Patience. It’s the ability to endure difficult circumstances, the acceptance of a delay. It’s a difficult practice to maintain, especially when expectations are only rooted in immeasurable unknowns. Adoption is filled with unknowns: timing, relationships, expectations, and emotions. Patience is gleaned only in the art of surrender, loosening your grip on all of the things you just aren’t able to control, trusting in the sovereignty of a God who knows all, sees all, and is working all things for our good, and His glory.
Kate shares her and Luke’s story of surrender here. I connected with Kate weekly through their journey to bringing home their son. I remember weeks of the highest hopes and weeks of moments of absolute surrender out of frustration, confusion, and grief. I was always so encouraged as they stepped into and said yes to the unknowns with courageous hearts, trusting in the sovereignty that had called them to the space they had so boldly entered.
Mother’s Day this year was graced with the greatest gift, meeting sweet Teddy. Luke and Kate share their story below:
We began the process in April of 2022. What we thought would be quick and easy home study, ending up taking many months due to government documents and background checks getting backed up. When we were finally approved and ready to began presenting, it was a relief to check off the “paperwork” box of our to do list.
The first situation we received was on Erin’s birthday. She had taken the day off of work and spent time setting up the nursery, so it was perfect timing to truly start wrapping our heads around the thought that we would have a new addition soon. On this day, we also realized how much we didn’t know what we were doing and how incredibly thankful we were to have MacKenzie to walk us through the situation, what to look for, and generally just be our cheerleader! We presented to that situation and, after many weeks of waiting, got notified we didn’t match. After that, several months went by, and we started to feel a little discouraged. After a few pep talks from MacKenzie, we decided that we needed to do something for ourselves and took some time for a vacation and to enjoy the holidays.
Shortly after the New Year, we presented to another situation but didn’t match. A month later, we were up late watching a movie one night and got a phone call from a number we didn’t have saved in our phones. It was an agency with an immediate placement to pick up from the hospital the next day. We told them we wanted to present, and an hour later, received a call that we were matched. We quickly got as organized as we could, knowing we had to hit the road just a few hours later. We arrived at the hospital late in the morning to meet the most precious, little 3 day old baby boy.
There were several divine coincidences during the whole process but one of our favorites was the location he was born. We had seen and presented to situations all over the country. The hospital baby boy was born at was 30 minutes from a town we had just moved from a year and a half prior. One of our best friends was able to drive up and see us at the hospital while we waited and helped get us some supplies we had forgotten. We are so thankful to have had the peace that comes with familiarity on a day filled with so much emotion and uncertainty.
God’s biggest teaching moment through this process was that his timing and plan are perfect. No matter how hard you try to control the scenario or you personally think this is the child for me, God knows better. He had our promise waiting and knew the joy that he would bring our family. The first time we held him in the hospital is a moment that we will never forget. Without a second thought, we knew he was our child and were beyond blessed that his birth mom chose us to raise her baby!
***We provide the following adoption services at Christian Adoption Consultants: Embryo Adoption, Domestic Adoption & International Adoption. If you are interested in working with MacKenzie, you can reach out directly to her here-she would be more than happy to assist you, provide you with our adoption informational packet, and set up a FREE 30-minute consultation with you!***
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