. She got super excited and grabbed the item that Max had in his hand to scan and insisted that she had to buy it for us. We kept insisting she didn't but she was halfway to the register by then. We then heard the girls at the register saying, "awwww" as she was filling them in on our story. She came back to the aisle with our gift and gave us both big hugs. She told us that babies are just awesome and that she was so happy for us. And just like that she was gone. We never even learned her first name. It was a pretty amazing experience! It can be very easy in this world to see how negative and uncaring people can be. But there are still lots of caring and wonderful people out there too. We had the pleasure of meeting one in Babies R Us. I hope she could see how much her gesture meant to us! She was a wonderful reminder of how any little nice gesture we can do for someone each day, big or small, can totally change their day! Good people do still exist!! She is definitely going to be part of Liam's scrapbook.

Liam's Story

On March 22nd, 2012 we got the phone call we have been anxiously waiting for. We were teaching a class in Torrington, Wyoming when Max saw he had a message from our adoption agency. We learned that there was a birth mom who wanted to meet us. She had already given birth to a beautiful baby boy on March 16th. She wanted to meet us on Tuesday March 27th. The days from Thursday to Tuesday seemed to drag by. 

On Tuesday March 27th, we met the most amazing and selfless woman. She decided while we were meeting with her at the agency that she wanted us to be the parents of her baby. What an incredible and amazing gift. And the joy she had on her face when told us this with stay with me forever. We found out that we would get to bring our baby boy home on Thursday March 29th. So we had one day to get ourselves ready and come up with a name for our little man. We also got to see pictures of him for the first time on Tuesday after we had officially been picked.We will never forget seeing his face for the first time in those photos. 

Finally it was Thursday morning. Time to bring our boy home. We had chosen the name Liam Wayne Masters. We got to the agency to fill out our paperwork while his birth mom spent a little time with him. She had asked if we would be willing to do a placement ceremony and it was truly amazing. She brought Liam in and gave him to us. It was so emotional and beautiful. Our social worker read scripture and then I got to read scripture. Then we prayed for all of us and our sweet baby boy. Both Liam's birth mom and us got a braid made up of 3 colors. One color representing us, one representing his birth mom, and one representing God. It was a very special time and something we will cherish for the rest of our lives. 

It absolutely astonishes my mind to think of how many people have prayed for and loved on our little man for so many years before he even existed to us. For 8 years I prayed for my future baby and asked God to give me peace in knowing that when His plans came together it would be more amazing and wonderful than anything I could have ever imagined. Every second of the wait was more than worth it, to have Liam here in my arms today. God had Liam picked for us before the foundations of the Earth were made. How incredible is that? 

So here he is. God's amazing gift to us:

Liam Wayne Masters

Born on March 16th, 2012. 

8lbs 13oz and 21.25inches

Joined our Family on March 29th, 2012. 

Holding my precious miracle for the first time. 

Daddy and his son. 

Liam Wayne

Home for the first time.

We can't believe he is really here!

Smiles for mommy!

Happy Daddy.

Snuggles for mommy.

Thanks to everyone of you for all of your prayers over the years. We have felt all of them and they have meant so much to us. We are soaking up every minute with our new boy and feeling so blessed to have been trusted by God and Liam's birth mom to be his Mom and Dad. Please continue to pray for his birth mom and for her peace and healing. And continue to pray for us as we continue with finalizing his adoption.