We were told the birth mom had a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions and even went to the hospital because she thought she was in labor. There was a lot of reason to believe she was going to be born before that May 21st due date. Those details aren’t necessary for the story but know that both the birth mother and social worker believed we would be seeing an April baby. And because one of my friends had been called suddenly when her baby was born early and needed to be hospitalized for a while, I felt like I needed to be ready if she was born early and hospitalized. Sooooooo, my mom and I did a little shopping. I had been waiting for that. During the years of knowing we would have a daughter, I really fought the urge to shop for baby girl things. Every once in a while, I would find a good deal on necessities, so I had purchased a car seat, one nursery decor item and a pack-n-play (where we would lay her for changing and sleeping until our friends passed down their crib and changing table). My mom had been waiting for this day too. She had already put a swing in lay away and bought some gowns.

How happy was I?! Extreme bliss filled my trunk in the form of diapers, wipes, onesies, blankets, bottles and anything else PINK.

And of course, I washed and packed all that sweet pink, for the hospital, which was nearly 2 hours from our home. I was well prepared for her to come early, although I prayed she would be full-term.

Around this time, some of our sweet friends threw a surprise shower for Tony and I. My friends also generously donated items for an impromptu garage sale we held to raise a few bucks toward adoption fees. We had paid about a quarter of the costs and the rest would be due when we took our baby home. So we were scrounging pennies. But our friends were amazing. They were totally in it and believing with us that we would be bringing her home soon. And we were so glad to have these amazing friends walking with us. We had told so few people still, so their support felt like everything. When they would talk about us getting the baby, they would say, “we”; “when we have our baby…” (And she is still everybody’s girl.)

And that is how our Joy was becoming joy to all; how our faith and story really started to bless others. As we shared more of our faith journey, others embraced this dream and answers to prayer into their own lives. Moriah Joy’s coming home seemed to be a modern day miracle that everyone could believe in. And the strength and encouragement that these friends would impart would be so important for me as the final days before her birth would would weigh heavily on me.