Before we were married we did what all couples do when they are in love. We imagined the house we’d have, the kind of cars we’d drive, the dream jobs we would both get
after graduating from college, and of course, how
many children we would have. I think we even
named one of them once upon a time? And in this
little “dream life” of ours, we always talked about
being foster parents and we felt very strongly that
someday we would adopt. This is a little story about
our lives then and our family now. It’s not as
wonderful as we imagined it would be; it’s better!
We were married in 1995 and moved to Utah in 1996
homeless and jobless (it was fun then, but knowing what
we know now we think “wow, weren’t we young and
crazy”). We settled in quickly and within three months
were able to buy our first home. It was definitely a fixer-
upper, but we were prepared (prepared meaning we didn’t
have children yet, we didn’t know a lot of people, so all
we had was time to work on our house). We started doing
foster care too. We got an adoption home study done at the
same time – just in case.
In 1998 we brought our first child into the world – a healthy little boy. Before he was even born we got all the things a new baby would need – even clothes for him to wear when he would be two years old. Having one child was absolutely wonderful and being parents was a lot of fun. When
Jared got old enough to walk and talk a little, he enjoyed
having new children come and stay with us for a while.
He had no clue what foster care meant, but he loved
having kids around to show off for. Life was so good.
When Jared was two, and finally able to wear those
clothes we’d been storing, we found out we were going
to add another member to our family – a little girl this
time. Half way into our pregnancy with Hailey, we
learned there were complications. To make a long, sad
story short, she died shortly after being born. 13 hours
and 51 minutes after she was born to be exact. Life was
not so good anymore. In fact, life seemed to stop and
life hurt a whole lot. Jared kept us going, but just barely.
We really didn’t know what to do. Fortunately for us,
God did.
A month after losing Hailey, we got a call about a 16
month old little boy who needed a family. He’d been in
foster care since birth and was legally free (which means
parental rights were already terminated). We hesitated at
first, but God does what he does best and let us know this
little boy was meant for us and we were meant for him.
Remember that adoptive home study we had done just in
case? It was meant to be, because the night of Jared’s 3rd
birthday we got the official call saying that our family
was chosen to be Corey’s adoptive family. Jared thought
it was cool that we got him a brother for his birthday (and
a Blue’s Clue’s Thinking Chair). It was 6 weeks to the day
after we buried our little girl that Corey moved into our
home – and into our hearts. He taught us that we could
love again. We felt so blessed that our family was given
this little boy to be ours forever.
Having two boys was eventful; sports, cars, semi-trucks, etc. It took us almost two years to feel like we were going to be okay after losing Hailey. It also took us that long to have the courage to try one more time to have a child. Though our hearts ached for another little girl, we were at a place where we would be happy with whatever God gave us (as long as he or she was healthy). In 2003, we brought Chelsea into the world. We were so thrilled that God blessed us with another girl! We felt like our family was complete. We even sent out Chelsea’s birth announcements announcing that the last Hendren child had finally arrived! Well, wouldn’t you know it? God must have been smiling (and maybe even laughing just a little) for the past three years as we have been raising our family. Why? Because all along He knew there was another little girl waiting for her forever family, and that
our family would someday be preparing for her arrival.
This time, our little girl is waiting for us in China.
Turns out, our hearts have room for one more!
