Casey + Stephanie

I met Stephanie years ago when she was in College and CJ and I were over the college ministry at our church.Stephanie was a part of my small group and such a special sweet girl.She moved away soon after and got married and we lost touch.Flash forward to last fall when we reconnected through the unfortunate pain and loss of miscarriage. After having some really painful but amazingly hopeful conversations Casey and Stephanie decided to jump in with CAC.From the very beginning both Casey and Stephanie just poured a spirit of thankfulness and love for their potential birth mom. Not only that, they displayed such faith that they knew the Lord would perfectly grow their family in his timing. Even in the midst of 6 no’s they remained steady in their trust of what God would do. Their little girl came fast and with fury.Since Jovi’s birth they have done nothing but sing joy and praise to Jesus over the perfectness in which this baby girl joined their family.Read Stephanie’s version for the amazing ins and outs of their entire journey!

As I sit down to write our adoption story, I cant help but to begin to cry in thankfulness for all He has done for us!

We always knew we wanted to adopt. We talked about it on our first date. We just thought it would be later in life and overseas.

A scary birth, infertility, excitement turned to loss, a wonderful adoption network at our church, and 3 miscarriages lead us to adoption.

We started with Christian Adoption Consultants in November 2014. God started placing it on Steph’s heart after our 2nd miscarriage. After watching a adoption video at church, I reached out to my old bible study leader who had just miscarried also. That friend was Renee Bergmen. She shared that she was an adoption consultant and I knew in my heart God was opening the door. I just had to convince my husband! But I immediately got pregnant then lost it again. I was done. Done with the hope turning into terrible loss and feeling like a failure. No doctors had answers. That afternoon without knowing I had just miscarried, Renee emailed me to check in and let me know that C.A.C. was giving a discount for a couple weeks. I knew in my heart that Gods timing to adopt was now. I talked to Casey that night and just begged him to pray about it.

Our biggest struggle was our finances. We didnt even have enough for our home study. God started bringing other C.A.C. families into my life without me even looking into other agencies. I knew then that Christian Adoption Consultants was where we were supposed to be. With their November discount and most of our savings we were $400 short. That week we went to a yearly banquet that funds a house for single pregnant women. God placed us right next to the birth mothers and adoptive families. I couldnt keep my eyes off them or ignore what God was doing. On top of that I got random bonuses from my clients that week that equaled $400. We could no longer ignore what God was prompting us to do. We filled out paperwork for C.A.C and began the adoption process that night. I was freaking out in excitement and Casey was well?.just freaking out.

God immediately starting pouring in the money. Several times I would open the mail to be brought to my knees in gratefulness. We had several friends give so generously. It was incredible! Our first fundraiser brought in the exact amount we needed for our home study. God was blowing us away.

By January, we were home study ready in just two weeks of starting with our social worker. Who was amazing by the way! We applied to all 9 agencies and started the wait process. After wanting a baby for 2 years it was very hard for me!
We presented 6 times and the no’s were so hard every time. I can now say I am so grateful God shut the door so many times because it lead us to the most precious gift. By May, we had all of our funds and I started feeling like God was about to do something incredible.
The whole waiting process, I prayed for a stork drop (yes I was impatient!), healthy, beautiful girl who slept well and had hair, and an open relationship with her birth mother. God answered all of our prayers!

We found out about our first stork drop on lt to find out Tuesday she chose a family with no kids. BUT the agency in the same email told us about another birth mom who was past due. She was due with a boy however. That Friday she gave birth to a beautiful tiny little GIRL!!
The agency put together the information on Tuesday and we immediately said yes to be presented. They came back to say they really liked us and were only presenting OUR PROFILE! We couldnt contain our excitement! We were told to get everything ready to leave immediately while they presented to our birth mother. She said yes with out even seeing our profile book! God was really at work!

We flew out Thursday and met our precious baby girl that night. She was so perfect! Friday we got custody and Monday we got to meet our birth mother. What an amazing experience! We felt so blessed to be able to meet her and hear why she chose adoption for Jovie. We were closed adoption at first but God slowly opened our hearts to change it to open and we are so grateful! To be able to meet the woman who gave me something that I tried so hard to do on my own but couldnt was incredible and I will never forget her. I am so grateful for her and being able to hold each other and cry together was so special. We so admire her selflessness in doing something that was causing her so much pain. She will forever be in our hearts and is one of the strongest people I know!

Our adoption story does not come without stress, doubts, and negative comments from others. We didnt always feel like we had the support of our family or know where the finances were going to come from. In the end God completely provided. He gave us a beautiful daughter. We are so grateful!
All we had to do was trust in Him.