Building Beautiful Families

Sometimes a special family comes into my life, and they match and place so quickly, I scarcely have time to get to know them during the adoption process!  Leila and Philip were just that family.  They signed on with me in late December of 2018, and their sweet girl was born just a couple of weeks later in early January 2019.  Thankfully we have kept in touch and I have had the privilege of seeing her grow up on social media, and in our private support group.  As they recently had her one year old birthday, I asked them to reflect on their journey to adoption.  Leila shares some of her heart below, as they think back on their journey to adoption and parenthood.   This past year has held a huge reflection of the past five years of hope, loss, and prayer for us as well as countless others. We’ve prayed deeply and continuously for all that are in the wait. Please know you are loved and prayed for. As for us, we are parents to Haven, a lon...

My name is Francesca and I am here to share my vocation of motherhood and how I never thought I would use the discernment process to motherhood. And how my desires and plans of being a mother happened in the most “extraordinarily ordinary” way! This is my story of how God opened my heart to adoption and made me a mother. In fall 2017, my husband Ethan and I were married and started discerning various life changes when a dear friend of mine from my women’s group recommended I read God’s Voice Within - The Ignatian Way to Discover God’s Will by Mark E. Thibodeaux. Soon after reading the book, little did we know, we would be questioning the possibility of infertility and using the Ignatian way to discern our next steps. But before we continue, I want to share with you the four phases of Ignatian discernment:  I’m going to list the four and highlight them throughout my story.   1) Get Quiet: If I, or anyone, want to discern well you need a consistent and meaningful prayer life....