My Happy Heart

Happy 29th Birthday to my daughter, Tiffany Louise When you were very young, this was your wish:

When you were 9 years old, you became part of our family. I knew it was what was "supposed to be" - but there were times that I wondered if God had been mistaken because there seemed to be so many more "downs" than there were "ups".

Here is the story on how you came to be my daughter:

In 1997, after your participation at Royal Family Kids Camp - Tiffany, you were 8 and Brittany was 6 - we got a call from Sharon Jahr who was involved with RFKC. She asked us to pray and keep our eyes open for someone who would like to adopt two little girls. You see, your birthparents had just had their parental rights terminated because of many things, including drug addiction and child neglect. The courts had given them many chances and tried to help them keep you, but they would not do what was needed, so they lost you, your brother Steven and sister, Taner.

We had three kids already and were not planning on more, but when we heard about you, we knew that you were supposed to be in our family. We really prayed and asked for wisdom from God and we couldn't get you off our minds. So many things happened that pointed us in the direction of adopting you.... so we got started on the things we needed to do to bring you into our family.

The San Diego County foster system made us take a bunch of classes. Then we had to fix things in the house to make it ready for you. They came out to our house and made sure it was a safe place to live and that you would be a good fit for our family. 

One day, the kids and I visited Sue, your foster mother, just so we could see you without you knowing anything yet. I really wanted to grab both of you and smooch you, but it wasn't time yet. I came into both of your classes just to secretly watch you at school. I couldn't wait to give you both the home that you deserved. Ali, Andy and Peter were all for the adoption and couldn't wait.

The next thing that happened was a bit shocking, but we were sure God knew what He was doing. The social worker called us and said that they were going to give you to another family. After that they asked us if we wanted to look through the catalog of children available for adoption. We said "No, thank you. If we cannot adopt Tiffany and Brittany, we will not adopt at all. We only want them. If you change your mind, call us."  We were disappointed, but felt like the story wasn't over yet.

  The very next week, the social worker called us again and said that the couple had decided not to adopt you after all and asked if we would still want you. We were so certain, that of course, we said YES right away!

So, fast forward 20 years....can you believe it has been that long?
Without going into detail about all we have been through, I just want you to know how very thankful I am that God allowed me to be your mother. As your own children grow, you will understand more and more what that means. When you are on "this" side of life and seeing your family all grown, you will be thankful that God allowed you to be part of the shaping of their lives. Cherish them. You won't regret it.