Christmas Changed In A Hurry For Mike And Tiffany ...

Christmas changed in a hurry for Mike and Tiffany Bailey from one year to the next. In 2001, their neat house with the white picket fence was fairly quiet. Like all of their past Christmas seasons, Mike and Tiffany had gone to parties, exchanged gifts, attended family get-togethers, and prayed for children of their own. The years had gone by, and it was obvious that children weren’t going to come by the natural way. Therefore, they pursued adoption. As Christmas approached in 2002, it seemed as though adoption pursued them. The call came, and the voice on the other end of the line said the Bailey’s could now have their family, if they really wanted it.“A child for us?” they asked excitedly. “No, children for you.” “How many?” they asked. “Five,” came the answer.“Five?”

They talked about it, laughed about it, and soon traveled to the foster home that had their instant family waiting on them. Bethany was waiting. So was Elizabeth. Sonny, Marie and Suzette were also waiting. All five of these small children looked at the couple from Fort Valley, Georgia, and the Bailey’s looked at them. The smiles were instantaneous, and it was no time at all before the children called her mom, and him, papa. When they arrived home, Mike and Tiffany had a completely different lifestyle. There were clothes to buy, meals to prepare, cheeks to kiss, boys to wrestle, rules to learn, and games to be played. At this point, every moment Mike and Tiffany have seems to be devoted to learning how to be parents, five children at the time. Can you imagine what it must have been like to have adopted 5 children into your home- all at once?

It might be an understatement, but the Christmas of 2002 was radically different from anything this Mike and Tiffany had ever known before. Adoption changed everything!