Reunion: An Amazing Story of Seperation, Adoption, and Redemption (2014) | Full Movie

[Music] I'm really fortunate raised in a Christian home godly parents that love the Lord and serve the Lord but even in the most idyllic circumstances sometimes marriages don't survive and through circumstances my parents did divorce so I was raised in a home with godly mother through my teen years went to school in Salem kind of outspoken in my testimony strong in faith and had such a confident assurance in my walk with the Lord but with that also can come some spiritual pride so part of my journey and my story that I'm sharing involves that facet of my life Duane and I started dating our senior year of high school actually the summer before our senior year we had our first date at the zoo and it would had all those awkwardness --es of a first double date I remember at the time we're on our way back and we're gonna stop to eat and I was so naive about the whole dating game that it was am i buying my lunch or is he so I ordered real minimal because I didn't have much money and then I got a milkshake and I remember it was just like a little dinner salad and they all got this wonderful food and then when he paid I thought snap I could have a really major good meal but we had a lot of fun and it was just the beginning of getting to know each other part way through this school year we became more physically involved and for me it was a constant point of conflict it was constantly going against everything in migraine and everything in my faith and I remember just kind of that press of guilt and shame driving home after being together for the evening repenting and crying out god changed this I don't want it to go this way and setting a course only to then stumble a time later a few dates later and realize okay I'm in this there came a point where I needed to deal with my reality and so for me I knew there came a point I needed to take a pregnancy test and I remember I had it all set up on my mom's ironing board while she was at work and my sister was gone and I remember navigating that and seeing those results that were a moment of piercing reality and a lot of pausing a lot of what do I do and this is this is the real deal and so I'm processing all this and a phone call rings and of all the people to call it was a friend in school I had tried so hard to witness to this gal her name's Laura and she was somebody I so much wanted to share faith in Christ with and had invested a lot during the school year and she's the one that calls within minutes of this test result and my head spinning and I'm trying to avoid saying anything and and she kind of called it out and she said you're pregnant aren't you over the phone and I'm like okay I got a I got a deal with this and this is real and my response of course was well actually I am I just found out and her response was I'll take you to get an abortion it's not a big deal Kim you can do it and I just for me I I felt immediately that's not the path I'm gonna take and share that with her and she said it doesn't cost I'll take care of the cost and then she started to tell me the different girls at school that she had helped and take for their abortions and that just broke my heart for one it's things you don't want to know about people it's such a point of pain and it was also an area I was so naive to had never contemplated I was more the girl that looked at the girls in that circumstance with maybe a critical eye and never imagined I would be one in the process of a decision like that she heard my heart and she heard my words and said whatever I needed she supports me and and would be available which was very gracious I lived down the road from this Creek there was a creek that went through the backyard and and then there's a bridge just down the road from us and so we went walking and we spent some time talking and that's when I finally got the courage to tell him that I thought I was pregnant and it was a little more dramatic than I'm telling you now I think I I did the I'm pregnant and I do believe he he blanched white and was quite taken back I was shocked I was scared you know I was 18 years old I was just out of high school and you know I didn't know man what am I gonna do his first response was so are you gonna get an abortion back then you know a abortion was just a it was a common thing and I just said you know that is that's not for me I I don't feel right about that that's not what I'm gonna do and then he was like okay yeah and then he got quiet and he kind of dropped his head down and I could tell he's thinking and I'm crying it I asked her you know I said well maybe we should get married and I'm like you know that's probably not the right decision for us right now and I'm telling you that's not the way you a girl waits for a proposal and and I really did know that was not the right decision for us and so when we said goodnight he was gonna go home and talk to his folks and I was to go in and talk with my mom do you remember what it was like talking to your parents yeah yes I do you know going home it was the thought of you know I've disappointed my parents I've let him down you know they're gonna be disappointed in me and so it was really hard I came from a background where you really didn't show your emotions he didn't he didn't talk to your parents about you know about things he just you know something happened you just said hey this is what happened and you know he moved on so it was it was very nerve-wracking talking to my parents but after speaking to them they just asked me what were you know what are you gonna do and I just said you know I remember the next day when we got together Dewayne asked you know and so how did it go