No longer an orphan.

We have some BIG news! I haven’t posted it until now because... well... nothing I could think to say had the ability to carry the weight of this announcement! So I have finally decided to just announce it and realize any presentation will fall drastically short. 

On March 30th, 2017- a beautiful baby boy was born in a southern state of India known as Tamil Nadu. 

On July 14, 2017 - due to unfavorable circumstances and a world full of brokenness, that baby boy was legally declared an orphan by the court system in his hometown. 

On August 31st, 2017 - a coordinator for an American adoption agency saw a photo of that little boy on India’s adoption database. This coordinator MATCHED that little boy with an American family carrying the last name Blackburn. 

On September 6, 2017 - the adoption coordinator had received all the updates she needed from the orphanage so she made a phone call to the Blackburn family to tell them that they had been matched. 

On September 7, 2017 - Lee and I saw photos of the most beautiful baby boy in all of India!

And on February 15, 2017 - that same baby boy was LEGALLY DECLARED a Blackburn by a judge in India. 

He is no longer an orphan. He is a son. 

OUR son. 

We did not realize we had PASSED court until last Friday when our agency called us. She said that the orphanage had reached out to them and let them know that we actually passed court! 

I will never forget my coordinator saying, “It’s official. He’s your little boy!” 

About the photo(s). I decided to post this photo to tell a small blurb of our amazing journey with Jesus. Before I do, please hear my heart. I fully understand that adoption always begins with brokenness. Family preservation and/or reunification is ALWAYS the goal. Unfortunately, that is not always possible. Believe me when I say that our hearts BREAK for the loss that Malachi’s birth parents have experienced, are experiencing, and will experience. 

I just wanted to praise a God that is always working upstream. Sometimes in the seen. Sometimes in the unseen (by us). But nothing is unseen by Him and no detail is missed. He is El Roi (the God who sees). 

He has worked upstream in SO many ways in our lives and adoption. One small glimpse of His power at work is this: 

We began our adoption journey in the Ethiopia program in January 2012. On August 31, 2012 we sent all of our paperwork to Ethiopia and that was called our DTE date (Dossier to Ethiopia). This date was significant because it was the day our agency officially put us on the waiting list for a child. This was also the way our agency identified us. We were “Blackburn family DTE 8/31/12.” All through our journey we celebrated and cried and mourned on August 31 because that was another year gone by without a photo of our boy.

This year, August 31st was a super weird day for me. I felt like we needed to take a photo because we had for 4 years. However, I decided against it because we were no longer in the Ethiopia program. We had switched to India. 

So I didn’t take the photo. 

And quite frankly, I felt like all the other photos we had taken were a wash. 

Little did I know that on August 31st our coordinator had just matched us with our son! And 7 days later we would see his face. 

Yes... on AUGUST 31, 2017 we were MATCHED with our son. Many of you are going “cool coincidence.” 

No. No. No. 

That is a MIRACLE! 

Don’t miss it! 

For alllllll of our paperwork and allllll of his paperwork to line up. For his orphanage to upload him at the exact right moment. For allllll the years before. All of It. 

It’s a miracle. 

And the icing on the cake?! 

Remember that photo our family did not take this year? 

Guess who DID take a photo on August 31, 2017? 

It was the ONLY photo we have ever received of him that had a date on it. The only one. All the other photos do not have dates. If you zoom in the date reads 31/8/2017. They write day, month, year. 

This ALSO happens to be the photo that we had to sign our names across and write “we accept S. as our son” 

Only. God. 

He gets all praise not because He performed a miracle.... but because of WHO HE IS!! 

We can’t wait to tell Malachi about how God has been working upstream in his life, specifically in sending his son, Jesus!! 

When do we travel? 

1. we were switched to the travel coordinator within our agency (something I had begun to think we would never experience). 
2. We have to wait on written court orders from the judge (our orphanage expects them in 4 weeks). 
3. After the written court orders arrive, our orphanage will apply for Malachi’s passport. Once they get his passport.... we get on a plane to go get our boy!!!! 

Blackburn. Party. Of. 6. 

Malachi is not the lucky one, we are.

What would parenting a child with a missing arm look like? 

How treatable would his clubfoot be? 

Were we prepared for any other conditions that came with the already known needs of this little boy? 

These questions and the sub questions that followed them laid at the forefront of our minds and conversation all night long. 

We researched. We prayed. We talked. We agreed that we would not review his file unless we were prepared to say yes. 

We “slept” 

The next morning my heart raced as I knew It was decision day. I will never forget standing in our bathroom when Lee walked in and said with complete confidence,

“We need to review his file.” 

My heart stopped. If I could have sobbed right then I would have. The same man who sat beside me on the edge of the bed the night before with a slight look of shock on his face when our coordinator said, “his arm is completely missing” was the same man standing before me after spending time with Jesus saying “this is the way, let’s walk in It.” The Holy Spirit is so very real and able to lead you in all aspects of life! 

We left home, rode downtown to complete our fingerprints and then got in the truck to head to the church for our mission trip. During that 25 minute drive we made one of the biggest phone calls of our entire life. 

We called our coordinator and said, “we want to review this little guy’s file.” 

She began telling us his story and all the info his file contained. 

Adoption can be beautiful, but It is so important for people to understand that adoption always begins with brokenness and loss. Our son’s story is no exception to that and we will never take that lightly. Someone else’s pain has become our joy and that is not lost on us. Not for one second! 

This quote is so true:

“A child born to another woman calls me Mom. The magnitude of that tragedy and the depth of that privilege are not lost on me.” Jody Landers

Malachi is not the lucky one, we are. 

Continuation of “The Call”

Silence filled the air as Lee and I sat on the edge of the bed after we hung up the phone with E. 

The phone call we had been waiting on for almost 6 years had finally happened. Only It was slightly different than we had ever envisioned. 

The clash of emotions that began whirling inside of me was confusing at best. 

Intense FEAR sat beside overwhelming JOY. 

DOUBT held hands with CONFIDENCE. 

WONDER led to CURIOSITY who filled my heart with EXCITEMENT. 

Only to have FEAR come rushing in again like a wave that crushed everything in front of It. 

We smiled sheepish smiles at each other and agreed to talk later once the kids were in bed. 

“Why is he smiling at me like that?” I remember thinking while changing the baby’s diaper. Lee had exchanged one of those smiles that obviously had a million thoughts and emotions racing behind It. 

“What is he thinking?” 

“Does he want to review the file?” 

One of the longest waits was getting everyone to bed (including my mom :-) ) so that we could talk! 

During the 2+ hours between the phone call and us finally having time to talk again, God spoke some things to me. 

1. He reminded me that “just because something (in this case, the phone call) doesn’t turn out exactly how I expected it to doesn’t mean It isn’t from God. In fact, my expectations are wrong... often.” 
2. I’m female. I’m full of emotions. When my emotions are high It is difficult for me to make a rational decision. 

I knew that Lee needed to make the decision on whether or not to review this little boy’s file. So during one of our passing moments before bedtime I looked at him and said, “I trust you. I completely trust you. I know that my emotions are way too high and I cannot be trusted to make a good decision, but you can. So we will do whatever you say to do.” 

He confidently replied, “okay.” 

He knew I was being honest. And I knew he would follow Jesus. 

What happened next is such a sweet memory that will be embedded into my mind for a long time. Jesus sweetly invited us to trust Him and to journey with Him. I watched my husband begin walking in a direction that was completely unconventional, yet exactly the path Jesus was calling him to. It was a path that He was calling our family down. A path that led to a very special little boy and I almost cry when I think “we could have missed this.” 

But we didn’t!! 

And OH I am so thankful we did not.