A Safe Family Adoption Story

In March of 2013 I received a respite need for a Grandmother with cancer.  Today, on October 9, 2014, I sat in a court room next to this Grandmother with cancer and watched her granddaughter wiggle in a seat next to me.  Anna turned to me and said, "Today I'm getting adopted. By them!" and jabbed a little 6 year old finger in the direction of two smiling parents who were anxiously awaiting a Judge to enter the room and make this family official.

The road to a happy ending is never easy, and this one had it's fair share of twists and bumps.  I was honored to share the ride with this family.  I first shared Anna's story in a blog post entitled A Grandmother's Journey, Part I.  Here the stage seemed to be set for an adoption to take place, but there were mountains to move (and rights to sever) before this child could be given a new forever home.

As God would have it, rights were severed under circumstances only God could orchestrate.  The journey continued and I wrote the next chapter in this tale: A Grandmother's Journey, Part II focusing on the moment when the Brown's invited both Anna AND Grandma into their lives forever.

If I were to write Part III, it would be entitled:  The Strange Things That Happen When People Act Like Jesus.  The Brown family made it clear that they were not just in the business of giving Anna a happy ending but Mary too.  Once Mary accepted the offer to move with Anna closer to this family that would eventually adopt her granddaughter, strange things started happening.  The act of kindness offered by the Brown family seemed too kind to some, and shortly after the move there was not one, but two reports to Child Protective Services.  Everyone involved in this story was taken aback and frustrated at the efforts being taken by others to misconstrue the intentions of this family.  It's sad that this story is so rare and alarming that others would not recognize it as God's work in the world, but would assume it's bent and twisted.

Fortunately, God's work was not thwarted, and today the Brown family grew from five to six.  We celebrate with the Brown family as they give a hope and future to a child that had none.