Our source of joy…. Actually we were in the midst of a Korean adoption when I was “late”. I was never late. We were supposed to send another large check and so I thought, “well maybe I ought to go get a pregnancy test done.” {In those days there was no pee-tests, only blood tests and if I were to be pregnant we were required to notify the agency and our adoption would be put on hold.} I went in and had a blood test. When they called and said I was pregnant I thought they were kidding. Come on! After all these years? Our agency put our adoption on ‘pause’…..

Abigail had such a tender heart for Jesus at a really, really early age. One day we were having a piano repairman come to the house to work on our piano. She was just about three. She said to me, “Let’s put music on that talks about Jesus, mom, and maybe he will hear and want to ask him into his heart.”

Dw, Abi and I continually prayed for our little one waiting in Korea. It took forever. On Abigail’s 3rd birthday her only birthday wish when blowing out her candles was that we would get a call about “her” baby. Five days later she and I were cleaning out the fridge. Dw phoned to say that he had called the adoption agency to see if they had had any referrals lately. The director of the agency said, “Actually we have been given the file for a little boy that had a rough start…..” She went on to explain about some complications this little guy had had and how they might make him a “lifer”. Dw explained it all to me. I will never forget – I hung up the phone and turned to Abi who was standing on a chair with the fridge door open where we had been working together to clean it. I said, “Ab, Daddy talked to the agency and they have a little boy who had a rough start.” She just turned to me and said, “That’s our boy.”

{Obviously the Lord healed all possible limitations as Tyler is currently
depl*yed with the Special Forces where he is serving our country.
And in the words of his favorite big sis, “That’s Our Boy!”}
Abigail is the best big sis {all her siblings adore her and she regularly calls, texts and teases them}. When Tyler arrived, although she had her own room, she would sleep on the floor beside Tyler’s crib, night after night. She didn’t want Tyler to be lonely and she had waited so long to be a big sis….and, no doubt, he adored her…and so she barely ever slept in her own room.

**
When Tyler finally started to talk, Tyler had a huge, huge, huge speech impediment. He spent a long time in speech therapy. But until we were able to understand him, she was his interpretor. She understood him perfectly. I would say, “What did he say?” and she would give me a complete translation. It is a miracle, but you would never, ever guess today that he had even had a speech issue. Incredible and complete healing from the Lord!!
1988

Eventually Autumn joined our family (through a private adoption) and my heart sang – I was no longer “just like everyone else”….I had THREE kids….and I couldn’t wait to add more…
(1991 – while we were living in Virginia Beach and Dw was in seminary……
and that’s Cinnamon, Abigail’s bunny that she is holding)

And all nine of her little siblings love her to pieces…..

Abigail has a wonderful sense of humor and she keeps us laughing when we talk to her. For you who have grown daughters you know what I mean when I say, she is my daughter and somewhere along the way she became my close friend. She is (usually) the first person I call when something is wrong or I need to bounce something off someone. She has wise advice and has a strong gift of discernment. She is also one of the most thoughtful people I have ever known. Once she met a young woman who had just moved to LA from the East Coast and immediately invited her to join them for Thanksgiving. The girl has since become one of her dearest friends. She ran into a stranger at a store a few months back and that brief encounter prompted this very moving post on her blog followed by a contest… {Tragically, Alisha died only three weeks later and never had the opportunity to be photographed with her two baby girls.}

But, Abigail, still did a photo shoot with Lisa {the second place winner} and this is just one of a bunch of pictures that Ab took of their family.

She is married to her soulmate, Ryan, whom she met in Bible college. They have both worked many, many times in orphanages in Nicaragua, Mexico and Uganda. They recently announced that they are in the process of adopting their first child from Uganda. Abigail wanted people to know that adoption is their first choice. (Yippee Jesus – we’re going to be grandparents!)

Abigail you are indeed our source of joy. Your life represents Jesus. You give and give and give. We are so proud of you, your life and your testimony. Jesus is clearly glorified by your life and we cannot thank Him enough for allowing us to be your parents. You are a treasure and we love you with all our hearts and, yes, we always miss you. Would you, my sweet bloggy friends, join us in wishing this precious girl of ours a very happy 27th birthday? xo