I recently realized that I have never really updated my blog to reflect our answer to prayer. All of my previous posts tell of our struggles with fertility, starting the adoption process, & the ups & downs of a particular adoption opportunity. I will have to write a separate post detailing what all went on during those 9 weeks leading up to Jonna’s birth. But today, as I reminisce about the valley we were walking through just 2 years ago, I want to simply share my joy in how God worked out our situation for good.
No doubt many of you already know how things worked out for us. I certainly share plenty of pictures of my girls on Instagram & Facebook! That little unborn blessing that we held in our hearts & prayers until her birth is now a fixture in the McMurray & Spruill families. Jonna adds excitement to our home EVERY SINGLE DAY! And like most parents of toddlers, I love my interaction time with her but live for 8 PM (aka bedtime). Most parents find themselves dreaming of what their child will look & act like: Will she have my brown eyes or her daddy’s green eyes? Will she inherit a competitive nature from both her mommy & her daddy making her a force to be reckoned with? Will she be quiet & shy like her daddy or loud & outgoing like me? But when you’re adopting a child that has NONE of you or your husband’s DNA, you find yourself asking different questions: Is a child more a product of nurture (upbringing) or nature (genetics)? When our child reaches that age when she thinks her parents are stupid & hates everything we do/say, will she say she’s not our real daughter? Willl she be anything like us at all?
I can now answer a few of those questions from 2 years ago ---
Jonna has strawberry-blonde hair & blue eyes, she acts so much like me it’s truly scary (ha ha!), & nurture (upbringing) trumps nature (genetics) almost every time. She’s one of the luckiest little girls I know for lots of reasons, but the following are just a few: she is dearly loved & cared for by a mommy & daddy & their families, she has been able to maintain contact & build relationships with a few of her biological family members, she has a wonderful church family that loves & supports her & her family, & against a rough start in utero she is a picture of good health.
Our cup overflows…….
