In honor of National Adoption Month, Little Rock Family will be sharing adoption stories all throughout November. We were inspired by the Barriers, a Northwest Arkansas family on a journey to adopt a young girl in Peru—and want to hear more of our reader's adoption tales! You can share your story with us by filling out the questionnaire at LittleRockFamily.com/AdoptionMonth; we’ll publish each submission on our website throughout the month.

I was a married mother of six, including infant twin girls, when God sprang it on me to begin the Peruvian adoption process in early 2014. Shock is an accurate description of what I was feeling. I was already surprised that He’d instructed me to attend a mission trip to Peru (somewhere I’d never been) just weeks earlier, which I’d signed up for. When I received the adoption revelation that evening, I shared it with my husband, Robby, who wasn’t convinced. “The timing seems way off,” he declared. He did, however, offer to pray about it, but he now willingly admits that he thought I was wrong. Only days later he came home from work, looked me in the eyes, and stated, “God gave me a dream.” In that dream, he said, God affirmed that we are to adopt a little girl from Peru and then he told Robby the name of the child.

Shortly thereafter we were welcomed by an adoption agency. We then announced our plans on social media and I soon received a comment from a stranger, who asked me to email her. I did and discovered that this individual, Anna, was an advocate for the adoption of a specific child in Peru. On her blog she’d written about the child and posted two photos. I clicked the link and saw the child she’d described: an adorable, pig-tailed 4-year-old girl with the pseudonym, Lene (for safety reasons). I quickly learned that Lene has Down syndrome and congenital heart disease. I continued reading and a strange feeling came over me when I read the following:

“She will be 4 years old on March 8th. What if her family committed then? That's my prayer…”

On March 8th of the previous year, I’d had an on-my-face prayer session where I heard God clearly speak, “I’m going to use your family to display my miracles.” The date of that powerful revelation was so important to me that I walked around for a week with “March 8th” written on my palm. When I read that March 8th was not only Lene’s birthday, but also Anna’s, it got my attention. I wondered, “What was the date that God told me to adopt?” I immediately scrambled for my journal, where I record all of my significant moments with the Lord, and found the entry:

God told me to adopt on March 8th.

At once I realized that Lene just might be our daughter. I phoned my friend, who has adopted from Peru, and shared everything. She inspected the picture of Lene and said, “The background of the photo reminds me of my daughter’s old orphanage in Iquitos, although there are hundreds of orphanages in Peru and that would be crazy.”

I emailed Anna back to ask if she knew where Lene lives. Within minutes she’d replied, “She lives in a small city in Peru that’s only reachable by plane or boat. It’s called Iquitos.” The blood drained from my face. Iquitos was the very city I was traveling to on a mission trip in just three months! As if that wasn’t astonishing enough, I nearly collapsed from shock at Anna’s next words, “Oh and her real name is ____.” It was the exact name that God had given to Robby in his dream! At that moment I knew in my heart that Lene is indeed our daughter.

That summer I traveled to Peru on the mission trip and was miraculously connected with Lene not once, but twice. I was able to spend time with her, create a bond, and be a part of something extraordinary. My family and I have just formally asked Central Authority in Peru for permission to adopt Lene. We are awaiting their response, which could take months. Currently we’re raising the remaining funds it will take to bring her home by her 6th birthday in March. She deserves to finally be home.

Amber is a happily married, 32-year-old, mom to six (#7 coming soon via adoption!). She resides in Northwest Arkansas with her family and her beloved chickens. Read more about her family’s adventures at AMerryChaos.Blogspot.com.