I never in a million years dreamed that infertility would bring me true, genuine, deep friendships with people that were once complete strangers to me.

But over the past almost five years, God has blessed my life with several new friendships. The common thread between us all?

Infertility and adoption.

God has even granted me the privilege of meeting in person many of these new friends.

Melissa started reading my blog years ago. When it was clear God was calling them to adopt, she emailed me, and our friendship has grown from there.

March 26th, I flew to Atlanta and got to spend two days with Melissa while she and her husband, Ryan, were there on business!!

It is absolutely crazy to me how connected you can feel to someone you have never personally met but who has walked the same road as you: infertility and adoption.

We hung out for two days as if we had known each other for years.

We did get to site see in Atlanta, but one of the biggest highlights for me was being able to hear Melissa tell her story and how God has brought them to where they are today. I had read pieces of her story on her blog and through email, but being able to sit down in person and talk about what God has done in each of our lives concerning our infertility was just so very special to me.

I caught a red eye flight to Atlanta and arrived before 8am! Melissa was there to pick me up. As I got off the plane I sent Melissa a text that said: I’m the girl with the big, red purse (and red eyes)!

I was able to see the sunrise from the airplane. That was a beautiful sight. Creation really does proclaim a Creator. No way any of this “just happened”.

We rode the shuttle from the airport to the hotel and spent the morning at the hotel restaurant eating breakfast and talking for about two hours straight!

We spent the rest of that day going to Underground Atlanta, lunch at Joe’s and lots more talking.

The next day we had some site seeing planned:

The Coke Factory and the Aquarium!!

I had never been to either and enjoyed getting to see something new with Melissa. We had so much fun that day.

We got to taste different Coke products from around the world which was very interesting. We both liked the Apple coke from China (where Melissa is adopting from!).

The Aquarium was a lot of fun too. We were worried we wouldn’t get to see much of it because we had to get back to the hotel in time for me to get to the airport, but we ended up being able to see everything except the 3D show!

We even crawled through this tunnel (for kids!) to get up close and personal with the penguins. This boy (probably about 10 years old) was in the tunnel with us and we asked him to take a picture of us. He said, “Uh, I don’t have my camera.” and then scampered off. We chuckled and then took this picture ourselves.

There were so many beautiful sea animals.

After the Aquarium we got back to the hotel in time for me to ride the shuttle back to the airport for my 6:30pm flight.

I am so grateful for that time with Melissa. Crazy as it may seem (since we met over the internet….oooo!), Melissa is a friend for life. (Melissa and Ryan met over the internet too! ) She is such an encouragement to me and I wait with great expectation to see how God is going to unfold the next chapter of her story as she welcomes her daughter or son through the miracle of adoption.

- Elaine