We had been fostering our children with the intent to adopt them for eighteen months. We had satisfied every requirement of the state adoption system. It was much harder than it should have been. It was finally time to go to court to finalize.
I am a retired lawyer and I know what a crowded courtroom can look like, but this was unbelievable. The week before had been Thanksgiving week, meaning that there were three days worth of matters before the juvenile court on this day. There were a number of nurses present to testify, which usually signifies that there was going to be testimony about injured children.
We had no idea when we would stand before the judge. We couldn’t even get into the courtroom itself because it was so crowded. At nine o’clock, our lawyer showed up and said that she would ask the judge if our scheduled adoption could be heard first. A minute later, she reappeared and said,” Let’s go.”
I forced open the door to the courtroom. People had to back up in order for the door to open. Immediately, a very large court bailiff jumped up and told me in a very harsh voice that I could not come in.
Our lawyer said,” This is the adoption.” The bailiff backed up and the sea of humanity parted. I led our little troop to the judge’s bench. I thought that this must be what Moses felt like when the Red Sea parted in front of him and he led the people across.
The judge looked at our file for a few minutes, my wife and I answered a few simple questions. Without looking up, the judge said, “I have reviewed this file and find it to be in order. I will sign this Order Granting Adoption.” The people in the courtroom began to applaud. Many of them stood up. I am weeping as I type. We posed for pictures with the judge. As we left, I almost bumped into an elderly gentleman. He said, “God bless you.”
They really are our children, we have a birth certificate that lists us as the father and mother. We have natural children who are grown, but these children are truly supernatural.
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November is National Adoption Awareness Month.