For those of you who don't know

        I have debated for a long time to share this in my blog. Not that it is any kind of secret, as it has been preached about and talked about my whole life, but the sheer fact it has never come from my prospective. However the older I get the more comfortable I find myself being able to open my heart on this part of my life, which happens to be the biggest most life changing part, my adoption.
        The Lord has had his hand on my life since the moment he created me, never letting me face harm even when I was in harms way. I was born July 1, 1986 in Mobile Alabama. It wasn't until a few years ago when I was curious about details like height and weight that I discovered from the hospital records I wasn't even born in the hospital, but "via in route" to the hospital. That information appears to be false as I also discovered from an older brother that I talked to for the first time in my life since I was adopted that he was the one who delivered me, right on the front steps of the house.
          Myself along with 4 other siblings lived in poverty. Over the years as I've grown, the more mature I became the more information my parents would share with me the aspects of my life. The area I came from is called Birdville. When I moved back to Alabama from Cincinnati my husband drove us there and around the area, and my heart became overwhelmed with the grace God gave me in my life. My birth mother was not the kind of mother you would imagine as one should be. Although I don't remember, all of the children were placed outside of her home because of her actions. For 2 and a half years angels walked with me day by day, played in the projects with me, and watched over me each and ever night. As I was spending my days hiding food and walking around in boys underwear a married couple on the other side of town was grieving the loss of their unborn son. Sam & Donna Luke had spent over 10 years trying to conceive and they were ecstatic to be proud parents to be. At full term their son John Henry was born stillborn. With no heartbeat or a breath in his lungs my mother delivered a son they would never have to raise. Little did they know they would raise the little girl wearing torn clothes and dirt stained feet. In the middle of the night an officer came a knockin, and I went from a house to a home. My parents fell in love with me, I could not have been sent to a better, more loving home, and before long my adoption was in full speed. There are a lot of people who were involved in this process to give thanks to, our family and friends for all their prayers and support, but someone who I have to thank the most is my birth mother for letting me go. She made what I believe is the best decision of her life, to let me go. She gave me the gift of having a life I would have never even been able to imagine had she not allowed me to leave.
       After my adoption, my childhood was spent in Mobile Alabama. It was an amazing childhood, dancing in the ballets, riding around in the wheel barrel collecting watermelons with my next door neighbor, playing in the chicken coop while my dad played cowboy, being the pastors daughter at our church and building sandcastles with my little boyfriend Joel.
Joel and I were like two peas in a pod, played together and got in trouble together. Many days we were either on the swing set swinging away in the summer sun or hiding out in our dad's offices at school. We both kinda had a thing for skipping out on being in class, and we took full advantage of our father's positions,
        The time came though for my family to move and we packed up for Cincinnati Ohio. As sad as I was to leave my friends, I adjusted fairly quickly. The voices, food, and people were all different, and soon I became different too. As I grew I became a northerner. I love Ohio. I love where I was raised. It was a good place the live. Cincinnati is a beautiful city, with a lively spirit and a rich heritage. 20 miles one way and you're on the peaceful countryside, 20 miles the other way in you're in the big city made of bright lights. The summers are hot, riding roller coasters all day at kings island and tubing on the lake. The fall is breathtaking, my favorite season. Trees are colored in gold, red, and orange. The perfect time to take advantage of the outdoors and explore its beauty. Its the best time for bonfires, a comfy sweatshirt and tying corn stalks to the front post of your house. Then there is the winter, and I do believe everyone in the north has mixed emotions about this one. Yes it gets very cold, below freezing, the roads are sometimes impossible to drive on thanks to the ice, and you just about encounter hypothermia on your way home because the heat in your car doesn't warm up enough until you have gotten to your destination. Yet there is something very magical about that first morning you wake up and look out your window to find a blanket of white snow over your yard. The comforting feeling there is being warm inside the  wrapped in your favorite blanket drinking a hot cup of coffee as the snow falls down. And of course being off from school for days at a time because cars are buried in snow, it makes the perfect time to go sledding with all of your friends. When spring comes you're so happy just to see the ground and you even feel a little flutter when grass turns green. Its the rainy days you get that flavor in your mouth for a bowl of  Skyline Chili, a Cincinnati delicacy.
     I thought I would be in Ohio forever. I thought whatever life had for me it was going to be there and I just had to hope I would find it. Being a young adult sure was, and can still be difficult. I had no idea God had my future in his hands, and it sure wasn't in Ohio. Trying to find my way in life I went down a path that led me to many unwise choices. It wasn't until I was 23 when I began to see God was in control and if I let him take the reins he would bless me.
     My 24th birthday in July wasn't anything too special. It wasn't what most would call a landmark in birthday history. But for me it was the birthday among all birthdays. It was the day my old boyfriend from Alabama called me to wish me a happy birthday. But.......I didn't answer. It wasn't until the next day I listened to my voicemails and heard the steamiest....jaw dropping.... make your heart stop country voice. I was in complete shock, I hadn't talked to this boy since I was six years old. I thought for sure over the years he had forgotten about me, I just didn't even know what to think, but one thing I did know...I wanted to call him back. I called him back, and we quickly started chatting all the time, texting all day, but never thinking I was going to really meet him. Whelp.....the next month we both boarded a plane and met in Virginia. It was love at first sight.
Being in Virginia became a life changing trip, less than a month later we were engaged and married 3 months later. The most perfect important day of my life was in no other place than Mobile Alabama.
I found my way home, back where I'm from, back to the south. I came full circle. It might have taken 18 years, but the Lord had a plan all along.
     Now, I absolutely love living here in Alabama. Way of life is much simpler here, much slower. I live in the countryside, where its proper to say y'all, words are long, the tea is sweet, but not as sweet as the old ladies in our church. The roads are covered by a canopy of gorgeous moss covered oaks and the azaleas are bursting blooms of pink. Life is simply beautiful here, and having my Godly, caring, not to mention devastating handsome husband makes it as if I live in a dream. Life is an adventure, I love the road I'm on, I can't wait to see what God has in store for my husband and I, I know he has even more blessings for us.

~ Sarah Barnhill