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Saturday, February 26, 2011

adopting bryan ... part 2

(continued from here)
I have never experienced despair like I felt then. I was crazed with helplessness, pain, hollowness. We explored and entertained every option. I really mean: every. The excruciating pain I mentioned in "part 1" does not come close to describing what was happening inside of me. The thought of losing Bryan for eternity was more than I could bear. I sunk to the lowest, deepest, darkest place I have ever been. But there was a spark of hope. I never quite let go of it. It kept me functioning and taking action. It prompted me to prayer. I can say with more certainty than I can tell you what I see, that we have a Father in Heaven who is aware of us. He knows our hearts, He’s patient with our tantrums, He hears our prayers. I can also testify of the humanity of loved ones and strangers alike. We had entire congregations of people praying for us; we had family fasts; we felt the support of friends.
Through a series of people, we got an appointment with an emigration attorney. He listened to our plight and decided to take on our case even though he did not normally handle family law. He felt strongly that “good parents should have as many children as they want and bad parents shouldn’t have any”. So although he was willing to fight for us, he forewarned us that this could end up costing more than a years’ salary. Over a year passed from the time we hired our attorney until December 23, 1994. That was a Friday night, about 7pm when the phone rang and our attorney, Patrick Ceville blurted out the good news. The judge had agreed to meet him in the court house on Christmas Eve, Saturday, to give us the Christmas gift of our lives. Papers were signed and James Bryan Chapman was officially our child, never to be taken from us. The next day, Christmas, he sat in my arms as Priesthood Holders from our church laid hands on his head and gave him a blessing usually given to infants. The day after Christmas Brad and I signed papers at the court house where we also picked up our bill. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the bill was one short page, with the total amount being about $600 – just enough to cover court costs. A month and a half later, Bryan was sealed to us in the Hawaii Temple.
Every single day of my life I offer a prayer of thanks for our miracle children, and Bryan in particular. Truly, this is an age of miracles.

(below: Bryan and Sierra ... 1 year apart, but as close as twins ... the picture below that is one that Sierra took of Bryan recently)

13 comments:

  1. What an amazing story! God is so good, and His timing is always right! Thanks for sharing this, it was such an encouragement to me!

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  2. God is so great Denalee. Your heart is so filled with love. I thank God that the world is filled with beautiful people like you and your family!

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  3. Well now I'm just crying on my toast. Think it was the $600 that pushed me over the edge. What a thing a spark of hope is, what a thing indeed.

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  4. What a blessing! both for your family and Bryan... truly an inspiration to not give up!!xo HHL

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  5. Thank you so much for such a sweet story.

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  6. This has left me full of joy! What a happy ending to an enduring story! And that bill only $600? That is also truly amazing! Congrats to such a wonderful blessing!

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  7. And now I'm crying...What a beautiful story!

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  8. This is such a beautiful story. Bryan is gorgeous. Bryan is so lucky to have a fantastic mother. :)SarahD xx

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  9. This made me teary-eyed. You have a gorgeous family! :)

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  10. oh gosh! i am sooooooooooooooooo glad this had a happy ending. i even had hubby crying over this one!

    hugs :)

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  11. this story was so inspiring. i'm so relieved to know that there was a happy ending! :)

    XO

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  12. Oh sweet sister, I get this. I lived this. When one of our girls was going to be taken because we weren't the right color, I seriously was ready to run and hide. I felt like I was losing my mind at times. Fear can do that to you if allowed. You are so right though. God is good and prayer works. He knows what we need before we know we need it.

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