Yesterday's Court Hearing (Posted with Permission)

Yesterday I had the incredible privilege of attending a finalization for a match that I helped to make. An excellent match. But let's go back in time a little bit.

Two years ago while we were preparing to move to this town, where we currently live, I got an email from a stranger. She had found my name on some outdated website and contacted me because she and her husband were looking for a support group. They were in the process of getting their home study completed and wanted to hook up with other adoptive parents. We invited them to join us for some picnics with Mike and Kari and a few other families and started to get to know them.

Since they only live a few blocks from our church, they started to attend after we moved here and have become great friends. Once their home study was done, I began to ask if they wanted me to help them find children. And as I'm sure you know, once they said they did, I got busy.

A year ago in April they were matched with two girls, ages 16 and 11. And I helped them go through paperwork and try to decipher it and predict how easy or hard the girls would be to parent. I never can tell by paperwork, but I tried to help.

The decision was made to go forward and the girls moved in back in August. And yesterday they went to court. And it seems to be a very, very good match.

The oldest is now 17. She is finishing her junior year of High School. She has dreams of going to college. She just want to prom. She is doing very well in school and finally experiencing a "normal" adolescence. The youngest is finishing up fifth grade and seems to be doing quite well herself.

I can't tell you the whole story, all the ins and outs, but I can tell you this: Lives were forever changed and I was a part of it. And yesterday, knowing that, and hearing the proclamation that they were now legally adopted, made it all seem worthwhile.

And looking at the picture, you would have thought I was only considering looks when I made the match, but in reality they were open to girls of all races.... Couldn't look more homogenous though, could they?