Joshua and Alexys have an incredible story of God sovereignly putting their family together. After an unexpected cancer diagnosis to unforeseen barriers in starting their adoption journey, and then a long wait, they eventually found their son. Theirs is a story of waiting on God’s perfect timing: which can sometimes feel unending and agonizing. But also a story of God’s unwavering, steadfast faithfulness.
Our adoption journey started out a little differently than most, but in other ways, the same as many stories we’ve heard. We knew we wanted a family someday, and adoption had been part of that conversation ever since we were teenagers. Our original plan was to have a biological child or two and then adopt last because we knew how expensive it could be. We figured when we were ready for our last child, we’d be older and be more financially able to afford an adoption.
An Unexpected Turn: Thyroid Cancer
My health took a very unexpected turn, and I had thyroid cancer. We were told to wait a year before trying for a family to ensure every little ounce of radiation had left my body. We decided we’d wait the year and then talk about starting our family at that time if we were ready by then. Two months after my “all clear” scan, God met us in an unexpected place: as we were painting our kitchen and dining room. I had asked Josh if adoption had been on his heart and mind lately, and through that conversation, we knew without a doubt that the Holy Spirit was prompting our souls, asking us to adopt first, not last, as we had intended. I remember ending that conversation with Josh by saying, “Are we, like, actually doing this? Like DOING, doing this?” To which he replied, “I think so?!”
It felt like forever for us to get started, and we had been turned down by the very first agency we applied to because they wanted me to wait to be three years cancer free. We knew God wanted us to do this immediately, but we also know that His “start immediately” could’ve meant something different than our “start immediately.” We were VERY discouraged to hear “no,” but we knew God wanted us to do this. We sought out other agencies in our local area, and they all required us to be older, which would have made us wait another 3-5 years even to begin. At this point, we were lost, frustrated, confused, and a little angry at God. Why did He prompt us so strongly, only then, to not make a way for us to actually go through with it?
Connected to Christian Adoption Consultants
We found out about Christian Adoption Consultants and were eventually connected to Susan! We felt such peace adopting with the help of CAC. We ended up signing on with several different agencies in several different states. We were ecstatic to receive our first case but quickly became numb to hearing all of the “no’s.” We knew that every “not yet” got us one step closer to our “yes,” but that didn’t take the pain away from not having a child in our arms when we were so ready for one. We were open and ready for whatever child God would have for us, and finally, after 2 years and 5 months, our lives were forever changed.
We were going about our normal Friday night and had begun heating up leftover tacos for a late dinner. I heard my phone start to ring and saw it was an unknown number from one of the states we were waiting in. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing when you see that sort of number on your caller ID; you just answer it! My belly felt full of butterflies, and I started to shake with anticipation as the caller said the expectant mom we had presented to about a week ago had picked us. Time stood still, tears welled up in my eyes, and I popped around the corner saying, “Josh! We’ve been matched!” to which he had about the same reaction as I did. We had three months until his due date and a lot of fundraising to finish doing to make this adoption happen.
God Provided Everything We Needed
Upon being matched, we needed a large sum of funds in under 48 hours, and God showed up in a miraculous way! He provided what we needed! We still would owe more money at placement and we remembered back to the very beginning of our journey and felt that the Holy Spirit was inviting us to trust Him. Affording an adoption was our biggest fear back when He called us to do this, and He was asking us to trust. He came through and provided fully for the first portion, so why would He not come through with the second portion?
We were out celebrating my birthday on a Sunday after church, and we had about two weeks left until the little man’s due date. I received a call from our case manager reporting he had been born the previous day, but because of a whirlwind of circumstances, she waited until then to let us know. We packed that night and flew out the next morning. We got done signing and were finally led back to his bassinet. Time stood still, and we were in awe as we studied every detail of his face, learned what his cry sounded like, did some skin-to-skin, and just stared at him for hours. I could write a book about how beautiful he was, the joy of knowing that THIS was the face we had dreamed and prayed about, and the eventual relief we’d feel when his birth parents would sign their consents after waiting an extra day to sleep on their decision. I find myself wanting to go on and on about Asher, how perfect he was and still is, and his tremendous strength as he worked through what he needed to in the NICU to be discharged after 16 days instead of the months it normally takes other babies, but I want to make sure my words and your attention remain on the one who orchestrated this entire story: God, our Father.
God went on and provided every single cent we needed for the remaining adoption costs while we snuggled our sweet baby in the hospital. While waiting, we definitely wanted to be matched sooner; we wanted all of the money to be there so we didn’t need to stress, we wanted the pain to go away and so many more things, but my encouragement to you would be to stop and trust. Let go and let God…
If we had adopted in our timing, we would’ve missed our son by years. If we had adopted locally, we would’ve missed our son by thousands of miles. If we had fundraised how we wanted to and the way friends did their adoption fundraisers, we wouldn’t have come anywhere close to raising enough money and would’ve had to take out a loan. God’s hand was in our story from start to finish, even during the waiting times when we didn’t think anything was happening. He had a plan, He had a story, and He had the perfect way to bring Asher into our family. His story is much greater than something we could’ve written, and we can’t wait to tell Asher one day how much he is loved, valued, cared for, and fought for by not only us but by his Heavenly Father, who led us straight to him.
***We provide the following adoption services here at Christian Adoption Consultants: Embryo Adoption, Domestic Adoption & International Adoption. If you are interested in learning more about the programs we offer, you can request an informational packet here, as well as set up a FREE 30-minute consultation with one of our team members and join our free adoption community!
We look forward to hearing from you!***
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