While talking to someone yesterday I realized that in some way or another Ava has been showing us her strength and ability to teach us since we conceived her. During pregnancy Ava was showing possible signs of abnormalities. At first the doctors told us she may have Down Syndrome. I was okay with that, I had always said I wanted to adopt a child with special needs so bring it. A couple days later the OB told us that no her test showed the possibility of Tri 18. Not going to lie this one rocked me. He painted a very grim picture and explained if she did indeed have this her life, if she even made it, would be short. It was at that moment we chose her name. We read in a baby book that Ava meant life and Parents.com told me Jayden meant God has heard. We had her name and we had our prayer. It was also then I promised Him though He’d given her to us I knew she was truly His and I would raise her to know Him fully. While I’ve always had a strong faith I can’t say I was as knowledgeable in what it meant to be a true follower of Christ until she came into our lives. Maybe because of this promise I went to work in Catholic schools? I can’t be certain, but I spent 10 years of my career there. AJ attended Catholic school until 7th grade and there were many moments when she questioned why she wasn’t named after a saint. I remember a project she had in kindergarten when she had to write a report about her saint. All the kids had some patron saint and boy was she annoyed that she didn’t. It was then I explained she was not named after a saint, but instead a living answer to our prayers. There have been countless times this girl has brought me back to my faith or reminded me through her actions what it means to be a follower of Christ. While we may not be the picture of a perfect Catholic family and none of us is anywhere near saintly, we know that God hears our prayers and that He is always faithful. He answered my first prayer for this child He lent me and I am confident He will answer it again now. Her life will be a long one, well lived, and full of blessings.

I will try and update after her procedures and apologize if I post twice today, but I had this in my heart.