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Heather's Story
When my sisters and I were little,
we would lay in bed at night naming our future children
and planning trips to Disneyland in our “pink
double-decker RVs”. I am now twenty-five, married
for three years and still waiting for my own little
ones to come along.
Very early in our courtship,
my husband and I both agreed that we would like a large
family. My husband’s wish is for eight boys so
that he can have his own basketball team. We decided
we needed to have a little time together as husband
and wife before getting pregnant so we took Natural
Family Planning classes prior to our wedding day. A
couple of months after our wedding, we realized that
we didn’t want or need to wait any longer before
starting our family. I am the eldest of twelve children,
so I took it for granted that I would be able to get
pregnant on the “first try”. God’s
plans must definitely differ from ours right now as
month after month has passed with no pregnancy in sight.
It has been discouraging to say the least – I
have given up on buying pregnancy tests. My husband
and I have seen a few doctors who see no obvious reasons
as to why we aren’t conceiving.
Occasionally, I watch the baby
and adoption shows on TLC or Discovery Health channels
which only feeds my longing for a baby even more. The
sad thing in many of these shows is the number of couples
who use artificial means of conception – even
though not all of the cases are successful, secular
resources paint a tempting picture of the ease and success
of these procedures. As a Catholic, I know these means
of obtaining a pregnancy is contrary to the teachings
of my faith. My desire to have a baby of our own is
very strong but not as strong as my desire to practice
and live my faith every day in every aspect of my life.
Although God hasn’t sent us our own little ones
yet, He has placed in our lives fifteen other children
to love and care for during this time of waiting. My
husband and I became foster parents in August 2007 and
what an adventure it has been! It has been such a learning
experience for us as each child enters our home from
different backgrounds/experiences. We care for infants
thru toddlers, often from different races. At this time,
we have four children under the age of three. It is
quite humorous to load the kids into the cart at Costco
and receive quite a few stares as people wonder what
our story is with a white baby, Hispanic girl and two
Haitian boys. I am proud of my multi-cultural family
even though most days I don’t think I can handle
changing one more diaper.
When I was asked to write my
story, I didn’t feel like I had much of a story
to tell. But then again, my story is just beginning
and I know God has so many adventures in store for us
whether that may be thru foster care, adoption and/or
children of our own. Most days it is difficult to trust
that He knows the strongest desires of my heart which
makes me so thankful for the gift of my faith, the Sacraments
and the supportive people around me to give me the patience
I need every day. And who knows, maybe God is waiting
for the “pink double-decker RV” to be “invented…”
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-The support, information and encouragement provided by the PPFL parents is not meant to take the place of medical advice by a medical professional. Any specific questions about care should be directed to a health care professional familiar with the situation.
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