Once Upon a Time...Stories about Life, Family, Faith, and Love!

  Hello out there! The weather report for this evening is...Hot, and the later it gets, it will still be hot, but a few degrees less hot. It is 6:15 pm (CST) and it is 100 degrees, it will cool down to 97 degrees at 8 pm and then by 10:00 pm it will 90 degrees. Looking on the bright side of things, the sky is a beautiful blue with some fluffy white clouds overhead! 

I think it is important to share good news, and positive, productive ideas. I've had to pray the Serenity Prayer a lot lately:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change

 the courage to change the things I can

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Amen.

Today's blog post/story is going to be about my adoption. Sometimes the best way to reach people is to share your own story. And this story, is one of my favorites! It's been almost four years since I've shared this story. 

Are you ready? Let me tell you a story! 

Dad and the Banker

I've always loved the stories about my adoption. When I was a little girl, my dad would tell me how they got the call sooner than they expected, and how they had to stop and buy diapers, bottles and clothes on the way to get me from the hospital. My mom, dad, big brother and my grandmother all drove from Stephenville, TX where my grandparents lived, to Ft. Worth, TX to pick me up! My dad would say that they picked me out special from all of the babies in the hospital, of course as I grew older I realized that part of the story was a very sweet addition. When I started asking more detailed questions, my mom said that my birth mother wasn't able to take care of me, and so she gave me to a family who could. My mom also told me that being adopted was special, and that I should always be thankful, and I am.
After I grew up and had a family of my own, my dad told me how they paid for my adoption.
I was born in the evening on December 30, 1963. My parents received a phone call on New Year's Eve morning that there was a baby girl ready for them. Not expecting the call quite so soon, they had to come up with the money so that they could bring me home. I need to give you a little history here so that you get the whole picture.
My dad was a science teacher in Sudan, TX. He also drove the school bus. Sudan is a very small town close to Lubbock, TX. My dad called the banker in Sudan to request a loan, and told him that he needed the money immediately. The banker asked if he had any collateral and Dad said, "Just my name." So the banker asked my dad why he needed the money and my dad told him that they were trying to adopt a baby girl and they were supposed to pick me up on January 2.
This is my favorite part, the banker said, "Well, go and get her, we'll figure it out when you get home." Isn't that awesome, I love it!  I also have an old, yellowed newspaper clipping from the Sudan newspaper telling all about the baby shower that the wonderful, gracious people gave my parents. The clipping says "Little Miss Sharla Kay, recently adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. Nelson, was the honoree at a shower on Saturday afternoon at the home of....."
Just writing about this makes me emotional, I've been so blessed. There is just no way to describe how thankful I am for my life. But what breaks my heart is that you don't hear about adoption anymore, unless it's for an animal. We need to get the message out there that adoption is and should be the only other option. So many couples aren't able to have children, and want children.
Children are gifts from God, they are not a choice, they are a life.
I love that story, and I pray that there will be more people like that banker. I pray that we
will be able to get the adoption message out there. I look at my children and my grandchildren
and I am just so thankful that I was given the chance to grow up and share my story. Adoption
is a loving life option and adoption saves generations!

I was a happy baby girl! So thankful - so blessed!

 

I'm going to add one more of my stories below: Actually, it's two stories!

Respecting Life from Conception to Natural Death - 2 Stories!

1. Respecting life from conception to natural death begins with our own families. Being pro-life means that you understand that planned or unplanned, a baby is a baby. I was adopted when I was three days old, really at birth, but my parents couldn't come and take me home until I was three days old. I grew up knowing that I was adopted and my parents explained how much I was loved and I have always been very thankful for my life. I'm a joyful, glass is half-full type of gal! I love to laugh and sing and am definitely a people person! Now, getting back to the reason for this story. When my husband and I got married I was expecting our first child. Abortion had been legal for ten years. Having an abortion never even entered my mind. I was and am very blessed to have a wonderful husband. We immediately picked a date and planned a small wedding. Fast forward to a couple of decades later. Our adult children are very supportive of my pro-life work. In 2006 we were blessed with three precious grandchildren, two of them were unplanned. That summer all three of our children and their children were at our home. I took a picture of the three grandbabies together. Years later, after I became involved in the pro-life mission I thought about that picture and so many more pictures with all ten of our grandchildren. They are all such gifts! We are so blessed! We are thankful for each and every one of our ten grandchildren. One time someone asked me why I fought so hard, why I cared so much. I started thinking about all the statistics I know and then I said, "Let me tell you a story." This woman knows my children and my grandchildren. After I finished my story I asked her which two of my grandchildren shouldn't be here? Could she pick out the ones that weren't planned? She began to cry and squeezed my hand as tears streamed down my cheeks also. I've learned through the years that sometimes you have to tell your own life story for people to understand why you do what you do. I've actually had people who don't know me say, "You're pro-life until it happens to you or to your kids!" And my reply has always been, "Do you have a minute? Let me tell you a story."

 2. Respecting life until natural death - I've spoken to some RCIA classes about my pro-life work. I shared the following story on January 19, 2019

On Thursday, January 10th, I was blessed to share my pro-life message with the
RCIA Class at Sacred Heart. The core part of my message was that we need to
respect life from conception through natural death. I get pretty animated when I speak.
I walk back and forth and my hands are this way and that way - sometimes I make
people laugh (especially when I share my, "You might be Catholic if" stories) and
sometimes the truth of what I say will bring tears to your eyes (and mine too). I talk
about my adoption story and how thankful I am for my life. I share pictures of my
children and grandchildren because I want people to understand that adoption saves
generations. The grim reality on the other hand is that abortion ends generations.
I shared a story about my father this time - it's the first time I've spoken about it
publicly. The story is about respecting life until natural death.
I have to tell you this - when I sat down today I really wasn't sure what I was going to
write about and I'm constantly amazed at the words, the memories that God places
on my heart. So...let me tell you another story:

If you've read the stories from my blog you know that my mother died when I was twelve.
My dad was the sweetest man and he took such good care of my mom, she had cancer
and was sick for a long time. When I moved away from home, got married and was
blessed with a family of my own, my dad would come and visit.
He would go and visit my brother and his family and then come and stay with us.
I have so many memories of him being with us. He would sit at the bar in the kitchen
and chop onions and peel potatoes for me when I was cooking. He liked to watch TV and
in the fall he would shell pecans for me as he watched the football games. He would run
errands with me and we had the best visits - always talking! My dad developed
Alzheimer's in his later years. He had stopped calling me by name about three years
before he died. He recognized me but whether he realized I was his daughter or not I
don't know. I cherish our visits. He lived in a nursing home for the last year and a half
of his life. I would go and see him and put an old movie on - we loved watching
John Wayne Westerns and old war movies. Our favorite John Wayne movie was,
"McClintock." Jim would always buy candy bars before he would stop in to see dad.
He loved seeing his great grandchildren, his eyes would light up.
My brother and his wife would come and visit and he was always so happy to see
everyone. I don't know who dad remembered or if he remembered that we were his
children. The point I stressed was that whether my dad remembered who I was or not,
I knew who he was - he was my sweet dad and I will always be thankful for the time
I spent with him.

The End!

And as always,

                          Peace and blessings to you and yours, near and far, wherever you are!

Bye for now, Sharla