Let me start from the first. Will and I were married in 1996. For five years we tried to have children. We did it all. Medication, standing on our heads, temprature, shots, lots of doctors and invetro. Nothing worked and so we decided after much prayer that we were going to adopt. Let me just say it is a life changing experience to adopt. This is not a birth of the body but rather a birth of the heart. It's one of those you have to be there things to really understand. We adopted our first born from Abilene Christian Homes in Texas. We were told it could take up to two years to recieve a child, however Titus was born only nine months to the date of signing the paperwork. We got the phone call at a wedding that Will was performing and I was catering. We were told that babies never come on the due date so we would meet the birth mom the next Monday June 10, 1996. That evening some friends of ours went into panic mode. We did not know if it was a boy or a girl or even if the Birth mother would choose us so we had a bed and a changing table but that was it. The panic shopping began with two carts full of diapers, bottles, wipes, monitors, bags, clothing for both genders--it was a mad house.
Sunday, June 9th the day before we were to meet we got a phone call at church that our baby was comming. Wait! we get this baby? Our heads were spinning. The Social worker said get here as soon as you can the birth mom is in labor. It was a tornado of clothing, toiletries and tears as we tossed everything into a bag and headed out to pick up our first child. Will and I are known as directionaly challeged so several of our friends led the way to Sherman Texas. We got a phone call on the way there and the birthmother Amanda said to me "I just had your baby and it is a boy!!" Elation does not even cover the joy and love we felt at that moment. Crying like two crazy people and calling every one we knew at 85 mph down the road was something. We arrived at the hospital with only moments to spare. We hudled for a prayer with our friends in the parking lot and ran like two crazys to the door. All the nurses already knew we were comming and took us right into the delivery room.
There he was, our son, Titus Andrew Spoon only minutes old. He still had afterbirth all over his skin. The tears we shed cleaned his face and a love so big filled our hearts that there are no words to explain it. We met Amanda the birth mother and tried to have some semblane of manners, after all she was giving us a gift like no other. Birthmothers deserve a whole lot of gratitude and praise for the courage and love that they show in giving a child a life that they cannot provide. The next 48 hours would be the longest hours of our life. Would Titus go home with us forever or would she change her mind? We spent every second with Titus for the rest of the day. We fed him, bathed him, held him and prayed over him over and over and over. Evening came and we had to go so we reluntantly handed what now felt like our son to the birth mother. It was so hard I could not do it. I began to cry and hold him tighter. The nurse came and took him for us and Will and I carried each other to the car in tears barely able to walk. We left the hospital and went to Walmart to pick up a few things we wanted Titus to have the next day. While there we purchased a few snacks. Now if you dont know, Will and I we are two people who love food and that night it was a Stress Buffet on the hotel bed. Ding Dongs work wonders when you dont want to feel pain.
Monday morning, we were back at the hospital as soon and the doors opened and we stayed the whole day with Amanda and Titus. Will ran in and out all day nervously attending to every ones needs and I sat next to Amanda's bed soaking in every detail about her, her family and her life choices. I did not want her to have any time to contenplatechanging her mind. The day took forever. Once again we had to hand Titus over before we left and the only thought that crossed my mind was I bet I can out run all these people and get to the car with my family before they catch us. Back at the Stress Buffet we prayed together and felt a peace about everything. The next day we took our sweet Titus Andrew home with us and the rest is history. This was truly only one of the first miracles of Christ that I would experience.
