Pray For Us

I write this to all the adoptive parents we (birthmothers) prayed for.

My story is not much different than most. I found myself pregnant at 15 and very confused. I had grown up in a Christian home and church. I attended the Christian school my church started when I was 5. My mother was a single parent and I always felt different, and I remember being so lonely when she had to work long hours. My Father had left us with no forwarding address when I was about 6 and he will never know the pain that caused me. When I was 15 I met Bobby, a blue-eyed dream boat, that hung on my every word. I was not mature enough to handle such a relationship and found myself pregnant a year later.

My mother took me straight to the pastor of our church. He told me I would be sent away and I would give the baby up for adoption and to keep my [mouth] shut about the whole thing. What they didn't know was that I knew I was not able to handle the responsibilities of being a mother and I wanted just what they thought they were forcing me to do.

July 5th our pastor came and my mother packed my bags and he took me to Ark City where I met a very caring and loving family who took care of me until the baby was born. There I learned of God's mercy and grace. I met other women that had given there babies up for adoption as well as REAL families. I saw for the first time in my life what God had intended for a family to be. I had just turned 16 when I gave birth to a beautiful little girl I named Diane. I counted every toe and finger. I held her for as long as I could. I even prayed over her that her life would be one filled with a joyful relationship with Jesus. I wrote her a letter telling her in inadequate words just how much she meant to me. As much as I treasured the time I had with her it was all too short. I knew that I could not give her a home that someone more established and grounded in their faith could give her. I signed the papers and went home. The adoptive family came and picked her up from the home I had joyfully been a part of on Friday and took her to be their own.

But the story does not end there. I am still here and I do not wish to be forgotten. Through many stormy years there after I came to where I am now. I know that Jesus holds me as dearly as I held my sweet precious girl and He has blessed me so much I could not tell you all of His blessings. I am a homemaker with 6 children who are all very precious to me. I have a Godly husband who loves me and is the greatest Father my children could have, but there is a part of me that I will always feel is missing. I celebrate my first daughter's birthday every year and my husband even takes the day off to spend with me. Even if it is to just go for a walk in the park it is her day we celebrate it with her wherever she is.

I get in our family van and count heads to be sure no one is forgotten and I still feel one is missing. I am not sad over this because I know that she is in God's hands and I pray for her everyday as I do my children. Her memories will not be of me but I will always cherish the few days we had when she was born. So do not forget the birth mothers they are so precious to Jesus. Write them a letter of thanks and have someone else give it to them. We gave you one of our most precious treasures.

Pray for us because those first few years can be so full of darkness and loneliness. Pray that God will lead a friend to encourage and uplift your baby's birth mother. I pray that God blesses each of you who are adopted, adoptive parents, and birth mothers.

In Him, Patty

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