Dear Lorena,
I know that you don’t really know me but I know a little of you and your family from reading your xanga and I have been specially blessed and inspired by not only you and your perseverance but your husband and daughters beautiful relationship to each other and their family. I can tell that that relationship did not happen by chance…it has got YOU written all over it. Not to take any credit away from your husband but we girls know that behind every good man is a Great woman, huh?
So with that being said I would like to try to offer a  most likely miniscule in comparison to your inspiration to me yet still heartwarming experience that has happened in our family. So though I may ramble in my writing it is probably one of those things that mean more to me than to anyone else but those I have shared it with (which isn’t many because not everyone would understand or see God’s hand in this) but most have found it not mere coincidence.
Not quite sure how or where to begin but here goes…
(background info) I am 44 years old and my husband and I have been married almost 22 years. I have 3 children Nicole age 21, Holly age 18 and my son Gregory age 10.
This story is about him.
When I was in Nursing School(which is another miracle story in itself-for another day). Anyway…my daughters at that time were not even in school yet and we decided that my husband should get a vasectomy because we thought we had the perfect little family and I for some strange reason though I wanted all of my children to be less than 3 years apart so if I wanted another one I would have to have it within a year and this would not allow me to finish college. So that is why we made that decision.
Of course as my girls grew and as I saw that we could afford another child I started really wanting another child. So when my girls were in elementary school we started thinking about adoption. Of course I did not know the ins and outs of this so I asked my friend who lived in Houston to get me info on this process because she had several friends who were foster parents. Well that was a Wednesday afternoon when I asked her and that same evening she went  to church and out of the blue this lady came up to her and asked her if she knew any family that would want to adopt a little boy(it was her grandson and she explained to my friend that she just knew child protective services were going to take away her daughters rights to him and also the baby’s fathers rights, she had been told that if they found a good home for him they would consider placing him there). My friend thought that this was so coincidental that I had just spoke with her hours earlier. My friend did not say anything to this lady about us because she wanted to talk to us first as this child had many health problems. He was 2 yrs old at that time but had been born premature, in the 6th month and had been on a ventilator for 8 weeks after birth. He had been delayed in development since birth and was not walking yet , not talking yet (they were not sure if would ever walk or talk)and was still on a heart monitor. He had aggressive anger outbursts which his foster mother had to put a helmet on him for because he would bang his head on the concrete or wood floor. So taking all of this into consideration , my friend did not know if this would be a child that we could handle or be interested in. But the minute my friend called me to tell me I just felt like it was meant to be. So my husband and I contacted the birth grandmother and she got the ball rolling  .At that time he was in a foster home with a 70 yr old lady and he had been her 90th foster child. We met her and this extraordinary 2 .yr old and it was love at first sight(he was just learning to walk after therapy since birth)He toddled(falling several times) directly over to my husband and gave him a kiss. It was sad to see the bruises and knots on his forehead where he had hit his head on the wood floor during angry outbursts and the foster mom because of her own physical difficulties could not get his helmet on in time. He was on many medications mostly for mood control. After 6 months of paperwork and us taking foster parenting classes he got to come and live with us and after a challenge for CPS to get the father to sign away his rights our adoption was finalized 3 months later. It was as exciting as delivering a baby at the hospital.
 
Speaking of babies at hospitals……this is where the story just makes me cry. And why , I pray for you Lorena even though I have never met you….I believe very strongly in the power of prayer and I see how God is in charge and that he sees the whole picture even when we can’t see it ourselves. You see…
Way back when(10 yrs ago), shortly after I graduated from college, just going about my everyday busy life with my happy little family and before adoption ever crossed our minds, I received a call from my friend in Houston who I often exchanged prayer requests with. She just asked me to pray for this young girl in her church who had just had a premature baby. My friend had visited her at the hospital and had to get through police guards to see her because this mother went into labor as a result of domestic violence from her boyfriend(the baby’s father) he had hit her in the stomach and triggered her labor. The baby was born 3 months early and weighed 3 pounds and was not expected to live.
So, Of course I would pray for this family and that baby and I did, I prayed and prayed and prayed that he would be a fighter and that he would live. Little did I know at that time that I was praying for MY OWN SON. I had my church praying for this little baby who was 200  miles away and we never knew….but God knew. I found out that this was the same boy during the adoption process.
And now he is 10 years old and has gotten therapy—physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy weekly for the entire 10 yrs of his life. He is like a typical 10 yr old in most ways. Most of his problems are learning problems. He has come soooo far yet he is still behind but I know that I can’t see the entire picture. And those moments when he is driving me crazy like a typical little boy can do sometimes( he is so full of energy and he is so hardheaded and strongwillled) I remember “I prayed for this” and he is a miracle baby.  He is my miracle and I believe that God has one for each of us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SWEET LORENA....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.