John D. McArthur, Jr.

The optometrist finished his examination and entered the waiting room. "Mr. McArthur, your daughter is slightly near-sighted. I would recommend eyeglasses for her. She needs only a slight correction. It is obviously hereditary."

Candace immediately jumped into the conversation: "Both my mom and dad wear glasses!" I smiled at her statement but said nothing.

Later as we were going home I asked her if she understood needing glasses had nothing to do with us because she was adopted. Yes, she knew she was adopted but what did that have to do with needing glasses? After all, she was a part of this family wasn't she?

Indeed, Candace and her sisters are a part of our household. In the June 12, 1988 issue of The Lookout, Don Follis wrote an article entitled, "Given a New Name". It is the story of how we adopted our girls: Gypsy, Candace, Cathy and Erika, all natural sisters. But there is more to the story. God was not done with us yet.

We became interested in foster parenting in the summer of 1981 when we ministered with the Chestnut St. Church of Christ in Hoopeston, Illinois. In July of that year, Gypsy and Candace (then ages 3 and 1) were placed with us for what the family services investigator said would be approximately six months.

About two months later, the caseworker told us the natural parents were ready to receive the girls back and an unsupervised weekend visit was scheduled. During this visit, the parents left the state with the girls. Even though "abduction of children under state custody" is illegal, there was very little anyone could do. Assuming that was the end, the caseworker closed the file on the case and we went through the grieving process.

But God was not done yet. Two weeks later the parents were found, brought back to Illinois to face criminal charges, and Gypsy and Candace were returned to our care!

The next two years were a blur of bi-weekly visits by the parents, threats of physical harm to us by the natural father, three changes in case workers, and another abduction of the two girls.

The second abduction came in May, 1983 after we had hired an attorney (over the objections of the foster care agency) to settle the custody issue. This time they were gone for a month before the F.B.I. caught up with them in Los Angeles, California. Once again, God was not done and the girls were returned to us.

Meanwhile, Cathy was born in 1982 and Erika was born in 1983. They remained with their natural parents or in other foster homes however, and we were not allowed to have any contact with them.

In July 1984, we moved to Champaign, Illinois to join the Windsor Rd. Christian Church. In the fall of that year, a judge decided to return Gypsy and Candace to their natural parents.

Since Gypsy had started the first grade, the judge delayed the return to their natural parents until after the school year ended. For the next 8 months we prayed for something to happen that would allow the girls to stay with us. We did not understand how God could allow them to go back to a dangerous situation. But they did go back on June 3, 1985.

The parents of the girls were to remain under state supervision after their return and in a surprise move, the judge gave us visitation rights. In July, 1985, though, they left Illinois.

After dealing with our grief and anger a third time, we finally submitted and said, "Your will be done, Lord." And, we found that God was not done with us yet.

At the end of the summer, the girls turned up in western Kentucky where they had been sent to foster homes. When the officials in Kentucky heard our story they asked if we would be interested in getting the girls back! So, on October 3, 1985, Holly accompanied the Illinois caseworker to pick up not only Gypsy and Candace but Cathy and Erika as well.

Holly discovered on the trip back to Illinois the state was considering putting the girls into separate adoptive homes. Gypsy and Candace would be ours, they said, but Cathy and Erika would go somewhere else. We immediately filed a petition to adopt all the children.

In December, 1986 the natural father was sentenced to 50 years in prison for abuse and the mother, now divorced and remarried, terminated her own rights. Very quietly on September 8, 1987 the adoption was finalized in the judge's chambers.

Surely the Lord was done! Our family was complete and our lives full. We moved into a beautiful five bedroom home in 1988 and settled into a routine. But He was still not done.

Holly woke up early on New Year's Day, 1990 and with her hands shaking she whispered, "The test is positive!"

"What does that mean?" I mumbled only half awake.

"It means I'm pregnant!"

"Hmmprh" was all I could say and went back to sleep.

The next day Holly made an appointment with Dr. Gratkins and when the nurse called to confirm the good news, she asked, "Have you been trying long to get pregnant?"

"Try 12 years!" Holly answered holding back her tears of joy.

"Oh," replied the nurse, "then this is a miracle baby."

Before January was over, problems developed in the pregnancy. A fibroid tumor was discovered next to the baby and would eventually grow to the size of a cantaloupe. The pregnancy also caused "gestational diabetes" which, if left unchecked, could threaten the life of the unborn child.

By the end of March, most of the immediate danger was over but Holly continued to stay on a special diet and visited the doctor every couple of weeks.

Our doctor, having observed the growth and size of the baby and the tumor, decided it would not be good for Holly to go too far over her due date of August 31. So on that day, Holly entered the hospital to have labor medically induced. After 24 frustrating hours no progress in labor was seen so we were sent home. The doctor hoped labor would begin on its own during the next week.

Nothing happened that week so we began the process of inducing labor again on September 6. Discouraged and tired by mid-afternoon we decided we would not spend another night in the hospital. We were ready to tell the doctor we were going home when the nurse noticed a problem. The heart monitor attached to the baby indicated the baby's heartbeat decreased dangerously with every irregular contraction. The umbilical cord had completely wrapped itself around the baby and each contraction cut off the baby's blood supply.

For the safety of the baby, a caesarian section had to be performed. As I sat next to Holly in the operating room, we heard the doctor say, "Look at the size of that head! Look at those shoulders! It's a boy!!" I stood up to verify his claim and saw and heard the beautiful cry of life from my 8 pound 10 ounce, 22 inch long son, John Dickson McArthur, III.

Mother and baby are doing fine now. Some say he looks like his mother, others say he looks like his father and some even say he looks like his sisters. But when we look at him, we see God.

Was it just "luck" that our girls, after being abducted not once but three times, always returned to our home? Was it just a coincidence that all four came to live with us in spite of attempts to keep us away and separate them? Even though we have often heard other couples who have adopted say, "Now you'll have a baby", was it just a fluke? And did we just happen to choose a doctor who specialized in high risk and complications?

Maybe all that can be explained and rationalized away. But maybe God had something in mind all along. We don't always have the opportunity to see God's whole plan or purpose for our lives. The last twelve years have reminded us to trust God and remember: He's not done with us yet.