A miracle in the making

In January of 2011, I wrote a letter to God, asking him to give me the desires of my heart. At the time, I wanted more than anything to still have a chance to adopt the little girl I lost through a failed adoption. But if I couldn't be her mommy, I asked God to give her a mommy who would teach her about Him and how to love Him.

A month later, that mommy God had chosen for her came and whisked her away, leaving her brothers and I both grateful for her adoption but heartbroken to lose her. Her eldest brother waited patiently to hear from her again, but as the time passed, he assumed he lost her forever.

In 2012, we finally received the opportunity for a second attempt to adopt her brother, who we successfully brought home a year later in 2013. Ever since I brought him home, I've prayed for God to make a way for him to reconnect with his precious little sister. For me, I'd be happy with a just a picture, but for him, I believed they would reunite someday.

In the summer of 2015, I prayed very specifically for God to help us find her, and He helped me make a connection with the right person in Colombia who could help us start that search. She told us the channels they'd have to go through, and she made no guarantees. After an entire year passed without any news, I pretty much gave up hope that we'd find her this way. I figured Juan David would have to be the one to search without my name attached. I mean, I did try to adopt her once, so maybe I was the one standing in the way.

Now here we are in the early fall of 2016, and while swamped with tons of stuff going on at work and in life, I could not have been more surprised to look down at my e-mails in the middle of the morning one day this week to see that long awaited e-mail from Colombia. The subject line said, "Foto hermana" (sister picture). Then I saw another one with the subject "Carta hermana" (sister letter). My eyes filled with tears when I opened them and then quickly sent them to Juan's phone and then to his biological brother, Julian.

This first attempt at communication between them is still caught in a chain of people and organizations protecting both of their families' privacy, so he doesn't have direct contact with her yet. But it's a huge step leading them to begin to reconnect, a step I believe will lead them to reunite someday.

It's a miracle in the making, and I'm so grateful for a God who always answers prayers.