(A big thank you to Satin for sharing this guest post today!)

On a hot afternoon in Las Vegas, a young woman arrived at the hospital… alone.  Within 5 minutes of arriving, the delivery of her baby was imminent. With one final push the sweet new life entered the world.  No family was there to rejoice.  No one was there to tenderly kiss the young woman on the forehead and tell her how courageous she was.  But, God was there.

I can’t imagine the how she must have felt the moment the baby was born.  Maybe she felt relief that the physical pain had finally ended.  Maybe she felt joy as the doctor announced the baby’s gender.  Maybe she even smiled at the sound of the baby’s first cry.  But, I feel certain that any joy was wrought with indescribable pain; the pain of realizing that these precious few moments were the only ones that she would have with her little girl.  She had chosen instead to allow her baby to experience the miracle of being adopted into a family… a family who had prayed for her before she was even conceived.

As this new mom rested, a family over 2200 miles away was reading an email about a one-day old baby girl from Nevada in need of a family.  They prayed for wisdom and God was there… prompting them to act.

Initially, the agency painted a pretty grim picture…
“… I don’t think you can adopt this little girl.  Nevada allows birth mom expenses and in Pennsylvania it is illegal to pay birth mom expenses….”

30 minutes later…
“…There are no birth mom expenses…”

Our profile was sent for consideration and we were chosen to be the parents of this little Vegas miracle!

Now, we needed to get our financing in place…quickly! We were approved for a loan, but had not set up a closing date.  Originally, we had been told that it could take about a week to close. So imagine my surprise when the loan officer said, “You could close this evening if you would like!”

As the loan officer went through all of the details of the loan, it became apparent that the loan we were approved for, was not the one they were planning to honor…still leaving us several thousands of dollars short of being able to finance the adoption.

My heart sank…“I don’t understand, Lord.  We were chosen by the agency, yet we can’t pay for the adoption.  Is this really the way this is going to end?”

I would be lying if I told you that my faith was strong at that moment.  I was broken and confused.  The situation seemed utterly impossible and there was nothing I could do to change it. I immediately called my mom, crying and questioning.

She reminded me that God was in control and that although the situation seemed impossible to me, it was not impossible with God.  She encouraged me to stop and pray.  So, I did…and God heard my prayer.

Within 30 minutes, two amazing families called us, each with an offer to help. One offered to temporarily finance the adoption, the other graciously offered to give us a large donation!

If that weren’t enough, the phone rang again.  It was our loan officer who had negotiated with the bank on our behalf. The outcome: A BETTER OFFER THAN THE ORIGINAL. And, our loan officer was willing to stay after hours so that we could close on our loan later that evening.

Next, we reluctantly began to look for flights. Although, we were prepared to travel, we were feeling really uncomfortable flying until mom had signed all of the papers.  I mean, “What if she changed her mind?” I decided to call the agency to give her the details of the flight my husband was in the process of booking.

Right as my husband was getting ready to push the purchase button on the computer our social worker interrupted…
“STOP!!!  Tell him not to purchase those tickets.  Mom as gone MIA. She discharged herself from the hospital and we can’t find her.  She gave me a cell number which has been disconnected. Don’t travel yet! I will begin looking for her first thing in the morning.”

The next afternoon…
“Satin, I still haven’t heard from mom… I am just praying we find her.”

About an hour later…
“…Great news, we found mom.  I am going to pick her up later today to take her to my office to sign.”

Little did we know that our social worker had started to fast and pray that mom would be found and she paid the outstanding balance on mom’s phone to have it reconnected. Fifteen minutes later, mom called her. Less than 24 hours later we were looking into the eyes of our four-day-old baby girl, whom we had prayed for all of these years. And God was there.

I must admit that initially, being in “sin-city” conjured up negative thoughts in my mind. But during my stay there, I learned that God meets people in Vegas.  Many go there looking for a second chance at a career or to party the pain away. But, by the grace of God, HE strips them of their own agendas… leaving Jesus to fill the gaping, empty hole within them.

As I looked out across the flashing lights and the neon signs brightening the night sky, I couldn’t help but to think of how Jesus adopted me many years ago. Not because I was talented enough, pretty enough, or perfect enough… but because He knew I needed his grace.  HE gave me new life and now he calls me…”HIS child.”

Looking down at the tiny frame nestled comfortably against my chest; I thanked God for our “little Las Vegas miracle.” And I thanked God for the women who had brought her into this world. I wondered how she must have felt walking out of the hospital with empty arms. My prayer is that God would meet her in Las Vegas someday too.

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(To read more about Satin’s family & their adoption, please visit her blog, Freely Adopted)