life Archives - Prayer Wine Chocolate https://prayerwinechocolate.com/tag/life/ a spiritual journey to motherhood & beyond Fri, 09 Feb 2024 13:52:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 https://prayerwinechocolate.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/cropped-editwine-32x32.jpg life Archives - Prayer Wine Chocolate https://prayerwinechocolate.com/tag/life/ 32 32 99893247 Dear Beautiful Woman Considering Adoption https://prayerwinechocolate.com/dear-beautiful-woman-considering-adoption/ https://prayerwinechocolate.com/dear-beautiful-woman-considering-adoption/#comments Tue, 31 May 2016 12:32:12 +0000 https://www.prayerwinechocolate.com/?p=5044 We know you are facing one of life’s unexpected challenges. Please do not give up hope.

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As I am sure you know, sometimes life throws unexpected curves and unplanned challenges.

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We know you are facing one of life’s unexpected challenges. Please do not give up hope.

For Matt and I, we both faced many challenges before we met.  One was the challenge of wondering:  will we ever find someone to share our life with?

Then we found one another, and were eager to start a family right away. And life through us another unexpected challenge. We did not give up hope when becoming parents did not come easily or quickly.

Matt and I believe that hope is so important.

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We hope you pray about this decision and find peace in those prayers.

We hope you find people to talk to that really listen and show you all of your options.

We hope you dream of a happy future.

We hope you consider us when choosing a life for your child.

We are a very faithful Catholic couple. We truly believe God has a plan for us, for you and for your baby. We were blessed with a little boy through adoption, who will be a gentle and loving big brother. He loves making people laugh.

We know you are facing one of life’s unexpected challenges. Please do not give up hope. Please consider Matt and I when choosing parents for this child. The love and joy we have waiting in our hearts can not be expressed in words. It will shine through in huge smiles, lots of hugs and plenty of fun adventures and everyday blessings.

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Our dream is to have children who make happy memories together through their childhood, and become the best of friends into adulthood and throughout their entire lives. We find joy in just making each other laugh every day. We plan trips to the beach every year. Being with other people is always on the calendar, and thankfully, we have a loving family and a large group of friends that allow us to always have something to look forward too.

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We feel compelled to share our love and blessings with another child. 

We are so glad you made the brave decision to consider adoption for your baby.

We feel honored that you listened to our story.  We hope you found comfort in our words.  

Hold on to hope!

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Sincerely,

Amy and Matt

We can be reached by a call or text at 215-550-1957

Learn more about us on our adoption website and our Facebook Page

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God Hears Us: A Spiritual Adoption Miracle {Free Printable} https://prayerwinechocolate.com/god-hears-us-a-spiritual-adoption-miracle-free-printable/ https://prayerwinechocolate.com/god-hears-us-a-spiritual-adoption-miracle-free-printable/#comments Thu, 17 Mar 2016 11:42:42 +0000 https://www.prayerwinechocolate.com/?p=2486 I questioned the bullhorn tactic. Another woman who had been standing quietly the entire time with a pair of Rosaries chimed in . .
"Sometimes these girls are praying for a sign on the way here. We might be the sign they prayed for."

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Prayer Abortion

My nerves were on edge as I pulled into the parking lot near the Planned Parenthood clinic. As I got myself and my three-year-old son out of the car, I made sure to grab some rosaries. I had been told to have them in my hand so the PP escort wouldn’t think I was there for an appointment . . . which would have been slightly awkward, to say the least.

I felt like I was walking onto a spiritual battlefield.

God loves us talking to Him. Prayers Matter and they do make a difference.

Let me start from the beginning.  This is a true story about answered prayer.  And when I talk about prayer, I mean both the formal kind and the informal kind.  Both kinds were answered for me this year in such an incredible way!  I feel the need to tell the whole world (or anyone who will listen)!

Last year I started saying some prayers for women considering abortion.  As I laid down to to sleep at night, I asked God to give these women hope and a support network.  I asked God to help them not be afraid and to desire life for their unborn children.pregnantpic.jpeg

Then one day I was walking up stairs with a load of laundry and a thought occurred to me.  “I know I don’t love these women as much as God loves them . . . how can my prayers help them?”

A short time later I found the Spiritual Adoption Prayer.  I printed it out.  My husband and I agreed to adopt a baby girl, and give her the name we have longed to give a daughter for years now.  It’s not a popular name, and we hesitated to share it.  This blog post will be the first time we allow our favorite name for a baby girl to go public.

We named her Jaina Therese.

The first day we prayed for Jaina was May 7, 2015.

In the meantime we are announcing to the world that we have an approved home study and we are hoping to adopt a newborn.  We don’t have the money this time around to adopt through an agency, but if someone knows someone and we get connected with a young woman who would like to make an adoption plan we could do a private adoption.  We have an excellent adoption attorney.  We tell everyone we know and ask them to tell everyone they know.bestfamilypic1.jpg

But, no luck.

We aren’t making any connections.  My mind and heart go back to the women who find themselves pregnant and decide to terminate their pregnancies.  I start wondering if I stood in front of an abortion clinic with a sign that says, Unplanned Pregnancy? We want to adopt if it would inspire a woman to consider adoption and choose life.

Up until this point in my life, I had never stood outside an abortion clinic or Planned Parenthood to pray or protest.  I had always been pro-life in my heart, but I had never even seen an abortion clinic.

I start doing some research.  I wanted to see if any Pro-Life groups stood in front of the Planned Parenthood that is a ten minute drive from my home.  I certainly wasn’t going to go alone.  I discovered there was a small group that prayed on Fridays.  I went to the store and bought a poster board.  I took a marker and in my handwriting I wrote Unplanned Pregnancy? We want to adopt.

