Why Girls? Why not a Boy?

I have been asked "Why are you planning to adopt all girls? Why not a boy?" My answer- I don't know? When we decided to adopt we envisioned girls. It started out as 2 girls and then grew to 3-4 daughters. We have 4 birth sons and one birth daughter. Our desire for another daughter was one of the reasons we decided to adopt. It was kind of the bait that God used to lead us to adoption. I think it was very smart of our dear Lord! 

When we had our "last" child I was pretty certain it was a girl. We had 3 boys and one girl. Katie was aching for a sister and I was thinking it was time for some pink in this house of blue. Because I was just over 35 we had an ultrasound. Being a nurse and already having 4 children I could read it. It was as plain as day-that little thing was a boy! I was shocked! I announced to the ultrasound tech and she agreed! I quickly did some fast praying- I had some experience in the Lord's miracles so I figured- no prob, he can do this! We checked again... it was still a boy! Well, I kept praying and after checking 7 times , he was still a boy. I am not proud of this but it took me 3 days to be able to tell others my darling little unborn child was a boy. Before that I would burst into tears (I am sure the hormones had something to do with this because we couldn't be happier with our wonderful son!). We told Katie that we knew how much she loved having her own room so the good news was - she didn't have to share because the baby was a boy.  She was a bit disappointed but handled it well. After our little adorable Johnny was born- Mark moved into Katie's room. She would hear Matt and Billy talking at night and thought it sounded like so much fun! So Mark was given the okay to move in! She didn't give him much space. Just a bed with a blue comforter and a blankie in the sea of pink. He was on the bottom bunk and she was on the top. That worked out okay because then the robbers would get him first. Poor Mark- he had no idea he was bait for the robbers. He is such a good sport!

Okay- I need to get back on point here- I think the fact that we did not have another birth daughter helped lead us to adoption. I truly believe that was part of God's plan! When we were trying to decide what direction to go in, what country to go with we saw the Stephen Curtis Chapman video. That was it- we knew our daughters were in China! We felt like God was talking to us through that video.

So often in this process we go one way and then we are quickly lead in another direction. We started out in the China healthy child program but I felt that we were being called in a different direction. I felt our daughter was in the WIC program. When China changed their rules and the wait was increasing we began to consider the wic program. Within a few days we saw a picture of our darling daughter Anna. We scooped her up in seconds flat! It really didn't matter what the adoption clinic said- we knew she was ours! With Sarah we were planning to adopt another little one with cleft L/P but we saw her and fell in love! So we usually don't go with our well thought out plan!

Okay, I need to get back on point here! I have dreamed we adopted a boy. His name is Luke. In case you haven't noticed that is the only gospel we don't have... our friends would tease us- the "gospel according to Billy???" What were you thinking? where is Luke?? We already have Matthew, Mark and John! 

It is weird to choose a boy or a girl- it seems right to let God choose and then go with it but in adoption you usually get to choose. I can tell you reasons why we will probably go with girls but it really doesn't make much sense. Children are such a blessing that it doesn't matter if it is a girl or a boy. They are incredible gifts from God and they are only on loan to us- they are his!

Hubby and I talked about it tonight. Of course when you sit down and when you talk it SEEMS to make sense but having lots of kids doesn't always make sense. We have learned that usually you trust God and just go for it!

I know we have another daughter in China. I know she is alive right now. I can hardly wait to get to her and bring her home. Her name is Ella- we will call her Ellie. Maybe she is a twin (doubtful) maybe there is another little girl after Ellie, maybe not. Maybe we have children in another country... I don't know? I guess we have to wait for God to reveal his plan to us! I am so grateful to God for even having a plan like this for our family! Thank you Jesus!

BTW boys are easier! They are such a joy and they love their Mommies soooooo much!