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 Adoption
has been on Amie’s heart since she was a little girl,
and it was a dream that Jeff came to embrace through the years
as well. We believed in our hearts it was in God’s plan for us
to have a large family, including both biological and adopted
children. After we got married, and each time before we added to
our family, we sought God’s will regarding if and how our family
would grow – and He always answered. Two years after we were
married, we became a family of three when we welcomed our oldest
son David in to the world. Two and a half years later, God
blessed us again with our first daughter Katelyn. When David was
5 and Katie was 2 ½, we welcomed Matthew into our family. Three
years later, we were blessed for a fourth time with another
daughter, Alexandra.
Jeremiah 29:11 “‘For
I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a
future.’”
Shortly after Allie was born, God revealed to us that our next
child would be adopted and that it would be a little girl.
Through prayer and signs from God, we were led to China to find
our daughter. We began the process in December 2004 and on
January 26, 2006, we saw our beautiful little Grace’s picture
for the very first time. In March 2006, we traveled to China to
be united with our daughter, who was 13 months old at the time.
We had only been home a few months when we felt the call to
adopt again. We would return to China again, but this time we
would go through the Waiting Child program. One evening in
November 2006, we decided to begin the process to adopt from
China a second time. We called our agency to inquire about their
WC process and to get things started. During this phone call, we
learned that our agency currently had three files of children
that needed families. Our adoption counselor reviewed the SNs
with us to determine if they were ones we would consider. After
assuring her we were very comfortable with the SNs, we told her
we were pretty certain our child’s file was sitting on her desk
as we spoke. One thing we love about this agency is that they
match you with a child. You do not get to see the pictures of
all the children and choose which files you would like to
review. We were not fans of looking at lists, because we were
not sure how we would “know”. Since we feel strongly that
ultimately it is God who chooses, we were very comfortable with
our agency’s process. After we had talked for a few minutes, our
counselor revealed to us that the moment we had called and began
asking questions about the WC program that, for some reason, she
had pulled out the file of a little girl. Somehow we knew that
this was our little girl. While we needed to wait several days
to see her picture and review her file while the agency received
pre-pre approval from China, God gave us peace in knowing that
He had led us to our daughter. This was our little girl. We
began our Journey to Hannah in December 2006, and we traveled in
September 2007 to bring our little girl home.
Hannah had only been home three months when, in December 2007,
we knew God was calling us to adopt again. This time, however,
we had a feeling God was telling us we would not be using the
same agency again. We felt strongly that we would be going back
to China to adopt, and we loved our agency, so this did not make
much sense at first. So we prayed on it, seeking His
confirmation about where our child was and how we would be
united. After diligent petition, and several weeks time, God
made a portion of His plan know to us. We had a child – this
time a son – waiting for us in China.
Knowing that, we contacted our agency once again and placed
ourselves on their WC list. For the next two weeks, however, we
could not overcome the feeling that working with our old agency
was not what God had planned for us. We had given our agency a
list of SNs that we were willing to accept but, over the next
few weeks, God revealed to us specifically that our son would be
a “heart baby”. When we contacted our agency to let them know,
they informed us that they were just about to call us, as they
had just received two files of little boys who they thought
would be perfect for our family. The agency wanted to know if we
were interested in reviewing one of them. When we learned that
neither one of these angels had a heart defect we declined, as
we were certain God had revealed to us that our son’s SN would
be a heart defect. So…back on the waiting list we went.
One week later, we received an email from Rebecca at Uptown
Design Studios. We had hired Rebecca, now a dear friend of
Amie’s, to do a blog makeover. She was announcing to her clients
that her business might be a little backed-up for a while, as
she and her husband had just accepted a referral for a little
boy waiting for them in China. Amie wrote immediately to
congratulate her on the fabulous news. For whatever reason, we
asked her what list she found her son on and revealed to her
that we were waiting to be matched with our son. As you may
recall, we do not like to look at lists and really had no reason
to ask a question like that. However, we felt led to ask it
anyway. Again, this was a “God thing”. Rebecca wrote back a few
minutes later and shared information about several boys she knew
that were available for adoption. As she closed her email, she
wrote, “There is another boy I am thinking of… he had VSD… he is
BEAUTIFUL!” At that moment we knew. Before we even saw his face,
we knew. This was our son.
 Sure
enough, when we saw his picture that night we fell head over
heels in love. In fact, our hearts might have even stopped for a
brief moment. Even knowing this though, we were really confused.
Finding our child this way was not what we had planned. This
child’s file was not at our agency. Instead his file was with an
agency we knew nothing about. And it was definitely not in our
plans to find him ourselves on a list.
Also, we were so afraid that since we had fallen in love with
this little guy, that our judgment might be clouded and we would
have trouble discerning if this was truly where God was leading
us. To us, none of this made sense, other than the unexplainable
fact that we loved this little man. We loved him so much. So we
prayed hard for God to show us His will for our family, and we
prayed for this little boy we already loved as if he was our
son. And once again, our Father, who is so faithful and
gracious, showed us the way. Through it all, He reminded me that
it was His plan ultimately that mattered, not ours. This was
God’s divinely-inspired perfect plan…designed just for us.
Proverbs 19:21 “Many
are the plans in man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose the
prevails.”
So we took the leap of faith, and we turned in our application
to be considered for the little man who had stolen our hearts.
We were now officially working with an agency we didn’t have any
experience with. Furthermore, we were willing to let this agency
use a committee to decide who would be Johnathan’s forever
family. To be honest, we nearly pulled our file from
consideration. We did not like the idea of being chosen over
another family or, worse yet, not being chosen. However, we just
knew we were not supposed to do that. So, we left our
application with the agency, but we began to prepare ourselves
that we might not be chosen. Through prayer, and through the
counsel of our family and friends, including Amie’s friend
Stefanie, we came to realize that if we really and truly
believed God had shown us this was our son, then we needed to
trust in Him. We needed to trust in His promises and lead with
faith. And so we did. In fact, from that moment, we have never
questioned or wavered.
Philippians 4: 6-8 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present
your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus.
A week after turning in our file, we learned what God knew long
before us. We were selected to be Johnathan’s forever family.
Glory be to God!!! And can we please share what else God did?
There were many, many families who had requested Johnathan’s
file, and whom had expressed serious interest in him, which is
why the agency had decided to have a petition period with a
deadline and use committee to choose his family. So, the first
question we asked when we spoke with our counselor after
learning we had been chosen was, “How many families did you have
to call today with the heart-breaking news that they had not
been chosen?” As it turns out, no other families had petitioned
for Johnathan but us. We believe in our hearts God knew that we
would not want another family to get THAT call. Thank you Jesus!
He is so gracious and He cares so much about the little things.
Hebrews 11:1 “Now
faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we
do not see.”
So needless to say, we turned in our LOI immediately, and we
received our TA on October 1, 2008, Johnathan’s half-birthday.
Soon we will travel to bring our little J-man home! God
used this journey to increase our faith exponentially. He taught
us to rely on Him completely. When we seek God’s will and we
decide to take that leap of Faith, we should never question any
twist or turn, but rather praise God every step of the way. This
adoption journey has been a reminder that He always has a plan
for us. A plan filled with His grace, unconditional love and
fulfilled promises. He is Good…all the time.
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