Walking with Josh and Lily through their adoption story and watching them become parents for the first time was such an honor. What I love so much about them is their approach to adoption as learners. They truly were open-handed and open-hearted about what the Lord had for them and what that could look like. Watching them lean into understanding the true heartbeat of adoption was beautiful, and in that journey of understanding, they were chosen to love and care for their daughter her entire life. Watching them step into parenthood with love at the forefront for their daughter and her mom was so incredible to witness. I hope their story and words encourage you today.
Since the very beginning, adoption was always part of the plan. Always a part, but a very distant part of our future that we didn’t think about all that often. On our second date, we talked about kids, and to our surprise, we both wanted to have four bio kids and adopt later on in life to complete our family. But as with anything, we can plan, but ultimately it’s up to God. And in the end, His way is always much better than ours. A couple of years after getting married, we found out that we couldn’t have biological kids due to male factor infertility. It was tough. Some of the hardest moments in our life. Once we got to the other side of grief, I felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit that it was time to pursue our dream of growing our family through adoption now rather than later.
Connected With Christian Adoption Consultants
Just a couple of years before this happened, I was on Instagram, and a couple I follow, Brian & Jenn Johnson, adopted their two little boys, and they partnered with CAC for their adoption journey. I felt it in my spirit that once we were ready to pursue this step, CAC would be the first place we called. And so we did. Right after we filled out our form, we got connected with Fallon. We were scared, nervous, and honestly just terrified to begin this process. But after the first call, Fallon calmed all our nerves, helped us work through our fears, and we were ready to move forward. If not for that one call, I don’t know if we’d be where we are today.
By the time we were approved, we were a third of the way funded. Finally, after starting the process, we received our first case. My heart raced, and so did I, speeding home to Josh so we could read it together. We went on to receive many cases and chose not to present. We decided to call Fallon to ask her to help us navigate our fear of presenting. We had many fears like, “What if it’s the wrong baby? What if we’re not supposed to? Etc.” She said something that changed the trajectory for us from that moment on. She encouraged us not to think that God would put the wrong baby in our family just because we said yes to a case we weren’t “feeling” 100%. She said, “It is a bigger faith step to say ‘yes’ to a mom and trust God to close the door if it’s not meant to be ours.” From that moment, we were saying yes at every moment. We continued to hear “no,” and Fallon reminded us that it was actually a “NOT YET.”
God’s Timing Is Perfect
We began our home study process, eager to complete it as soon as possible, but we were met with holiday delays and covid understaffing. While we waited to be home study approved, we shared our story with our community. Out of nowhere, people began to bless us by donating towards our adoption fees. It was absolutely crazy and mind-blowing as we were going just to keep it under wraps until we were chosen by an expecting mom. Something in our pride said that we should be prepared to do it alone without the help of those around us. But God convicted us and reminded us that we were meant to live in a community and lean on one another.
While waiting in faith, we leaned back into one another and reminded ourselves that even though this wait was hard for us, there would be an even greater heartache for the mom who would choose us. We started praying for her, even though we did not know her yet, that she would feel fully surrounded by love and support. A few weeks later, we received an adoption situation from Fallon. We presented to this expecting mama and all the while praying for peace in her heart no matter what decision she made. And exactly a week later, I walked out of a meeting, and I saw an envelope on my desk. I quickly opened it, and inside, I saw a check with more than what we needed for our adoption. And you won’t believe this, but just an hour later, our case worker called us and told us that this incredible expecting mom had chosen us. You see, God’s timing is so so perfect. As I released myself from making it happen in my own efforts despite knowing that we were in this situation because of our choices, God’s plan still prevailed, and He provided.
A Greater Love Than We Ever Thought Possible
We were in awe of His goodness! I couldn’t contain myself all day with how excited I was. We knew it was the mom and baby that God had in mind for us. I partly knew it was a girl because God gave me her name two years before. Naomi Eleanor Petit. Naomi – Pleasant one, above all. Eleanor – God is my light. When we started the process, I envisioned holding our newborn on the couch at my parent’s house in Seattle during Christmas. It was this vision I held onto as hope for what was to come. Our baby girl was due on Christmas Eve but came early On December 8th. We got to meet her the next day. Knowing how much her mom loves her humbled us to our core, and the amount of respect and love we have for her is infinite. We got to take her home on December 10th, and on December 21st, we were in Seattle, and I was sitting on the couch holding my newborn just as God showed me it would be. She is truly the greatest gift we’ve ever received. She is our everything. Adoption has allowed us to become parents, expand our love greater than we ever thought possible, and has shown us God’s plan on display in front of our very eyes.
***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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