"And the Lord opened the adoption door first," Rachel said.RELATED: Nurse adopts the abandoned baby with a rare birth defect she helped save Knowing it's much more difficult for adoption agencies to find homes for non-Caucasian children, Aaron and Rachel explained how they had a heart for creating a racially diverse home. And soon they adopted a little boy and little girl, both with darker skin than their own.
"We believe when you look into any human’s eyes, you look into the face of an image-bearer of God – into the eyes of a person whose soul is eternal. While that is the common thread of all humanity, it doesn’t mean our racial differences are insignificant. We see the human family’s varying physical characteristics as awesome reminders of God’s creative brilliance. It’s not that we think race doesn’t exist, or that we don’t see it. In fact, it’s the opposite – we see it, and we embrace it," Aaron said.The Halbert's happy home soon grew again. But this time through the process of embryo adoption. [/slide]
"If Christians – or others – really believe life begins at conception, it follows that we should respond by being willing to support embryo adoption and even take part in it ourselves," Aaron explained.This would be a way for Rachel to experience pregnancy while rescuing the tiny lives waiting in the leftover embryos created during in-vitro fertilization. [rsnippet id="2"]
"The beauty of a multi-ethnic family is. . . in the fact that the differences are the very thing that make ours richer and fuller. It forces you to think in a new way about the way you think, speak, act and live," Aaron said.Through IVF, Rachel had two adopted African-American embryos implanted. The couple then had to wait and see if the transfer would be successful. RELATED: Couple adopts triplets, then mom-to-be finds out she's pregnant with twins Six weeks later at their follow up appointment, they got miraculous news. Not only had the implant succeeded, but one of the embryos split. Rachel was pregnant with triplets!
"We knew, especially in the South, that a white couple with non-white children would draw a myriad of different reactions. There will always be the older white woman in Walmart who stared at us with sheer disgust, or the African-American mother who looked at us and just shook her head," Aaron said.RELATED: Rude comment at grocery store has mom asking "Are you really pro-life?" While this beautiful family will always have to face those who don't agree with their diversity, that's okay. They aren't seeking approval by the world's standards. They know their differences are gifts from the Creator.
"One of the central themes of Christianity is, after all, that God, through His Son, is calling people from every tongue, tribe and nation. Grasping diversity will make the world stronger as we marvel at God’s creative genius on display through His people’s varying pigments, personalities and proficiencies," Aaron explains beautifully.This incredible family is the picture of love. And that's what's important. It's more than Aaron and Rachel could have ever imagined when they first started dating."Our differences are cause for celebration, not scorn."
"I can remember a friend going through the adoption process telling me he had always wanted his family to look like a little United Nations," Aaron recalls. "As I look at my growing family, I prefer to take it a step further, daring to hope that our family picture is a little hint of Heaven."