with your mom and I asked how it went with his folks and he shared their their response and I had not yet told my mom I kind of chickened out and so I remember you saying she needs to know this is your mother and and if you won't tell her I will and I'm thinking dude this is not a good idea it might be better for you to wait and so he actually said I'm waiting outside till I know you've told her otherwise I'm gonna come in and share and so he waited outside in his car and I remember going in and my mom was busy she was sewing and I sat in the chair by the wood stove and I was just I I just felt so ill and I remember just saying mom I need to talk to you and she turned and I think she knew when she looked at me something very intense was going on and remember taking off her glasses and she had that perplexed look and I said your daughter's gotten herself pregnant when she said that I don't even think I waited for her to get the words out that she was pregnant I just saw her eyes well up I got up from my sewing machine she walked over and I just hugged her she stood up and moved towards me and I said we're gonna walk through it together I'll never be ashamed of you I will never be ashamed of you and she held me and we cried when I found out that my older sister Kim was pregnant I was in absolute disbelief I did not believe her she told me she was pregnant and I kept saying no you're not no you're not and she was like yes I am and she actually got out the pregnancy test because I was so convinced that she was just joking with me and when I saw it I was like oh my gosh she really are pregnant and it was a shock to me because Kim's character her lifestyle the two just didn't in my didn't line up talking with mom and really weighing through all the process and the decisions that we needed to make blessed to have so much support and willingness but I also could see the realities financially the implications emotionally eventually I said I don't think a grandmother should be the sole provider the care giver for that baby I don't think that's a good choice I think the child needs to grow up in a home with parents loving parents and I'll do whatever I can but I can't raise your child I knew that that would be a real burden in our current circumstances we even weighed in on the thought of my sister and her husband adopting for me I had just a few months before I think maybe four or five months before that had a baby and she died shortly after birth so I was still raw you know feeling a lot of loss I carried full-term and I was married and I lost a baby and she wasn't married and she was having one and it just didn't seem fair I'm enough of a realist to know the complications that could happen to be alongside a family member raising my child I remember really dealing with the fact that in reality I walked down the same path Kim had she just got pregnant before she was married I didn't get pregnant before I was married but I made the same choices and could have very well been in the same I could have very easily been in the same situation I have an amazing grandma grandma Pollard and through her work in a ministry up in Washington State she had connected with a really neat gentleman named Neil Gardenhire and Neil worked for an adoption agency this was his interest in placing babies into Christian homes yeah and so right away I didn't know I imagine I told her Dallas first I said if Kimberly decides to adopt please get ahold of Neil and Neil stepped into our life we had an amazing conversation he was incredibly gracious and and not manipulative but actually just helped me kind of list out and process it was very typical for me to load up my my dog my springer spaniel I had a little Volkswagen bug my Bible and journal and I cruise over to a place in Salem called Bush Park and Busch Park is this place of humongous oak trees and I remember those times of just walking with my dog and my Bible in general I'd find a spot just parked there and just open up the scripture and write my heart out and processed my thoughts I never saw my pregnancy as a mistake as something of air or something unplanned because I look at Scripture and all all through what I just see everything of life is created with plan and purpose and so I would be processing that at the park and realizing God you are a God of Destiny and purpose and so for this baby whoever they're gonna grow up to be you have a purpose and a destiny and so my decision is not about what I want but what moves this child's future towards your destiny and your purpose am i that person who can do that do I have in my capacity and in my resources the ability to bring this person to the fullness of what you have and what you designed them to be and I would come to the end of that and I would hit that wall of thought and just be I don't know that I have enough I don't know that I am enough I know with God we can rise up you know I get that in my walk with the Lord but I just kept coming up to that point of saying I need to consider what else could be what else could could bring that to life and and that's where I really did open my heart to consider adoption Neal came down and at that time had a chance to meet Dwayne and we talked about all the possibilities and he was really counted about some of the hard parts too and so I sat down with them and we talked and they were so committed to following through with adoption and I found out where the father was in this whole picture who also was a committed part of this of this picture me adoption at the time was a good idea because me and Kim had known each other for probably two years and we didn't know where the relationship was going so I thought adoption would be you know a good idea because you know