I have captured this family many times. AND I fully intend to keep capturing their family in the years to come! We share a love for adoption.
If you follow my blog then you know that I did a fundraiser for a start-up adoption agency called Olive Tree Adoption Agency! I did Mini Sessions for 5 families and they donated all the proceeds to adoption! I mentioned that I have a couple of friends who are in the process of adopting...the Benson's are one of those families. AJ and I have been friends for years and I've captured their family many times! LOVE THEM! I walked with her through the last 18 months in their journey with adding to their family. We'll hear more from them as their story unfolds! :)
I asked AJ to write a little about the beginning of their journey into adoption. Here it is in her own words,
"Our adoption journey began a year and a half ago initiated by a dream I had. In my dream I was in a hospital room sitting next to a woman who was giving birth. After this child was born, they immediately placed her baby in my arms and the Dr. said, 'here is your baby girl'. I knew this child was not mine, as I just saw this woman give birth to her. I explained this to the Dr. and he said, 'she is yours now'. He also said a specific address and told me that this is where we found her and then I woke up from my dream. The address I never wrote down and I am kicking myself to this day, but I believe it was to send my heart searching for this child. From that moment on, I cannot tell you how my heart was changed. I was longing for this child that I have only met in my dreams. I remember that morning after my dream I did everything I could online to find this address in hopes that this child would just fall into my lap, but no such luck. That following Sunday, after church service, I was sitting holding Noemi's new and sweet little Clara and a woman of the church came up to me and said, 'AJ, I have to tell you something that I really feel the Lord is telling me about you and Micah.' I said, 'OK, what is it?' She said, 'Adoption. I feel like the Lord said that he wants you to adopt.' Sudden tears streamed down my face. I felt a relief, an answer and permission to pursue this journey that had been burning in me. It was the confirmation I was looking for and I knew it was from God. On the car ride home, I told Micah everything. I wasn't sure how he would digest it all and just trusted the Lord for the rest. After our conversation he was surprised, but he felt it was from the Lord and just wanted to pray about it. He wanted the Lord to confirm it in his heart also. He prayed for confirmation within the next month. A few weeks later, Micah was in CA for a healthcare conference. One evening many of the attendees decided to go out to dinner together. There were about 30 people and he did not know any of them. It ended up that he found himself in a conversation with a woman who was adopted and she and her husband also adopted their child. She was a Christian and she talked with Micah about their whole journey. That night Micah called me and he said that he had a confirming conversation and that he really felt we should go forward with adoption. I was floored because if any of you know us, you know that I am the emotional and adventurous one and he is the very steady and constant one. God took care of it all. He did that. For Micah to say, 'Yep, lets add to our family through adoption.', based on a single conversation he had with a total stranger... that was a God thing. So that is how our journey all began."
