Reflections

As I sat at LifeLight, holding hands with Dan and listening to the Natalie Grant concert, I turned to Dan and said, "Life sure has changed in the past year."

He said, "I know. As I was walking through the vendors area I remembered last year I was picking up information on adoption."

I remember last year at this time. We were frustrated. We had been seeing a specialist and things weren't going well in the baby department. I had tried a round of clomid, a fertility drug, and it didn't work - again. I was at a very low point. We had missed the window for an "end of the school year" baby and I mourned that opportunity passing for another year. My best friend finally was pregnant after a lot of praying for her. But, admittedly, I was jealous. We had always done life-changing events around the same time in our lives and I felt I was missing out. I was sure that once she got pregnant I would too.

Dan and I were doing a lot of talking about adoption. We talked about foster care. We talked and talked. Nothing ever felt right. We would receive packets and paperwork and it still just hurt to look through it. But, we were getting older and time seemed to be running out. After much discussion, we knew IVF wasn't for us. The other proceedure the doctor had talked about sounded like there wasn't a huge increase in our chances of concieving for the huge cost of a surgery. Then - there were shots. The shots had a (not-insignifcant) chance of overstimulation and sending me to the emergency room. They weren't covered by insurance. And when you hear of families that end up with 5,6,7 babies - it's probably these drugs, not IVF. No responsible doctor impants 7 babies during an IVF procedure. It all sounded scary and hopeless to us at the time.

I remember praying and praying... crying out to God a lot. The answers were never clear. I wanted to know God's will for our family but I didn't feel Him leading anywhere. It was so confusing. I know now the answer was still, "wait."

Last summer had been a busy one. Dan took a mission trip to Haiti to help design an orphanage. That experience changed us both. He said that he had never been through another time where he had to depend so solely on God and just watch Him be in control. I remember fasting and praying for the suitcase that was full of goodies for the orphans. Our friends at DGR and church had been SO generous and collected baggies full of fun things and necessities for the kids. We filled an entire suitcase! Dan carried the stuff he needed in his carry-on. Well, he ws delayed and seperated from his luggage. Arriving in a 3rd world country, we had no expectation that his suitcase would ever be seen again. Miraculously, it was there when some of his group went back a couple days later! Dan fell in love with the kiddos in Haiti. There was one beautiful little girl in particular that stole his heart. I know that if he could have, he would have brought little Yvena home with him that week. She was all he could talk about for weeks. We looked closely at adopting from Haiti right away, but discovered we were not old enough to be considered yet. Those kids are still very close to our hearts and hope to continue to be of help to them.

Dan with some of the kids at the orphanage.

Some of the cutest boys I've ever seen!

Yvena, who didn't want to leave Dan's side once he picked her up.


I had spent a lot of my summer helping others where I was needed and kept having experiences that confirmed my desire to have a family. Dan and I spent a week with the Poppinga family of eight kids while Pastor Jeff and Lori went on a retreat. It was the best week, and my house seemed so empty when we returned home. I did some other babysitting and did a week of VBS. I kept wondering if I was called to be available to others for service or if someday God would give me my own family to care for. I wondered often if God would trust me with a precious angel to love, or maybe He knew I couldn't handle it or something. I look back at those thoughts in amazement now, knowing that He actually entrusted THREE babies to me. I see my short-sightedness in my faith and trust in Him. Here I was wondering if God trusted me, and I was the one lacking trust in God's ever-perfect plan.

Well, as you can see, it was not long before our prayers and longings were answered. I will probably reflect more about that time in the month to come. It is exciting to me to think about those wonderful first weeks and the miracles that took place. I'll save those ramblings for another day.

For now, I will leave some pictures of our precious brood from our time in Gillette.

Love, Elizabeth

Uncle Doug and David

Grandpa Dickey and the boys! Levi was having a moment.

Great-Grandpa Rigsby was holding David when he tried on his new shades for the first time. I'm sad we can't actually see Grandpa.

Aria looking sweet in her shades.

Aria's first time on a motorcyle. Dan and I rode it up to the Big Horn Mountains the last Saturday we were in Gillette. My brother and Kara rode on his bike and we had a great afternoon. The mountains are a beautiful sight on a motorcyle.



Back at home: Daddy napping with Levi.

Kara holding a napping Levi. You would never know this kid gives me fits when it's time to nap!


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