we knew the child at that point would be raised you know possibly by a Christian family that was something that was very important to us it was kind of frightening to think your own flesh and blood was going to be someplace and you would never perhaps never ever seen them again that was a that was hard from it was a push in a pool a real tug-of-war inside of me one of the things as I would stand back and look and watch is the amount of love that there was within that family system and the amount of care and concern and so the thing after that first meeting and that a thing that I came away with is if this goes through if they follow through this will be far from the end of the adoption process a lot of times with my times with the Lord and those Bush parked times and conversations that I would have with God you know there's a lot of different scriptures that come alive and one that's so familiar in believers lives but became mine for my child was that God had plans for my child plans I have our for good and not for evil for a hope and a future so as I would way through things and pray about things I I pray God along that this child would be raised in a godly where you are foremost I pray that this child would grow with siblings that respect and honor and serve one another that this child would grow up with a father who represented the father heart of God it's an amazing thing to be praying and hoping and desiring things you have no control over and hope and an expectation and to see how God might fulfill that would be the next adventure my mom was there and she was a great support and Dwayne was there I remember just kind of that point of realizing it's it's all in this is the real deal and that final push and at that mount the moment the discovery that I have a baby girl I remember they lifted her up and did all the proper care that they do and wrapped her I didn't have that moment where they laid her on my stomach I didn't have that moment to where they moved me towards bonding this hospital it's kind of old school it had the birthing center and then there was this tunnel that went down underneath into the main unit of the hospital and so a little bit after recovery they took me by the nursery in a wheelchair and I could see that she was resting and doing well they had taken me down through this maze like through the elevators and the back ways and going down through this tunnel felt like you were taking steps separating from something that tunnel became kind of the kind of the place of transition and so it was like choosing to engage they're choosing to to walk through that place there's a passage I love in Hosea where it says I will take your the valley of Achor or troubling and make it to become a doorway of hope and for me this was an incredible valley of troubling this was an incredible place of despair and grief and that tunnel became my reality of that I think and and yet God was right there to meet me to say Kimber you can stay there or you can allow me to turn this and let it become hope and for me I made a decision and that this would not be a place of grief I remember in the morning knowing I'm gonna be going home and anticipating that and I'm gonna be going home without a baby I just delivered and I was given the opportunity to go spend some time with her and my mom waited in the car that's where she was weeping I mean if we didn't brought her back to our home I would never have let her out of the house so God in His grace again knew it was best for Sarah and and my grandma came up and and met me you sat in the rocking chair with little Sarah Ann and rubbing her head super hair are you touching her face and that really touched me yeah it was it was a love scene and I'm praying over her and I'm crying and I'm I can remember seeing the tears drop and thinking oh no I don't want to get her wet and you know just some of the natural things but for me it was a really precious and sacred moment because I believe in dedicating our children to the Lord I believe that's an honor and it privilege as a parent and this was mine there was no pastor there was no church surrounding me to agree there was just a very god-fearing gracious grandma in the corner in agreement and a mom who would in her way express her heart to the Lord we were a family of five Matthew and instead of twins David and Daniel kept three boys home from school that day this was a day of victory we'd waited for it for seven years and we were finally gonna make that trip we're gonna meet the foster mom Donna and she'd be flying in we met her Neil had called me earlier that morning he said whatever you do don't run towards Donna and grab the baby out of her arms he said you can find something for her to carry back to Seattle we went prepared with us bouquet of several roses so Donna had something to carry back and finally we met Donna and she had a bundle of pink in her arms in Sirians growing up years we tried to as soon as possible talk to her about adoption and that it was a blessing she was a special child because God had given her to us in a special way actually when she went to school she would bounce around and be happy I'm adopted and you're not so I'm special it was about three years later blessing and burden came to our door with a picture of a little non syndrome baby before the end of that day we had the wheels moving in as far as a home study working on this little baby and how we could get her and thus God gave us Katharine Joan Mulder they just sort of meant to be together which is there was no way about they were sisters and that was good enough Duane and I went on about two and a half years later and got married it was the right timing it was God's timing and it was a real celebration