Gregg Family

It was around 9:30 a.m. Guatemala’s time when the phone in our hotel room rang. Matthew answered while my mom and I stared. Was this THE call? And a little early? He hung up and said, "He’s here!" My heart began to race and the butterflies in my stomach that had wreaked so much havoc already, began to stir yet again.  

Matthew says that he was nervous as well, but he sure did a great job of hiding it throughout the trip! My mom said that now she was feeling nervous. As we left the room, Matthew said, "Here we go. Don’t pass out Shannon!"

I have butterflies now, just reliving this moment in my mind! I don’t remember much being said on the elevator on the way down stairs. We turned the corner, and there was Karina, Anna and our son, Colson! The moment he was finally in my arms was so surreal. Karina and Anna began to give answers to the many questions we had sent ahead. Thankfully my mom was there to write and listen, because many times I caught myself talking to, and looking at Colson, and not even knowing what they were telling us.  Even if I had listened, I don’t know that I would have remembered anything by the time we got back to our rooms.

After six years of struggling and grieving through infertility, I would never have imagined the thoughts and feelings I have today. We would love to adopt again! I am thankful for God’s plan for our lives! I am thankful to have never conceived. If things had happened the way we thought we wanted six years ago, we would not be raising this beautiful gift from God.

I am constantly humbled and amazed that God chose us to parent this child. Why us? Are we really deserving of such blessings?  We have learned so much about the love our Father has for us through this experience. Sometimes I even think that we would not have learned so much about His love if things had gone "our" way the past years, although I know that is not true. He would have taught us some other way about His love, grace, and mercy, as I’m certain we have many more life lessons out there. But I pray that the next time we will weather the storms with a little more hope and joy, knowing that as He promised "He will never leave us or forsake us."

He knows the thoughts and the desires of our hearts. His plans for us are for our good and not evil, but we must trust and obey. I’m so thankful we obeyed the call He had on our lives to adopt from Guatemala. Do we hear him calling us to Guatemala again? We don’t know for sure. Maybe Guatemala. Maybe another country. Maybe the good ol’ U.S.A. Maybe no more adoptions, but we wait expectantly for His plans to unfold!  

My final prayer is that we can become the man, woman, mother, and father that he wants us to be and we pray the same for Colson. We also pray that through our adoption and our lives, He will be glorified. Ultimately that is His purpose in everything. "In EVERYTHING give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus."

Shannon Gregg