Well....it's been a year since I've updated my blog and there certainly has been a lot that has happened since then but the biggest thing is that we are back in the fost-adopt world again.
Last week we were called to take a 9 day old baby boy weighing only 4 lbs 12 ozs. He was the call we had been praying for. It was a possible adoptive placement which made it extra special.
Ever since we began this journey back into foster care, I have been praying for the children that would be placed with us...most especially the one we would adopt. In my mind, it would be another African American baby boy fresh from the hospital.
The thing is, there are no guarantees in foster care. You have to receive each child with an open heart...knowing that God has a plan for that child...and that plan may include them spending only a short time in your home. I have been praying that God will keep my heart pure. It is easy to become selfish when you hold these sweet babies in your arms. You never want to let them go.
Ok, so skip forward to yesterday.....We have been given the opportunity to name this sweet baby boy we have. His birth mother didn't name him because it was her intention to place him for adoption. Rich and I haven't been able to agree on a name all week. We had a list of them but honestly, neither one of us could commit to any of them. I was getting frustrated with my sweet husband (and myself) for not being able to settle. I should back up for a second and say that the second I saw our baby boy in the hospital, the name "Samuel" popped into my head. I don't know why. I have never particularly cared for that name.
Well, all week long, I kept "seeing" Samuel every time I looked at his sweet face...but I kept saying to everyone..."I don't really like that name but I keep going back to it".
So yesterday morning, Boo talked me into stopping by the grocery store to pick up some more caps for his cap gun (I needed to refill a prescription anyway). When I walked in, I ran into a lady that worked there that I had spoken with last week when I had been in with our 2 month old baby girl (told you we had a busy house ;) ). The lady, who later I found out is Margie, had commented on how beautiful our baby girl was....I told her she was our foster daughter and Margie shared that she has a 6 month old granddaughter. We said our nice to meet you's and went on our way.....so yesterday when I saw her again, she asked how our baby girl was and I showed her our baby boy :) She ohhh'd and ahhhh'd over him and told me how precious he was....then she said to him "God has big plans for you"....to which I said "Yes, I think so too".....she asked me what his name was and I explained our dilemma.....she said "What name do you like?" I told her Owen or Samuel....she looked at me and said "Oh Samuel....the promised one....you know the story of Hannah, right?....She begged God for a child and sent her Samuel." Right then and there, I started crying....I told her that the name Samuel kept coming to me but I didn't know why and I didn't necessarily want to name him that.....all of a sudden, I felt overwhelmed with emotion...as did Margie...we both stood there and cried. The thing that gives me chills is that when I was pregnant with my Hannah, I was having bad contractions early on.....my grandma called me one day and told me I shouldn't worry because her whole bible study group was praying for me and the baby....she said that they had been studying the story of Hannah and that I should consider naming our baby, Hannah. She said she felt like God was telling her, everything was going to be ok. Now, I don't know if God is promising us Samuel forever or not....I would like to think so since I had been praying for him for so long....but either way, God has big plans for our Samuel Owen Vincent..and like Hannah, I will dedicate him back to God and trust in His will and sovereignty.
The Irony
4 months ago