from there about a year into our marriage it was in a November month I found out I was pregnant all very swiftly and within that same spectrum of time realized something was going very wrong and ended up having a miscarriage it had what would be all the normal responses emotionally but what I found is it opened to the thought that maybe this is judgment maybe I would never have a child because that was an appropriate judgment or sentence about a year after the miscarriage I gave birth to another baby girl and we named her grace Tara grace I remember poking her I don't know that she ever got to sleep in a long segments because I wanted to make sure she was breathing because there was still that part of me that part of me that didn't know my god the way he really is in true form and that His grace is so encompassing and so you kind of always wait for that other shoe to drop for something to happen and instead he was marvelous it was just a couple years after the birth of grace that we were pregnant again and had a son our son Brent I just remember just being so happy that I was gonna have a son you know because I think every every man wants to have a son once they have a boy so I remember being real excited and we had hard times there were times because of Dwayne's walk with the Lord at times struggling I felt like a single mom at times I felt so low in the journey but yet I could see in the core of his heart with desire to be a man of God and it was so neat at a at a time in our marriage where he did a full-on rededication of his life with the Lord it was like awakening something in me to believe for more I was at a church and I remember hearing our pastor kind of mentioned a new ministry that was starting in Salem and it was called a crisis pregnancy center he was kind of describing the ministry the goals and the way it wants to impact helping young girls who are walking through an unplanned pregnancy and so it was there that I made the phone call and step through the doors of what was then the Salem crisis pregnancy center and began my involvement with that we went through time of training which i think was as much for my healing as it was very quick me and what the Lord would have me do there and that began a whole new chapter in my life I thought you know somehow this is all going to come back together someday and so periodically as I would go to Salem to to be with family own family down there then I would stop and seek him where she was working in our situation it was considered more of a closed adoption or a partially open back then they didn't have open adoptions like they do now and I said Kim I've got some really good news for you he had a letter that Sarah Ann's mother had written and he came in my office and and just read it to me and gave me a photo and I said Kim your daughter has just made a profession of faith and knowing the Lord is her Savior and at that point Kim started Christ sitting at her desk and there are a lot of tears but it was just a beautiful time to to hear the fulfillment of prayers that she'd given her life to Christ and and that she was growing strong and how her personality was growing in developing with her family and it was neat cuz through the years we would keep in touch and he would share updates of how things were going as close to mother's day and Dwayne said he wanted to take me out to lunch I don't the wow this is pretty cool now they're married and and so he takes me out to lunch and he sits across the table from me and out of his wallet he pulls a little photo and it's a little school picture I believe of Sarah and she was about seven years old he handed it to me and I'm looking at the head of God whoa this this looks like Kimberly this is just looks just like her you know and then he sat there looking at me and saying tears running down his face and I would give anything in the world if I could have her if we could have her back in our home and raise her with her brother and sister I just realized the anguish in the pain that was in his heart or this he said I I pushed for that decision when we were on family vacation at Black Butte I just really felt you know real strongly in my heart that it was time that we told the kids and me and Kim had talked about this at several other occasions but the timing was just never right in and so I told her I said I think that the time is right that we tell Brent and Tara you know that they have a sister that night after dinner we we sat down in the living room and we just told them you know the whole story about what had happened but both the kids their response was emotional I think they're a little like wow yeah you and a little of that kind of oh I don't think I want to know this but at the same time you could see the wheels turning through the years um Neil and I would keep in touch by phone or occasional letters and letting him know that if there was ever the right opportunity we would love the opportunity to meet this this girl or even a letter to know more about her in her life I said yes I think someday that will happen and I just knew down inside myself that that was something that would happen someday I didn't feel that way towards all cases but this one in particular and so so I called Sir Anne's parents she'd just graduated from high school and there were boxes and boxes and things to be put in those boxes as she went off to college and asked him I said you know she's graduated from high school is this something that would be an option she's expressed at that point that she was very busy in her life and she didn't want to handle anything more so I shared that with Neil they said no Neil it's not an option not at this point and I said okay and and I said you see it in the