It's Been Five Years.

Last night, I was out with some friends and one of them said something about how something happened this same weekend a year ago because it was DNOW this weekend last year. It got me thinking about past DNOWs, and I remembered that it had been a DNOW weekend when I found out some pretty interesting stuff about my biological family. I did the math, and I figured out it had been five years since that DNOW weekend. Five years. Really? I couldn't believe it.

Five years ago I found out that these sweet people are more than just sweet people. They're a HUGE part of the reason why I'm here today. They're my birth mom's parents. My biological grandparents. (Pretty positive that my grandpa is pinching me on my back or something like that which would result in the awkward smile/laugh combo I have going on.)

When I think about where I was five years ago and where I am today with the whole adoption/biological parents issue, I can only believe that God has been walking down this path with me. Five years ago, I never would have imagined that I would be spending my entire spring break of my sophomore year of college with parts of my biological family. It can only be because God went before me and planned for all of this to happen, because, trust me, I wouldn't have chosen this path on my own.

I still remember the Monday after I found out about my grandparents being my biological grandparents. I was at school and for some reason we didn't have to work out during P.E. I remember sitting in the gym, spilling my heart out to Chelsea about the whole thing. She listened and gave advice when needed, but she mainly just listened, which was exactly what I needed her to do that day (so grateful that she still listens to me about this crazy stuff to this day!). For me, as a 15 year old girl who thought she knew everything about everything, life had been turned upside down. I really had never even imagined looking for my biological parents one day, so finding out that I had known my biological grandparents my ENTIRE life was crazy confusing to me.

Five years later, I look back on what God has shown me during this journey. He's shown me just how sovereign He is, by removing me from a bad situation and putting me with two loving, godly parents. He's shown me that He has me right where He wants me, which is something that I sometimes question, but I know I shouldn't. He put me here, with my people, who have graciously walked this journey with me and will continue to! He knew that I would embark on a crazy journey my senior year of high school, to contact and eventually meet my BD, and He put just the right people in my life during that journey.

Five years later, I'm even more grateful for my BM's parents than I ever thought I could be. I know I was grateful for them back then, but now I am even more so. They've loved me, they've supported me, and they've shown me that despite the fact that this is a weird situation, they love me just like they do their other grandkids.

Five years later, I'm glad that I've had these past five years and that I've been able to do exactly what the Lord had planned for me. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me for the next five years!