Waiting for Sophia Elizabeth

When Dave and I first got married, we had no idea that it was going to be hard for us to have biological children. We were not interested in starting a family right away, so it wasn't until my sisters, who were married a few years after us, began having difficulty conceiving that we wondered if there might be a medical reason for the difficulty we were all having with conceiving biologically. Through a myriad of divine appointments (not circumstances!) we found out that all three of us sisters have a condition called PCOS which has a multitude of symptoms that vary by individual, with infertility or difficulty conceiving being a big part of the syndrome. Dave and I knew that we wanted to adopt no matter what, so after the requisite fertility doctor appointment, we opted to adopt versus going down the expensive, no guarantees route of fertility treatments. Our two older sons are biological siblings who moved in with us in 2001 as a "foster to adopt" situation. Two years later, their adoption was finalized (that's a story for a later time!). About a year after that--surprise!--we were pregnant with our third son. At that time, not knowing at first if we were having a boy or a girl, we chose the name Sophia Elizabeth as our favorite girl name. When we got pregnant again, I thought for sure God allowed the pregnancy because He was giving us our little Sophia, but that was not the case--Nathaniel it was! So here we are, pursuing what was has been our heart's desire for many years, and we still have our favorite girl name available! How cool is that!

Sophia comes from Greek and means "wisdom", while Elizabeth comes from Hebrew and means "God's promise". In reality, I can't think of a better name for our adopted daughter. We will be clinging to God's promise of wisdom as we travel our silk road in the months--and years--ahead. Until the day we finally meet the daughter God intends for us to have, I will try to make the reality of her adoption part of our everyday lives as a family. As I mentioned in a previous post, I purchased a child's silk dress from China on another adoptive family's blog. Isn't it beautiful?

I intend to hang it in a prominent location in our home to remind us of what our journey is all about. I also am going to hang another picture frame in our living room alongside the frames containing our sons' yearly photos. I am thinking of putting the Chinese characters for "mei mei" or "little sister" in the frame until we can replace it with a real photograph. Until then, we will pray for Sophia and entrust her into God's almighty hands.

We love you Sophia Elizabeth - wherever and whoever you are!