future she's and they said we don't know and so I had to let it go that was their choice their decision to let it go and so I did well then Sarah Ann graduated from college and then she got married I had always wanted to take our adopted daughter sir Ann to meet your parent her biological parents I wanted to see him to see I think one day treat her right are they gonna love her and all these questions and then Sarah Ann said well I always dreamt of meeting my biological family with my husband and so this was that time in her life and so she came to me asking what information I explained to her my protocol and working that through and she said that's great he said well I think it's it's to begin this communication and he shared with us that our daughter's name was Sarah Ann and opened the door of opportunity for us to write a letter to her which each of us did you know you're trying to relay to her you know how you feel about the situation how you felt about you know giving up for adoption and also giving her information about you know what I do what what my career is like what my family life is like it was definitely an interesting time ful different emotions and the way it was left is we would send that letter off and then perhaps she would respond we did letters back and forth through me with no location and no last names we were in Minneapolis at the time and the letter I'd come and it was you know it was like a thick envelope so you knew this was a letter of substance lots of pages so I right away just opened the letter and I went for the pictures right away cuz you're just like I'm gonna see like my mom I want to see my dad and and siblings and what are they all gonna look like and while I look like them and we'll it like you know this answer all of what is questions it's just amazing because we interestingly enough my family that raised me and my biological family do have some same like genetical roots so growing up a lot of people always didn't even think I was adopted but you know in your heart like okay don't look like them I'm a little bit taller than most of my family why do I am I so excited all the time and talk with my hands and jump around a lot and all this stuff and you can't get that off from pictures but I don't know how pictures are just priceless when it's that first time I remember just like looking and just like thinking oh I think you are so beautiful gorgeous my dad it's just like you look like a football player and I loved football I'm just taking in every little detail and like I wonder if this is from this year with my sister does she sell that kind of hair is it shorter now is that longer because I saw another picture and she had shorter hair and you're just trying to figure out all the pieces and figure out the timeline these pictures and their life my sister and brother had a graduation we're standing and there was a vehicle in the background that had like the last four letters of a town I remember being like oh what could I do with that that's interesting and so right away I'm taking the pictures and feeling like a detective almost in a way trying to figure stuff out and I got a cup of tea I like black tea with little milk and sugar and I sat down and I just remember just reading every single word and I remember Kim would use in her letter like smiley faces like she would write out smile and then she'd have explanation point and that's how I write and that's how I talk and I was like she puts smiley faces - I remember calling you smiley faces and exclamation points I follow her I get the excitement I know how this is I never felt like a void in my life like I was missing something I definitely was curious I remember growing up I want to know about my mom and I remember praying for her I remember my mom who raised me saying like you can pray for your mom and you can remember her on your birthdays and pray for cuz that was the day that she had you all of a sudden there was just this like moment of like oh my goodness this family of eight like you all of a sudden feel this great need for them like like like oxygen for a minute you're just like I need I need this family I need to know about them I need to know all these details and just an emotional like opening set suddenly but then like God just came in like and just through that letter just immediately brought in a sense like closure like okay but it's okay like I had my hand on this this whole time I had a purpose in this this whole time so for that moment of just like craving and desiring something so greatly and then have it just like immediately satisfied even through letter and pictures and just resting and God you know you kind of assume you'll hear from your mom but to hear from your dad and that he was willing to uh to write me and just share about himself and I remember one thing he had noted is that he had worked for the same company since he was like 19 18 or 19 somewhere in there and I remember being like oh he just gave away something cuz I remember thinking like that means you're still there cuz that's about when you would have had and so that was something for me I just got so excited I was like they're in Oregon and they're probably in Salem and I just got really excited and kind of hang on to that like feeling really excited that I figured that a little mystery out so all the way that I remember it was that the Neal called in the morning he said yeah we'd like to swing by this afternoon and bring a letter and that was the first knowledge that a letter was coming to me and so I was you know just quite shocked him like you know cuz you can't imagine we've been waiting I've been waiting for this moment for 20 years you know even though it's a letter it's the first contact and