God Brings Our Twins Together

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God Brings Our Twins Together

By Kimberly Zomer

It is July 7, 2008, at 5:55 a.m. The dawn is peeking through our blinds, and all is quiet. I

am sitting in a one-bedroom apartment in Almaty, Kazakhstan, that is ten time zones away

from our home, while my oldest daughter and the newest addition to our family, Nicholas,

age 3, sleeps peacefully. A few minutes ago a small, sleepy cry ofMama?awoke me. Irushed to him and pulled our precious new package out of bed. He looks so much like his

twin brother whom we have loved for two years that I feel like I have always known him

not just for the two short days that we have been a family.

He gave me a sleepy, reassured smile as I lifted him. We cuddled on the couch and then he

drifted back to sleep in my arms. I held him for a while and treasured the time before Islipped quietly away. We leave early tomorrow morning for Atlanta to reunite him with his

twin and start our new life as a family of seven. It is still surreal to me that I am here. This

is how our journey began.

Our adoption path began in summer 2004 through a Christmas hosting program for Russian

orphans. We were given the opportunity to host a 10-year-old girl named Katya for sixweeks. She was a beautiful girl with a sweet attitude. She became part of us and innocentlywove herself into our hearts. Our hearts ached as she walked out of our lives as quickly as

she had walked in. But God used her to open our hearts to international adoption, and a few

months later we started our adoption process.

In the fall of 2005 we were in the middle of completing our adoption paperwork. I was

studying the book of Daniel. One evening as I studied, I felt a warm confidence about the

name Daniel. I presented it to my husband and he liked it. We began to refer to our soon-to-be son as Daniel. Later, this would become one of the many things along our challenging

path that God would use to confirm that this was His will for us and to give us strength to

persevere.

June 2006 arrived, and it was time to travel. We had chosen to go blindno referral orinformation about whom we were bringing home as our son. We knew God was sovereign,

and we would receive the child He intended for us to have. On the first leg of ourinternational journey, we boarded the plane with excitement and anticipation about what

God would do.

We arrived at our attorneys office in Almaty, Kazakhstan, many hours later. While there,

the staff informed us of a few details about the possible children we would see when we gotto our final destination. One of the most interesting details was that one of the possiblechildren was named Danil, pronounced Dan-yeel. We gasped. Through a fog, I also heard

them tell us that Daniel had been part of a twin set but that the other twin was gone

probably dead. Wow. There were no guarantees of whom we would actually be shown, but

we were hopeful to see Daniel. Wouldnt that be a cool God-thing?

Two days later, we arrived in Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan, where our son lived. We were

ushered into the baby-house office. They showed us several children. Daniel was not

available, they told us, and all the rest had severe issues. Our home study had notapproved us for a child with major issues, so we could not take any of them.

Our hearts sank. Had we come all this way to go home empty-handed? Exhaustion and

emotion overtook me, and I began to shamelessly cryright there in front of a room full of


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Kazakh officials. I am not sure if it was the tears that motivated them or not, but theyagreed to take us to another room to see other children. We walked into a room and we

both immediately fixed our eyes on a little boy about 1 year old who was gazing excitedlyover his crib rail at us. What a happy grin he had! Patrick walked over to him, and the babygiggled as they interacted. I was just recovering from my emotional outburst, so I stoodback and watched.

As they played, we were informed that this baby was actually Danil. What?? The very babywe were drawn to was a child who bore the name God had given us months before? And

wasnt he unavailable? Emotion washed over me again and the tears came back. Theyshuffled us back to the office where a long, somewhat heated discussion in Russian took

place. We understood nothingwe were sitting in stunned silence awaiting our fate.

Finally, our interpreter informed us that Daniel was not legally separated from his twin and

therefore he was not officially available, but they would try to help us adopt him. His twin

was gone, and no one wanted him to stay in the orphanage forever. Later that night we gotthe official word that we could proceed with the adoption process but that there were noguarantees that the judge would grant the adoption in the end. We took our chances.

Daniels adoption process was rocky, but ultimately we came home with a beautiful 14-month-old boy, and our life settled into a new normal with four kids under age 6. A year

passed and my heart ached when I pondered what I would tell our son about the twin heonce had. Was he alive somewhere in Kazakhstan, or had he passed away?

One morning I was checking email and saw a subject line that saidSibling.I mindlesslyopened it, and our world was changed in an instant. The adoption agency was informing methat Daniel had a newborn brother in the baby-house and was asking if we were interested

in adopting him as well. I took a deep breath. Dans adoption had cost more than $40,000,

and we had tapped out all of our financial resources, as well as resources offered by ourchurch and family. We couldnt consider this, could we? I had just turned 42 and had a 2-,

3-, 6-, and 7-year-old. God, this is too much to ask. Not a babyand maybe a sick one. I

am tired. This is too big for us.

I called my husband and told him the news. He was eerily quiet. I was in a state of shock

and confusion.

Later that night we agreed pretty quickly that this was not a decision we could take lightly;

it was our sons family. We also agreed that we could not let expense be the deciding factor,as God was bigger than our finances. So for the next week we prayed fervently, and as thedays passed we both had a sinking feeling that God was asking us to return for this child.

At one point, my husband mentioned,What if this is really the twin and not a baby?

No,I said.It is a babyit says so right in the email.He reminded me that if it did turn

out to be the twin, the decision was already made. We had taken an oath in court a yearbefore that we would return for the twin if he were ever found. But it wasnt the twin, it was

a baby, so we dismissed it and continued to pray.

About a week had passed and my husband and I got an email devotional calledKeepingYour Oaths.It said that God does not honor those who do not honor their oaths. Thats a

little strange, I thought. It actually used the word oath. That very day the agency called

and said they were mistaken and that the child they were inviting us to adopt was actually

the twin! I could almost physically see God s hand moving.


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Our heads were spinning, and we were in debt, but we knew what we had to do. We calledthe agency and accepted the referral, not having any idea how God would bring it to pass.

We stepped out in faith, confident that God was working. Within a week, a family in ourchurch contacted us and anonymously agreed to finance the entire adoption. Praise God!

Jehovah Jireh!

Eight months passed, and then we found ourselves on a plane to meet our sons twin and

reunite these precious brothers. They are now 7 and are closer than ever. I often look atthem sleeping and stare in disbelief that they are together. What a miracle they are.

I am a homeschool mom of five kids, and we live in Woodstock, Georgia. I have beenhappily married to Patrick Zomer for fifteen years.

Copyright, 2012. Used with permission. All rights reserved by author. Originally appeared inThe Old Schoolhouse Magazine, the family education magazine, July 2012. Read themagazine free atwww.TOSMagazine.comor read it on the go and download the free apps at

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God Brings Our Twins Together