With this announcement comes so much support, but also some natural curiosity- why adoption? Clearly, we have been able to grow our family biologically, so what is our motivation to adopt? You may be wondering that yourself! How I wish we could sit down together so I could share my entire heart on this, but I’ll settle for a short summary for now. Basically, Dylan and I have always just had a passion for women who find themselves with an unexpected pregnancy and the babies they carry. We dreamed of the day we could personally step up to be the option for life for a baby, for a future to a woman who did not feel ready to parent.
Edgar Allan Poe some sugar on me shirt
Alright so now it’s December, and we have our entire home study and paperwork packet ready to send off, which took us months and months to complete. We are pretty much ready to go active as a ‘waiting family’ except for one problem- we hardly have any funds raised. And this is not due to lack of effort- trust me. We launched an adoption shop, selling shirts and hats and mugs, and that did bring in a few thousand. We threw a pancake breakfast event, where we served truckloads of pancakes and embarrassed ourselves for donations. (Someone bid $50 for us to do the Dirty Dancing lift- which we attempted, and I almost died.)
Clemson Tiger 2019 College Football Playoff National Champion shirt
We raised another six thousand that day, which felt like such a huge success! But when the time comes to submit our paperwork and begin to be presented to expectant mamas, we are nowhere near our goal of $45,000.
SVU law and order special victims unit Olivia Benson Elliot Stabler shirt
The fear begins to really sink in. It keeps Dylan up at night, he runs numbers in his head over and over of how we can possibly make this work on our own. We can’t. It’s impossible. We start to question if this was God’s will for us in the first place- after all, why wasn’t He coming through with the funding?? Has He brought us all the way here just to abandon and bankrupt us? But over and over, He continues to give me two mental pictures.
Sunset Buddha I’m Mostly Peace Love And Light And A Little Go Fuck Yourself Shirt
The first is that of the Red Sea splitting to make a way where there was no way for God’s people to escape bondage and get to the promised land. He brings this image to my mind through songs at Church, through references to Exodus in Bible study, even though the artwork my kids make in Sunday school! This concept of God clearing the obstacle at just the right time- that is what I’m clinging to.
I never dreamed that one day I’d become a grumpy old firefighter shirt
The second picture is this: I’m looking down at a chunky baby with deep coloring, dark curly hair, and the sweetest little pink lips that make a little kissy face as he stretches. I think, ‘Lord is this him, our son?’ Whether this baby was ours or not, it gives me such peace and reminds me why we started this whole thing. And whenever Dylan and I begin to worry about the money not coming in and I pray that God will provide, He tells our hearts, ‘Stop obsessing over the money. I told you I will fight for you. Instead, pray for your son and his mama.’
Total Shut Show Shirt
So, with only a small fraction of the funding we will need to bring to the table, we submit our paperwork and become a waiting family. A few weeks go by, we see several cases and every time we worry about the price tag attached to each one. Feeling discouraged, we begin to brainstorm back up plans, just in case God doesn’t show up. My heart says to stop this and just TRUST, but my head (and the numbers) tell me this is never going to happen.
Born to be a stay at home cat mom forced to go to work shirt
A dear friend of mine, not even knowing how the story of Exodus has been on my mind, tells me this: ‘I just know God is going to fully fund it. But he didn’t part the Red Sea when the Egyptians were still in Egypt. He parted it when the Israelites had their back against the wall. His timing is so perfect and always glorifies him.’
You laugh I laugh you cry I cry you take my coors light I kill you shirt
Four weeks later, it’s New Year’s Eve. I’m attempting to cook my first steak (surprise, I overcooked it) when we get an email from our agency. They tell us a baby boy has been born today in Texas, our home state. They say they don’t know many details but ask if we would be interested in being presented to the mama. We reply right away with a YES and a letter to this sweet mama, who just gave birth to her first baby and is now about to flip through family profiles to decide who she wants to place him with.
Never underestimate a woman who understands football and loves Crimson Tide shirt
I cannot imagine what she must be feeling and already love her, which I tell her in the note. Dylan and I feel giddy for a while but choose not to pack bags or even get the car seat out of the attic, since we don’t want to get our hopes up. New Year’s Day. No news. That’s alright, God’s timing and plan is perfect. We don’t have the funding anyway.
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