so I've been waiting for this time and so I was very very shocked that he called and said yeah we'd like to swing by this afternoon and I okay and I remember Kim read the letter first and then Kim had me the letter and so Paige yeah and then Kim was kind of conversing with Neal and his wife and you know I remember Neal I'm reading this letter and obviously I'm just I'm just in tears I got tears running down my face it he's asking me questions and I'm just like dude you got to give me a minute here you know cuz I'm working through a lot of emotions here and you know because I'm not a very emotional person but this is something obviously that brought out many emotions in me there's a lot of neat little pieces here and there along the way and it cracked me up cousin Sarah Ann's letter there were all these smiley faces at different placements and I thought she does it with the actual smile and to start to see this package unfold of who this young woman is and has become and then we did another letter with more information and photographs which was remarkable I remember coming home everyday and saying is there a letter and she's like no not today and and this goes on for over a while and it was just painful every day and then finally come home is their letter she goes yeah it's in on the table and so I remember I remember just taking my jacket off and coming into the fan shutting the slider door and just uh opening the envelope and looking at pictures for a long time and it was it was amazing just to see you know what does she look like you know and what what does her family look like that she was raised with it was just a very very another very emotional time and you know you're looking at the pictures and thinking whose eyes whose nose kind of all the little things that make up your family and in your DNA and you see displayed in a photograph and we were also putting pieces together because we still had not given last names out but there was a wall hanging in one of the photos behind her that had the word Mulder and I thought oh I think I know a last name yeah we told Neal he slipped up letting that photo through because he verified all the letters we got to a point that the information in the letters and the letters were getting longer and longer and longer I said are you guys ready for a phone call and they both jumped at the opportunity for a phone call I said I will set up a conference call and we'll go from there on how this is all going to come together so he explained we're gonna get you guys on the line I'll get Sara Ann on the line I'll stay on the line a lot of times you just lose the ability in conversation and I'll keep things flowing I'll keep it comfortable for you you won't be alone and so we're all waiting the phone rings it's this kind of conference call between all of us he does the introductions and you know maybe that initial kind of awkward pause a couple sentences and the next thing you know we're just taking off and we're talking and asking questions sharing things amazing things like I'm a tea drinker I just I know that sounds random and and obsolete but she grew up having tea times with her father and I have a niece with disabilities and she grew up with a sister with disabilities and what was really unique about this call is that there were different points within the call I couldn't tell whether it was Kim or Sarah Ann talking because they sound so much alike and wait a minute now Kim is that you is that Sarah Anne yeah we're just talking and talking and all of a sudden we all pause and said oh my gosh Neil you're still there and I just felt like a fifth wheel sitting there and listening this conversation these questions go back and forth and he just started laughing then he said this has never happened before I shouldn't be surprised knowing the two of you but I think you guys can kind of take it from here and why don't you exchange phone numbers and and continue this conversation and you just I'm praying for you guys you have a blessing here so we said I'm gonna make my cup of tea she was gonna make her so let's get back on the phone and talk some more so towards the tail under the phone call it was our desire to have you know them come out and to see us and so we just you know asked them if they would like to fly out and come stay with us I got a call from Kim I got a call from Sarah Anne is this something that you could help arrange I said well you guys fly into Portland from where you are they'll drive up from Salem where they are and you'll meet in the airport and Sarah Anne said no no no I want you there and so so I said you know I would be more than happy to be there so my wife and I drove down to Portland Sara n flew in with her husband and she and Ruben got off the plane it was really neat because you're kind of anticipating as the flights coming in and you're watching the clock and people are starting to get off the plane and it's like where is she where is she I was really excited anticipating but there is that just wondering when is she gonna look like play what is she gonna think when she sees us look funny to them are we gonna disappoint her like me it's her expectations what is it gonna be like you know you just don't know you mean I didn't really know are we all gonna burst into tears we're gonna cry just be a blubbering mess we're gonna run to each other and a dramatic fashion we're watching as the crowds are sifting through I saw a group of people and then we saw her and then I saw Dwayne and Kim we saw the blonde hair and then I saw darkthrone here and had photos so we had an idea what to look for and we kind of can look at each other and put a few pieces together the most unique of reunions from being separated by many