Hillary Froning - Blessed by Adoption: One Moms Stories, Scriptures, and Prayers to Comfort You and Remind You That Youre Not Alone

Thank you for picking up this book. I pray that it gives you hope and faith as you walk along your journey to parenthood and adoption.

I am the mom of three sweet miracle babies, but it was a long road for me to get to this place. For years, infertility left me scared, bruised, and worried that I would never become a mother. Then I started down the path to adoption and spent years feeling the highs and lows that come with waiting and praying for a baby. While my husband, Rich, and I adopted our daughters Lakelyn and Violet quickly through private adoptions, we experienced the pain and the heartbreak of three failed adoptions before we were matched with our sweet baby boy, Trice. The entire process tested my patience and my faith, but through it all, God opened His arms, held my hand, and guided my husband and I toward the beautiful children we have today.

Adoption is a personal journey and choice for each family. While I dont know where you are in your adoption process, I do want you to know that if God has placed parenthood and adoption on your heart, its for a reason. That reason alone is worth the fightno matter the hurdles and struggles along the way.

My husband and I decided to publicly share our story in hopes that it can provide comfort to you as you go through the process yourself. We want to remind you that youre not alone. In this book, I share my familys adoption stories, as well as scriptures, prayers, and reflections to guide you along. I hope you find the journaling pages in this book to be a safe space where you can reflect, cry, smile, laugh, and vent about your time waiting for your miracle baby. Processing my feelings and leaning into my faith were how I got through each of my adoptions, and I want the stories, scripture passages, and prayers here to provide you with the comfort you need in the weeks and months ahead.

Tears come to my eyes as I think about what you may be experiencing right now. I pray that this book inspires you, and that it serves as a reminder to you that He is faithful and has the perfect plan for you.

I pray that whenever you feel alone or need a dose of inspiration, that youll pick up this book and feel my love for you.

You have a Prayer Warrior, my sweet friend.

WE LOVE BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US .

1 JOHN 4:19

I always knew that I wanted to be a mom more than anything because Ive always loved kids.

My husband, Rich, comes from a huge family (he has 35 first cousins!), so we decided early on that we wanted to have a big family of our own one day. When we first started dating, I told him that adoption was heavy on my heart and that Id always felt called to it. While he was open to the idea, we both agreed that we wanted to have biological children of our own first, and then adopt afterward.

Soon after we got married, Rich and I started trying to have kids. We werent super careful because we liked the idea of our first child being a surprise, but as my friends started to get pregnant and I wasnt having any luck, we started seeking fertility help.

Every doctor we saw was very positive and hopeful about our chances of conceiving. Rich and I are both very healthy, and our doctors actually warned us that my perfect blood work meant that there was a big possibility that we would have twins or triplets.

We remained hopeful, but as time passed, things just kept getting harder. We tried different fertility treatments for four years with no luck, not even the heartbreak of a miscarriage. I was on every fertility pill you could possibly be on. I had every shot you could try. On top of that, I had endometriosis surgery and multiple IUI treatments. Nothing seemed to be working. It was very hard on us as a couple, and it was really hard on me both physically and emotionally. What was even harder was the fact that no doctor could diagnose us with a problem. To this day, weve never been diagnosed with a medical issue.

Our last stop was to see a specialist in Nashville. She assessed our situation, then looked at us and said, Im sorry, I cant help you. I felt like the room was closing in on me, like she didnt care at all. I remember being so angry, angry that we had wasted our time, angry that she didnt care how we felt, and angry that she didnt want to even try to help us.

I cried all the way home because I knew I couldnt keep trying to conceive. It was too painful for my heart and my body. Yes, I felt like I was failing my husband because my body wasnt doing what it was supposed to do, but I knew that I couldnt bear to move forward with fertility treatments any longer.

That night when we got home, I told Rich, I cant do this anymore. It was a struggle for me knowing how much he wanted a large family and biological children of his own. Not being able to give him that made me somehow feel like less of a woman. But when he agreed no more, I felt like 100 pounds had been lifted off my shoulders. Thats when I started to pray more vividly and boldly than I ever had before.

Lord, I know Im supposed to be a mom, I said. No matter what that looks like, help me. Help me to become a mom. Help me fill my empty arms.

I knew that God wanted us to be parents, but it took me a little while to see that He wasnt calling us to be parents exactly how we thought. His plan for us was much better than we could have ever imagined.