Journey To Josie: Getting Gabe

Sometimes, right in the middle of vacation, God surprises you with something you didn't know you needed.

It's been two years since we got the call that changed our family. We were at the beach celebrating our 8th anniversary when, surprise, we have a new baby!

Andrew calls him our souvenir.

I grumbled and complained. I secretly told Amber I didn't want to cut our trip short. My stomach did flips the entire drive home. I thought our family was already so perfect. What on Earth were we getting into?

Somewhere down in my gut, I was faintly aware that, whoever this child was, he needed me.

What I didn't know was how much I needed him.

First Night Home

When we got Gabe, he was strictly a foster placement.

We tried so hard to keep a guard up, to remember that his dimpled knuckles and wonky toes were only here for a little while. I succeeded for almost four months. Then I woke up one morning and realized he had flooded my heart. Every piece of him was suddenly a piece of me and he was my baby. My perfect baby.

We spent the next year and a half fighting for him.

For his rights to be heard, for the truth to be told, for him to be ours forever.

First Family Picture

I love how Gabe has changed me.

He didn't make me a mother, but he did teach me that hearts can grow. That areas you thought were occupied with really important things are actually just a hoarders paradise, filled with the old, unneeded, unused. He taught me that sometimes a life needs a good interrupting.

He taught me that perfection doesn't alway require, well, perfection.

He brings out a side of me that was buried before. I go slower, look harder, feel deeper. The boy loves his Mama and I'm pretty into him too.

We are celebrating Gabriel's Gotcha Day by joining up with The American Heart Association for the Heart Walk.

The actual walk isn't until September but we need people to join Team Gabriel by signing up to walk with us and by donating. You can visit Team Gabriel's Page to donate or sign up to walk. Word on the street is there may be some pretty awesome t-shirts in the works.

Gabriel has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, which means he was born with only half of his heart. 15 years ago, he wouldn't have lived more then a couple of days. My boy is alive today because of the research of organizations like the American Heart Association.

His beautiful scar is an outward reminder of an internal victory.