years and yet coming together and feeling like you belong together remember hugging Dwayne and you just have that like this is crazy and buggy like my dad and then you have the mom hug which is just so amazing and see I got from Kim and then I could give this awkward sibling hug because you don't really know each other so like hi Tara the hug to brett which was really awkward and tall but wonderful at the same time and yeah it was just it just went really smoothly and calmly not overly dramatic not tons of Tears but very full of emotion and at the same time I didn't just fall apart like I thought I mind I actually was just in awe and it was one of those moments where it was like this is for real I think it was Neil had decided to have us go to Sherry's which is just kind of your family mom paw diner restaurant we were in a corner like round table booth and there is I guess that would have been eight of us all crammed into this corner booth all next to each other and I'm just like I hope I don't spill anything and I hope I don't order something weird and they don't eat that food and just kind of think you through those things and as silly as it is observing what everybody is ordering and being like I wonder if we keep the same kinds of food like I mean what a crazy thing to think but you're just wondering and so we ordered our food and just talking and you just say silly things that you wouldn't normally say when you're nervous but we said it all together joking around a bit over you know over the course of time you know your thoughts run through your head and you think you know I wonder if in any way shape or form we could ever be some kind of family to I wonder if she would ever you know be under the same roof as us and and you know just these different emotions to run through so so to have them here the very first time and to have them staying you know in our house I remember that night going up to bed and just being at the top of the stairs and I could see all the bedrooms and I knew that my son was at one bedroom my daughter you know so see if my son one-bedroom my daughter in one bedroom and then our firstborn daughter with her husband in the other Bennet was just that kind of a fulfillment of her I just remember the first time I saw Sarah Ann just her pearance was like totally Kim and totally Duane which is what you'd expect but it's just kind of like like wow but really it was like of course uh this is just like Kimberly my daughter I couldn't deny her if you saw this saw the rest of the family it's like she is flesh of our flesh but then seen deeper than that scene mannerisms and facial expressions and gestures she she uses some of the same things I do like that you know she was that part of the puzzle that had been missing there was this instant sense of we've lost each other and were connected we had an open house and it was crazy experience I think it was our first trip here and my cousins were here as well and Tara and Brent and we were all sitting around the table so it was just kind of this younger crowd that I had I'm related to and I'm in their age bracket but I don't have history with and I remember also my sister's friend Audrey was here and she was at the table too so they were all telling stories just laughing and I remember looking like wow even Audrey gets to know all their stories but I don't and it wasn't like they were trying by any means to exclude me we were just having fun and and sharing it was really neat to know it but I just remember being like oh you know I I don't know their history I don't get the inside jokes that make everybody laugh without an explanation so you're kind of the observer in that but you're still trying to find a way to belong to that group and I remember my cousin Sally looked at me just quietly and everybody was talking and I just remember her like you may be like I'm sorry you don't have all the stories yet and I just wanna be like it's okay like I'm like they'll come and we'll make new ones but it was an emotional time to just feel like oh I don't have history with them and though I have my inside jokes and stories with siblings and cousins like I don't have theirs but it you feel like you should so you feel like do I have amnesia my forgiveness but yeah I think those are some of the some of the struggles at times where you really want to you want to just be like you are always there but you weren't and that was by God's plan and that's that means it's okay though and so it's been interesting it has been hard and I think those are things that sometimes people don't think about it's like immediately you're together it's happy family like a takeout order and it's like no it's the process of building I really believe that um for Sarah and to grow up in the family she did it's so hugely a part of who she is what that adds to her family now did she wouldn't she wouldn't be bringing to this family if she just grown up and came into Wayne's family which would have been great of course but it's just this deeper level of um beauty that she brings into the family so oh dear and a lot of times people will say do you regret that decision now that you've met Sarah Anna now that you've you've experienced that do you have a lot of regrets I look at who she is and who she has become and I would have not helped her to be this person I didn't have the ability in in many regards to see that come to life she's a culmination of this incredible family the molders and our DNA and the faithfulness of God Mother's Day weekend they all met each other for the first time you know hearing about the times that we knew nothing about you know and her childhood what she did in junior high and high school and just hearing about her life growing up