when two families of five become one family of eight
/There were five of us: Lee, Shannon, and our three children: Jocelyn (6), Robbie (4), and Zoe (1.5).
Their family also consisted of parents and three children: Patience (6), Philip (4), and Patricia (almost 2). And then, through hard realities that I won't share here because the story is not mine to tell, these three needed a new family.
We weren't planning to adopt again so soon, considering that Zoe had just joined our family eight months before we found out about the next three children who would become ours. But these three were about to be separated, because one had tested positive for HIV and the adoption facilitator in their country thought the two who were healthy would be adopted more quickly if they were listed for adoption without their ill sibling.
Even before we voiced our prayers for these children, God's
yes
for these children and for this adoption resounded in our hearts.
(Lest you think we were all heart and no mind, though, we did have a private investigation done to make sure the story we were being told was verified and to confirm that these children didn't have any possible in-country options for adoption or other loving family care.)
As we had before we adopted Zoe, we showed the picture above to Jocelyn and Robbie and Zoe. We told them the story of the three faces staring back at us, and we asked what they thought we should do.
Jocelyn said, "Adopt them!"
Robbie said, "That Philip is my brother, Mommy."
Zoe wasn't speaking much yet, but we know she thrives around other children, so we took her affirmation from that.
So
to the interwebs, thanks to our talented photographer
(local friends,
)
.
Then, after paperwork and waiting and whatnot, we went - all five of us - to Uganda.
Then, six weeks later, we returned - all eight of us - from Uganda.
Want to know why we adopt?
. If you want to read about the biggest lesson God taught me in this adoption,
tells about the hard blessings. If you'd like to learn more about HIV+ adoption, click
and
and
and
to read past posts about that. Wanna see how we all get around?
. Wondering why we said yes to siblings?
. If you'd like to read about the scariest parts of our trip, read about our experiences with
and
. (Yeah, fun times!) Then there was
too. Finally,
where we introduced our three Ugandans in pictures for the first time on the blog.
Now?
We are blessed beyond measure!