Our adoption story starts with a conversation when we were still dating about what our future family might look like. We were both confident that God had plans for us to adopt, one day. Well God’s version of one day was very different than what was in our heads. After some time struggling with infertility it was clear God was telling us that one day was now. So after some research and talking with friends who had adopted recently, we signed up with Christian Adoption Consultants in May of 2014.
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Not really knowing how a consultant would work with us being in another state, I had some reservations, but after our initial call with Dawn, it was clear she had a passion for adoption and would be a good resource for us as we walked through the process. We forged through the mountain of paperwork, made phone calls, and got our questions that we felt dumb for asking graciously answered. We crafted our profile book then asked Christian Adoption Consultants for feedback. Finally our home study was complete and we were through the toughest part, so we thought.
Then the waiting. The pouring over the crumbs of information when situations were sent to us. The praying over each situation seeking God’s wisdom. Asking to be presented, being turned down. Seeking advice from Dawn and Jason again on new situations. More waiting. In the moment, that sweet child’s face seems like it will never be a reality.
And then Feb 3rd of 2015 we finally got the call that we were matched and all the waiting was forgotten. Soon we would have a sweet girl in our arms. An ultra sound later, we found out we were actually match with a little boy who was scheduled to be born on?Feb 14th. We flew out, got to finally meet our birth mother in person. She later would tell us that she just knew we were the right ones. After 4 days in the hospital, on February 17th, our son was placed in our arms and the next 4 months have been a blur of sweet tender moments and figuring out this whole parenting thing.
We feel like we have learned so much a long the way that we can’t possibly write it all out, but would say these two things. Even when being told we weren’t matched, those moms and babies were ours for a time and because of that were covered in prayer, and although we can’t know what impact that had, we know that God called us to them even for those short days or weeks. Second, that nothing goes exactly as planned and trusting on the Lord is the only way to get through it all. His planning and timing, even for our trip home which is a whole other story, was perfect and we couldn’t have actually planned that any better.
What openness means to us
ADOPTION STORY: AUSTIN AND MELISSA 2.0
Adoption Story: Brent + Jamie