Tuesday, April 30, 2013

" Courage is found in unlikely places." J. R. R. Tolkien

This weekend we had the chance to spend time with a truly courageous person. Our expectant mom in CA. She had expressed a desire to know us before the birth of her baby. We were happy to make the road trip. We packed our bags Thursday night, after our ward baby shower and headed out after work on Friday. We drove most of the way, stayed the night in Nevada and continued to her home on Saturday morning. Its hard to explain how you feel when you are going to meet a woman who could change your life. A mixture of blind date, job interview and a chance at the Lottery all rolled into one!! We all felt pretty shy at first but soon we began to connect. She has a wonderful, supportive family. We went to lunch and talked and we also got to know our baby's big sister. She is so sweet and cute and she stole Berrett's heart from the very beginning. "J" has a son as well and we loved him too. As we spent time talking to "J" I couldn't help but admire her courage. She loves this expected baby so much, but for reasons I won't share, adoption seems to be the best choice. She has dreams for herself and her children, and she deeply wants a daddy her children can count on. I think she knows that Berrett will be that kind of daddy to our little Maddi. She loves her enough to let her go. That takes the greatest kind of courage, to put someone else's needs before your own. So this weekend I found courage in a unlikely place, in the face of Maddi's natural mommy. I pray that our daughter grows up always loving her for that type of courage. I also hope that I can be the type of Mommy who teaches her daughter to have that type of courage.