Lynchburg Living

Editor's Letter

Her name is Abigail Grace, and if you didn’t know any better, you’d think that she is just another beautiful, big-cheeked baby with an abundance of enviable black hair. But I know better.

Abigail is the result of many hours of prayer and many joyous and fearful tears cried. She is the daughter my boss, Josh Oppenheimer and his wife, Mindy, had been waiting for and dreaming about for years, even though she is not biologically their own. Abigail’s story is one of two teenage parents ill-equipped for life with a baby and two adult ones more than ready to add another to their family of four.

It’s funny how things work out. Josh and Mindy went through a painful adoption process before Abigail, coming so close to bringing home a baby—a little boy—before the adoption fell through at the last minute. To say the least, they were heart-broken. But it was heartbreak with a purpose because Abigail was on the horizon, though they had no way of knowing it at the time.

Josh and Mindy have two adorable sons, Nathan and Caleb, but their desire for a large family was put to the test when they couldn’t conceive after Caleb. After many discussions and a good amount of soul-searching, they turned to Bethany Family Services to begin the adoption process back in 2008. In May of 2009, they brought baby Abigail home.

The Oppenheimers are far from the only adoption story in our area. In fact, they are part of a vast network of adoptive families who came to their adopted children in many different ways. During this season of giving and receiving, we at Lynchburg Living could think of no better story to tell than the one of a few of those who have received one of the greatest gifts of all—a child. We hope you enjoy the stories of the families represented. Perhaps it will give hope to a family out there that is still waiting to bring that little boy or girl home. Or maybe, it will make parents like Josh and Mindy hug all of their children a little tighter this Christmas, knowing that each one of them is an irreplaceable treasure.

Happy Holidays,

Johanna Calfee