When first considering adoption, Diane and Troy Sturgeon had a vision for their family — a very specific, pigtails-and-dresses vision that they could have made a reality. So... why didn't they?

A basketball hoop clangs and a ball thumps outside, accompanied by shrieks of excitement. Loud, off-key singing and giggles echo down the hall. The screech of racing Hot Wheels erupts from the living room.

Listening to these heartwarming sounds, it’s hard to recall what it was I desired for a family — what I thought I wanted my family to be.

For the first several years of our marriage, my husband and I prayed for a family. We waited and longed and endured an emotional rollercoaster.Eventually, though, we came to the realization that a biological family was not God’s plan for us, and after much prayer and discussion, we embraced the notion that our family awaited us in China.