Brought to you by the Letter "M"

Sometimes good news comes in an instant. Like a shooting star that appears unexpectedly and puts a smile on your face. Other times there is a long, hard road before that magical moment when the world seems right.

So it is with the Dahls.

Meet Amber, my sweet sister in law. Her first husband made many decisions that caused him to loose two things: his family and his freedom. But this story isn't about him. It's about Amber and her three beautiful children. When Amber's marriage ended, she was left with three children ages four?? and under. 

She moved forward with her life and eventually met someone who loved her and her three kids. Amber and Derek married in 2009. They bought a beautiful home and jumped into family life. Newlyweds + three. 

Fast forward three years and one new baby boy. Amber's ex still sat in prison and Derek was the only Dad her kids knew. It was time to make it official.

 A kind neighbor helped the family get adoption paperwork ready to go and Amber's ex-husband wrote a letter relinquishing his parental rights. But these things take time. Almost two years later, things were finally ready to go.  Amber and Derek were ready to file the paper work and set a court date. The courts understood that families who are seeking to adopt do not like long drawn out processes so the court date was set only two weeks after the papers were turned in. 

Then the miracles began. But we only learned about them after the adoption was all said and done. You see, Amber and Derek are preparing for other major steps in their family. As part of this, their LDS Bishop sent Amber's ex-husband a letter. It was returned because he had been transferred. The second letter was returned as well because he had included a self addressed stamped envelope (Who knew???). The adoption was finalized on a Monday. On Wednesday, their bishop received a call from her ex's social worker. He felt uncomfortable with the reason for the letter and he had demands regarding the letter. He wanted yearly updates and pictures of the kids. He wanted to meet with Derek. The Bishop kindly explained that it was too late, he had already given his permission for the adoption and it was final. The second permission letter was no longer necessary- the kids we no longer his. 

I shudder to think of the results had the timing been a little different. What if the first letter had found it's way to Amber's ex? He could have recanted his letter relinquishing his rights and giving permission for the adoption to take place. He could have fought the adoption and the lives of these sweet kids would have been forever changed. But the letters were returned and the judge saw that this was the best thing for these sweet children. 

The Dahls have always been a family. But with a Judge's signature it is official. And we couldn't be happier. Or more grateful. 

This perfect moment was brought to you by the letter M (for miracles).

Choose an emoticon