My Favorite Couple and National Adoption Awareness Month

If you know me personally, you know my sister and I are very close. Not in the "Oh we're sisters, of course we're close" kind of way, but the text at least once a day, catch up once (or three) times a
week, talk in funny voices only we get, laugh out loud all the time, second to our husbands we are each other's biggest cheerleader, champion, shoulder, reality check, support system kind of way. She knows my deep dark secrets, she knows the things about myself I'm not proud of, and she has known me my WHOLE life. She's seen it all folks, and at times, it hasn't been pretty. She married Will, who in middle school, I liked better than my sister because he was cool, he was funny, and he was nice to me unlike my sibling who sometimes wasn't so fond of me wanting to be around her ALL the time. Yes, they've been together since I was in middle school. Which means he has also been around long enough that he feels more like my brother than brother in law, and after 15 years together and almost 7 years of marriage, they hold the title as my favorite couple (it is a close, close race with Tim and Faith, but they beat them out).

One year ago they entered the open adoption process. Our family couldn't have been more excited and we rallied around Annie and Will as they started this journey, excited for the blessing that would come into their (and our) lives. The counselors told them it could be a long wait, one to two years even, but that didn't deter them. And today, they are still waiting. Here is where my closeness with my sister comes into play. I don't like that I can't fix this for her. I HATE that I can't speed this journey up for her. And I really don't like that this waiting process can at times, be very painful for her and Will. So anytime I can I like to do my part and share their story and their journey, because we are all JUST as excited today as we were the day they told us they were adopting. Our excitement hasn't waivered one bit. 

November is National Adoption Awareness Month and I know this isn't a month that is widely recognized. I know that because if my sister and brother in law weren't adopting, I'm not even sure I would have noticed it in a headline, and I also had no clue what open adoption was. And you may not either, so I'm going to share a little bit of information with you. Open adoption is now the most widely practiced form of adoption in the U.S. In open adoption, birth and adoptive parents meet one another, share information, and choose one another. Studies have shown that there are huge benefits to open adoption, especially to the child. Openness allows the child to know who they are and where they came from. What a beautiful way to form a family, yes? I thought so too. So check out Annie and Will's Facebook page, follow them on Instagram (willandannieadoption), check out their Adoptimist adoption diary, and share it with anyone and everyone you know. And more importantly, I hope you will all be more aware of all the different families who are waiting and hoping. Say a prayer for them tonight, and one for Annie and Will. I'm so excited for this little one. He or she has love and blessings beyond measure waiting...