She Inspires Me--Kimberly Hurst Glover

Sorry about the picture. Those of you who follow my blog may have noticed, I have added a couple buttons on my sidebar. I just discovered some lovely websites about adoption, and I had to share. But more on that later. And you will see, this post has two parts, because I will be addressing the other "woman" who inspires me relating to this same experience in my life. This is a topic I have been wanting to cover for months, but I hadn't found the right way to do it.

Here we are, it is officially Adoption Awareness Month, and the perfect opportunity for me to express my gratitude for some awesome women in my life.

A little shout out here for Kristy Black who inadvertantly led me to these sites, which inspired me to get serious about posting about this very important part of my life experience.

There are so many reasons Kimberly Hurst Glover is inspirational to me, I could not possibly name them all. Today, I choose to focus on the time she was my friend and birth coach, 15 years ago when I was 19 years old, single, secretly pregnant and planning to place my baby for adoption.

Where do I begin? The first person I told (other than birth daddy--we won't go into that) was my brother, and he of course told his new fiance, Kim. So she was one of the first to know, and she was literally with me all the way. Since I lived in Logan, away from the rest of my family, the two of them were my total support system there.

Kim helped me go to the doctor, and she attended LDS Family Services support groups with me. She helped me find a place to live when the roommate situation didn't work out for me. She kept me entertained during many long days, letting me visit her while she worked at a babysitting job. Oh, Kim. She helped me fall in love with Diet Coke and peanut butter sandwiches. She laughed with me when friends who didn't know any better set me up on a date. (I was a tiny pregnant lady--only that one time, though). She literally took care of me.

And I am sure all she really wanted to do was enjoy being engaged to my sweet brother. They even put off their wedding for my sake. Looking back now, I can believe that must have been tough for them. But a sacrifice willingly given by my future sister-in-law. I love you so much, Kim.

And a memory of that time that stands out so strongly in my mind:

We had gone to the hospital. I was in labor. Man, that was nearly the only time I got to experience what it was like to go into labor on my own. But that's irrelevant to this story. I was sure the nurses would turn me away, but they said I could stay. A couple hours later with the epidural taking full effect--I digress again, but what I wouldn't give to have gotten to partake of that pain-free experience for the delivery of my own five kids--we called some friends to come and give me a priesthood blessing.

I don't remember the words. I can't even honestly say I remember the feeling. But I do remember what my beautiful future sister-in-law said right after the blessing. She said she was impressed by how strong the Spirit was in that little labor and delivery room. And I missed it.

That has always struck me. Was it because the Spirit had been watching over me during that whole blessed experience, the pregnancy, the adoption process? Did I simply take it for granted? Or was it that I was so consumed with myself that I did not recognize that wonderful gift of the Holy Ghost, surrounding me, waiting for me to receive it? I always wonder about that.

So, the thing about this fabulous lady, Kimberly Glover, that inspires me the most, is her ability to recognize the Spirit. May I always be in tune enough to recognize this unique blessing in my life, as she was then in that remarkable time in both of our lives.

I have to add that of course this wonderful woman also inpires me because of her strength in overcoming the MANY adversities involved with infertility issues and the process of adopting her second and third child. I know for her, it has not always been easy to keep the faith, but I LOVE that she has. And I absolutely love her, more than she can possibly know.