Jack's Adoption Story, Part IV

When I began writing Jack's story, I had no idea how long it would take me. I also had no idea how healing this would be for me. My heart was pulled too many different directions along the way of his adoption journey. Although I thought that I had made peace with all of the details, writing this has shown me otherwise. Thank you for allowing me this healing process. This is the last installment of his story, and I truly appreciate your readership! (For those who are just tuning in, you can catch up with Parts I-III here, here and here.)

I must admit that I did not call Rick first with the news of Jack's adoption saga take three. I paced the floor at first. Then, I called a friend and our trustworthy caseworker for advice. They both listened to everything I had to say, but they each asked me one important question, "Why haven't you called Rick?" Gulp. I hung up, said a prayer, and called Rick. I told him of Shelly's call, and he immediately said, "When can we get him?" And that's why I was nervous to call Rick. Because he knew how badly we wanted Jack, and I knew he would want to jump in right away. But I didn't feel right about accepting the offer immediately. I felt that we needed to wait 48 hours and pray. That we did.

During that time of prayer, we also played the what-if game. What if we don't take him? Will we ever be able to forgive ourselves? What if we do adopt him? How crazy will life be with a two year-old and two newborns only 26 days apart?! In the meantime, we also talked to Shelly a couple of times to ensure that she was in close contact with BM this time. During one of those calls, we found out that BM had named him Jer'miah. Now, you must know that my all-time favorite scripture is Jeremiah 29:11. " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' " (NIV) I was "sold" on the idea of adopting Jack when I heard his birth-given name. This is exactly what God meant when he told me that He had it all under control.

BM followed through with her promises this time, the third time around. We saw our baby boy for the first time on May 1, 2005 at 8:30 pm. He was nearly 4 months old. He looked at us with his big eyes and his 'fro, as if to say, "Hey, where y'all been?"

When Liam saw him for the first time, I said, "Liam, who is this?" He replied with the biggest smile, "Jack!" And Jack kicked his legs and grinned. That made every moment of the on-again, off-again journey worthwhile to me. We did this to keep these brothers together, and they knew each other instantly.

The next few months were tough. In fact, the next year was the most difficult year of my life. I won't go into great detail, but Jack came to us with signs of neglect. He had reflux that had gone untreated and left him vomiting 40-50 times a day. His nails were so long that they wrapped under his fingers. His hair was so dirty that I cried and became sick to my stomach during every bath for days. But the saddest part was that Jack didn't know how to be loved, and we had to fight his detachment issues from the get-go. I really wondered if he would ever love us. But he does!

God brought us through a lot! From what seemed like the pits of hell to the mountaintops! Now, do you see why my cup runneth over?

Happy 2nd birthday, Jackson Jeremiah!