It looked bad.

graphic inviting readers to sign up for two free downloads - one is a prayer the other is a Wine and chocolate pairing sheet with room to write prayer intetions
Spiritual Adoption Prayer Print and more

But I still planned on going.  And one August morning, I decided this was the day.  My son slept in (which never happened).  I packed up some cereal and dressed him.  Out the door we went.  I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss the people who prayed the Rosary.  My fear was once they were done, they would leave and I wouldn’t get a chance to stand there with my sign.

My hope was more to save a life than to find our baby that day.  My gut and my heart tell me that women who go to abortion appointments really do not want to be there.

I made sure I brought Rosaries, because I was told that an escort might think I am there for an appointment and start walking me into the building.  That would be awkward!

I was so nervous when I got there.  I grabbed my Rosaries, took my son out of his car seat and my sign out of the trunk.  I felt like I was walking onto a spiritual battlefield.

A Bullhorn and a Lollipopmegaphone.jpg Woman holding a bullhorn/megaphone

Not long after I arrived, a woman started talking through a bullhorn.  She was saying, “we have someone here who will adopt your child” . .. she said other things too, but I was grabbing my son’s hand and briskly walking away.  I felt so uncomfortable and thought, “A bullhorn?  Really?  Who is going to respond to a bullhorn?  There must be a better way.”

Mary was the woman with the bullhorn.  Once she was done pleading with the young girl to not go into the clinic, I returned to speak with her.  I questioned the bullhorn tactic. Another woman who had been standing quietly the entire time with a pair of Rosaries chimed in . .

“Sometimes these girls are praying for a sign on the way here.  We might be the sign they prayed for.”

As we talked, the unexpected happened.

The young woman whom Mary was pleading with through the bullhorn walked out of the clinic with her mother. They walked towards us.  They kept walking towards us.  Then four of us were hugging (Mary ,”Anne”, her mother and me).  We all started to cry.  It was an incredible moment.

After that initial hug, “Anne’s” mom said, “she needs a place to stay.”  Mary immediately picked up her cell phone and started making phone calls.  I introduced myself.  I asked “Anne” where she was from.  She told me and I responded, “That’s really far away, why did you come here?”

Anne responded, “The clinic near me will only do them (abortions) up until 13 weeks, 6 days.  I’m 13 weeks, 8 days” – or something like that.  I know she said 13 weeks and then the days were more than 7 – so I remember figuring out in my head that she was in her 14th week of pregnancy.

I continued talking to “Anne” and the entire time my son was saying “Mom, Mom, Mom.” At one point I picked him up and continued talking to Anne and her mother.  My son, still saying Mom over and over again, moved my face with his hands so that I would look at him.  He said, “I want to go to A Baby’s Breath“.  I responded, “Why do you want to go to A Baby’s Breath – because they

have lollipops?”.  He said, “YES!!!”.miraclelollypop.jpg Child holding a dum dum lollypos.  You can only see his hands and his body from the waist down.  He is wearing a spiderman jacket.

I then look at “Anne”.  Anne opens her pocketbook, takes out two lollipops.  One for my son, and one for her.  It was an awesome moment, and I was smiling ear to ear and thanking her.

Two days later I am in my kitchen sweeping.  I think, “Anne” was about 14 weeks pregnant, I wonder how many weeks ago we started praying the Spiritual Adoption Prayer.  I then counted.

Exactly 14 weeks and one day before I met “Anne” was May 7th – the day we began to pray the Spiritual Adoption Prayer.  My jaw dropped, I got the chills and I probably said wow more than once.

Could this be the baby we spiritually adopted?  Was “Anne” pregnant with a baby girl? Would she name her Jaina?

My husband, son and I continued to pray the Spiritual Adoption prayer every night after Grace before meals.

Fast forward Five Months

At the end of January I started to wonder how “Anne” was doing and if Mary was still in touch with her.  I called Mary and asked.  Mary said “Anne” is doing great.  She also told me “It’s a girl, did you know it’s a girl?”

Huh.  How about that.  We had been praying for a girl – but it’s either a girl or a boy, so that could be a coincidence, right?

I reminded Mary about the Spiritual Adoption Prayer and how we were praying for a girl and that we named her.

That night at dinner I told Matt that I talked to Mary. She said “Anne” is doing well and she is pregnant with a girl.  I then said to Matt “I wonder if she will name her Jaina .”

The text that made Mary do a double-take

About a week later, Mary checked in with Anne through a text message.  After a few days
“Anne” responded.  In the text, “Anne” thanked Mary for being at the right place at the right time.

She also said she “can’t wait for my daughter J-A-N-A to be born.”

Mary checked the text again. Who was it from?  Does it really say that name???

She called me to tell me.

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From God’s Plan To Your Plan: A Bible Study for Boys

I can’t explain how I felt.  I thought, “well yeah, that’s her name” and “WOW. WOW. WOW.” simultaneously.

Jana was born healthy on February 15, 2016.  Mary and I are hoping we can meet her, hold her and tell “Anne” this story.

I am so grateful and humbled that the Lord allowed me to have this experience.  I am sure He gave me this experience knowing that I would tell anyone who will listen, and I will advocate and plea with you to spiritually adopt an unborn baby.  This prayer works.  This prayer saves lives.  This prayer gives a mother hope.

Will you join me and pray for an unborn baby?  The incredibly talented Meg Florkowski created this printable. I encourage you to print it out, name the baby and hang it up on the fridge.  I would love if you commented below – did you choose to adopt a boy or a girl?  What name did you choose?

The Spiritual Adoption prayer - this is what the free prayer print looks like

Indoor mall in background - text says "Catholic Mall yes please" links to catholic shop page on catholicinfluencers website

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