Heather Avis, author of The Lucky Few: Finding God's Best in the Most Unlikely Places, was kind enough to take time away from her busy schedule (including three adorable kids!) to chat with the Milk & Honey Magazine.

What's the book about, you ask? Heather explains it perfectly:

When I started my journey into parenthood I never thought it would look like this. I never planned on having three adopted children, and I certainly never imagined that two of them would have Down syndrome. But like most of the things God does, once we stepped into the craziness and confusion of the unknown and unplanned, we quickly realized that we were indeed among the lucky few.

When my husband and I decided to grow our family ten years ago, we were surprised to find that getting pregnant was not as easy as we had thought it would be. And as we navigated the ups and downs of infertility, God led us down the path of adoption. Of course, we would adopt! Not what we had originally planned, but certainly a wonderful option.

But just as we began to get a comfortable grasp on growing our family through adoption, God introduced us to Macyn Hope, a very sick little girl with Down syndrome who desperately needed a family. As we continued to follow God’s calling, first with Macyn, and later with Truly and then August, we found ourselves further and further from the comfortable paths we thought our lives would take, and instead moving down some very scary, and often painful roads.

Even though at times His plan seemed terrifying and even downright foolish, little could we have known how much goodness, blessing, and joy would flow out of loving these three little people He’s put into our lives. No, it’s not been easy: not the open-heart surgeries or the challenges of raising two children with Down syndrome or the complexities of dealing with birth-families or the struggles we’ve had with the public education system. But through it all, every new and uncomfortable situation has only proven to be another chance to see how very good God’s plan is for our lives and how downright lucky we are to be able to live it out.  

It’s only the lucky few that recognize that the most beautiful things in this life are often found in the differences. What some would see as misfortune, I’ve learned to see as nothing more than pure luck.

The book?

I never thought I'd write a book. I was blogging at the time and had a popular Instagram account. A literary agent reached out to me and asked if I'd like to write a book. So I said yes!

"God moment?"

The adoption of our first child has been my biggest "God moment" in life so far. First off, I never indented on being an adoptive mama. Second, my eldest daughter has Down syndrome and a congenital heart defect which was also never in my plans. The thing I love so much about God is His plans for our lives are always, always, always the best even when they are so radically different from our own plans. God's goodness and bigness do not hinge on His ability to make our plans come to fruition. He is always good and always big and He knows what is best for our lives. We need to trust that.

Advice?

To stop pursing my plans, to stop praying to get pregnant and to start pursuing God's plans and to pray for a heart that beats like His. 

Was the book hard/easy to write?

Both! I loved that I got to relive the past 10 years or so of my life. To get to remember and document all the ups and downs and miracles that have taken place over the years. What a gift! But writing a book is no joke. It takes dedication and hard work. To sit and put words on paper day after day is no easy task.

Family?

Oh gosh, my family is my world. My husband and kids are my favorite people on this planet and I get to be with them everyday doing all the beautiful and messy things together.

Favorite Bible verse?

When I was in the depths of my infertility God gave me a verse that helped me though the years to come:
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" Romans 15:13 

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