Sophia, Sophia?

If everything in life went just as expected would it make life less interesting, perhaps it would simply fail to challenge us in such a way that we would be forced to see God moving in our lives.

When we began to pray about adopting from Haiti, I wanted a baby boy. Sean felt that IF we were going to do it, it should be an older child. In fact, he said that choosing a child would not be difficult... we should just tell them we want the child who has been waiting the longest! I still wanted a baby.

God began to work on my heart through a series of dreams about a little girl in Haiti. I thought she was about 4 and looked at a photo listing of girls at the orphanage we hoped to work with. I was drawn to a little girl, and when I read her name "Sophia" I began to cry. It was the name we had already chosen should be have another girl. In fact, during my last pregnancy I prayed daily for "Sophia" and was reasonably suprised when we found out it was really "Joe".

The night the papers were sent we were talking about all the things we didn't know about her. I wanted to know her birthday! Sean told me that it was the same day as our son Joe. I laughed. We already have 2 daughters that share a birthday. He was not laughing, he said "Just wait, you will see".

I finally got the email I was waiting for. We were approved! It should have been so exciting, but there was a note attached. It said Sophia was not available for adoption. I was heartbroken and confused. Did I misunderstand? How could I be wrong? It didn't make sense. I was determined to not let it sway me, but I have to admit that it did.

I was matched with an "adoption coordinator" who said I would know, that God would make it "ubundantly clear" who our child was. I was doubtful... I said I would pray and wait. She also suggested our child may not even have come into the orphanage yet... we have many months of paperwork to do before we can have a legal referral. She also told me about a mix up of papers between two girls named Sophia. The one we wanted to adopt, age 4, and another who was just 2.

I didn't even bother looking at the 2 year old girl. I have girls who are 2 and 3 already! But when I explained it to Sean he opened the file with 2 year old Sophia's information. Right away he noticed... she shares Joe's birthday! I laughed and felt that heart flutter, but just as quickly I said "no, she is too little" I began to pray quietly, telling God...I'll do this if it is your plan, but why would I have three girls all born within the same year?

Sean quietly spoke: "she's 4". I corrected him, it did say she was 2. He pointed to the year, 2003. I guessed that they had not changed it since her birthday in March. Melissa was born in 2003, and she is three years old. But wait... March has passed... He was right, she IS 4! It was a lot to consider. She is the age we thought, and she had the birth date Sean predicted. I sent an email to the director and asked for clarification.

She sent a return response. It included an apology for all the mix ups and an assurance that the birth date, etc was correct. It also had a picture... The girl I had chosen right from the beginning.