was just yes all the things and some other things too gave us a start in that relationship that we got to continue a little later at the birth of our granddaughter and I remember just sitting there and being like oh my goodness my mom's are here like my mom's are here for the birth of our daughter and it was just kind of like it was just like a speechless moment which was rare for me so I was just like oh my goodness this is spectacular and and even just seeing Duane in there no the fact that through the years you know you didn't know if you would ever have the opportunity you know to do that I can remember kind of looking the whole scene you know your mom's there beside you and Reubens mom came in with us and Riven walked up to me and he had your baby Evangelina and he handed her to me and he hands me this baby he goes here grandma here's a granddaughter i watch him eat of Angelina and I'm just like oh wow and I'm sitting down with her and I'm rocking her and caught up in this moment it was suddenly 25 26 years before I guess it's even more than that sitting in a rocking chair in a hospital rocking you and and all those feelings just started welling up and it was actually something that was feeling overpowering and it was moving me towards grief and I'm looking at this baby and I I don't hear god audibly but I did feel like the Lord was just saying I'll Kimber just look up and I'm looking around the room and your mom's fixing your hair tonette and Ruben and Dwayne you're all fussing with cameras and Katie Joe was playing with stuff but it was like looking around this room and seeing the life that God had given and the joy in both our families all of our families as one and I kept thinking of that scripture and Psalms where David says with God his full Redemption and that was one of those moments if I thought everything god you promised the husband for this daughter we would not raise the family you would give her I was watching it unfold right in front of me and it was just to me a marvelous moment it was breathtaking and within those seconds all the kind of tumult of grief just gave way to incredible joy and a sense of fulfillment that I've never experienced before nor sense and yeah it's been an amazing journey and I know we're just getting started to me it's a true love story all the way through with God blessing all the way through in knowing what personalities to develop and fit together dirty to glorify his name to the greatest degree and it just seems like everything fit in in its place as we went along I think there's no way anybody can improve on God's orchestration there is a true relationship in the Lord that has brought these families together as a family and that is an exciting thing to see happen okay like Sarah Anne you know this is the ultimate act of love because I absolutely hate cameras they're really intimidating to me but um I would do anything for you and I guess this is just a small way that I could just kind of share a little bit about my heart for you and the amazing love I have for you and the awe and wonder of God's hand in your life I am wow this is gonna get intense for me but it's awesome I am so thankful for how God has formed your life with your family I look at it qualities in you that I admire and that I dreamed and prayed for you and you represent so many amazing things of the hand of God and the power of God to move in a person's life and you are a testimony to your family of their love for you you are every junction and you are a gift from God in every way and I am so honored and privileged to have been able to be part of this window in your life and and I believe God has some wonderful things ahead for all of us and I'm excited for what that could look like and I look ahead with a lot of hope for that but I'm so thankful for you I I love you with my heart I always have and I always will eyes and this week has been an amazing gift and I will never be the same and I'm so glad it's I don't know even how to put in words because it goes beyond it if I could talk to your parents your folks and just tell them how much I love them and I'm thankful to see God's faithfulness lived out through their lives and through your brothers and your sister and what a privilege what an amazing God we serve who truly redeems fully whatever we will give him and entrust to him so I don't want to be sad or heavy or anything like that I just want you to know I love you with all my heart and our hearts our lives are wide open for you and you're always welcome and that's an invite to your whole family too I guess I'm gonna go over long because I know Rubens gonna edit this and then he can kind of cut some things in and out and there is a joy that just happens when you walk in a room and I love that about you and I love your smile I love the way you love your husband Jesus you are so many components of my family and your your history your biological genetic DNA and blend that with this amazing family God's given you and your mom and dad raised you it's like the ultimate excellence of everyone brought together to create this amazing girl my name is Arianna and I just love you so I could go on and on I will in my journals and my prayers and my thoughts for you but I thank you for trusting us and giving us this week you should tell my sweets very much [Music]

Channel: Vision Video

Views: 232,925

Keywords: Christian Videos, Christian Films, Christian Movies, Religious Movies, Films, Movies, Entertainment, Feature Films, Adoption, Redemption, Reunion, Kimberly Copple, SaraAnn Evans, Duane Copple, Evangelina Evans, Reuben Evans, An Amazing Story of Seperation

Id: Td8dNvZAQ1k

Length: 54min 47sec (3287 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 09 2020