Many Thanks!

I just finished reading the Gates blog, http://scottandmariagates.blogspot.com/ and I am moved every time I read it. Maria talks about her struggle with infertility and the journey they have walked the past 4 years. They celebrate the first 6 months of their adopted daughter Kinley's life and look forward to the birth of the child they always hoped for. A true blessing and answered prayer.

I will never know the pain of infertility because I carried two beautiful sons. I always told myself that if I were to never get pregnant that adoption would be fine. I would be fine because that was part of God's plan. I can say it easily, but since I have never been in those shoes, my feelings could very well be different. I will never know or understand the longing to get pregnant, because with both boys, it happened very quickly. I will never know what it feels like to see all the friends around you fertile and birthing babies because I was fertile. I will never know that type of pain, but thankfully I have been a part of the wonders of adoption because an old co-worker of mine asked for some help a few years back. That co-worker struggled with infertility and she asked me to place adoption ads for her via the classifieds with proper legal representation of course, 6 months later she was contacted by a birth mom and today she is a proud mother of a beautiful girl. I helped another couple who was referred by her by the same process and a birth mom contacted her within 2 months of trying. The experience was at first very peculiar to me, but in the end, quite rewarding to witness.

So this Thanksgiving I am particularly thankful for my boys. I am thankful God allowed me to bear children quickly and easily. I never dreamed pregnancy and childbirth would be so easy and I was fortunate both times to have such an experience. I am thankful that God created them for me to enjoy, raise and love unconditionally and that at any moment he may want them back. Each day I entrust them to Him for He knows each chapter of their lives already. Each day is a blessing to have and to hold them, to witness each smile and to wipe away tears. Each day I am thankful for my boys.