Jon and Sarah inquired and then got started with us at Christian Adoption Consultants in March of 2017. In just 7 months their little boy was home – a precious 18-month-old! In adoption this is a short period (which is right in the middle of CAC’s average 6-9-month time frame our families wait from inquiry to match), but in the midst of waiting, presenting to situations, and praying for direction, it can seem to take forever, especially when you have heard “No” several times. Take heart, because that is exactly how Jon and Sarah felt. Listen to a mom’s heart as Sarah shares their story:
“We entered our adoption journey during perhaps an "unadvisable" period in our life. Our three young children were ages 9 months, 2 ½ years, and 4 years old and Jon was deployed to a combat zone. Yet the pull to adopt was strong. Living near Washington DC, we heard regular updates of happenings at Capitol Hill, protests, demonstrations, large scale events designed to get the attention of Congress, the Senate, and the world. In January of 2017, The Women's March, promoting abortion, among other things, grieved us deeply. On the day of the March, I (Sarah) posted on our Facebook page, "Are you faced with an unexpected pregnancy? Unsure of your ability to raise a baby? Uncertain if you could provide a safe home? Please don't let these questions be answered by Planned Parenthood. Our home is always open to a baby in need. Message me if you are considering ending a pregnancy. Your baby can have a safe place to grow and be loved. We can help!"
“We entered our adoption journey during perhaps an "unadvisable" period in our life. Our three young children were ages 9 months, 2 ½ years, and 4 years old and Jon was deployed to a combat zone. Yet the pull to adopt was strong. Living near Washington DC, we heard regular updates of happenings at Capitol Hill, protests, demonstrations, large scale events designed to get the attention of Congress, the Senate, and the world. In January of 2017, The Women's March, promoting abortion, among other things, grieved us deeply. On the day of the March, I (Sarah) posted on our Facebook page, "Are you faced with an unexpected pregnancy? Unsure of your ability to raise a baby? Uncertain if you could provide a safe home? Please don't let these questions be answered by Planned Parenthood. Our home is always open to a baby in need. Message me if you are considering ending a pregnancy. Your baby can have a safe place to grow and be loved. We can help!"
Fast forward six weeks -- Jon and I had been speaking regularly about adding to our family through adoption. The AdoptUSKids website opened our eyes to the reality that children are not placed in foster care due to any crime of their own, but they are often the most vulnerable victims of the crimes of others. Jon and I discussed pursuing domestic infant adoption, as well as adopting through foster care. I researched the likelihood of being chosen by a birth mom if we already had several young children. In doing so Jason and Dawn Wright's blog came up and instantly I felt a connection. The following day Dawn and I spoke at length on the phone as I shared our burden of opening our home for a child in need of a family. Dawn was so encouraging -- both spiritually and realistically! Seeing the testimony of God's grace in the Wright family and reviewing the testimonies of others who have worked with Christian Adoption Consultants greatly encouraged us to step out in faith.
In early March 2017 we began to move forward officially towards welcoming a child into our home through adoption. We initiated our home study with a local agency and signed on with Christian Adoption Consultants the same week. We kept our plans a secret from absolutely everybody except for those needed to fill out reference forms and provide other specific information. We didn't want to be viewed as "foolish" or feel the need to constantly explain ourselves to others. We just knew this was where God was leading us, even though we didn't know how He would work things out.
Jon returned home from overseas in May 2017 after being delayed several extra weeks. Once he stepped foot on American soil, we pressed hard to complete our home study. Life in the military provides awesome opportunities to see the world, but it also provided a great headache in completing our necessary background checks (11 states for the two of us). We also scheduled a family photoshoot, so our profile could be completed with up-to-date pictures. By early July both our home study and family profile book were completed, and we began presenting our family to expectant mothers.
In early March 2017 we began to move forward officially towards welcoming a child into our home through adoption. We initiated our home study with a local agency and signed on with Christian Adoption Consultants the same week. We kept our plans a secret from absolutely everybody except for those needed to fill out reference forms and provide other specific information. We didn't want to be viewed as "foolish" or feel the need to constantly explain ourselves to others. We just knew this was where God was leading us, even though we didn't know how He would work things out.
Jon returned home from overseas in May 2017 after being delayed several extra weeks. Once he stepped foot on American soil, we pressed hard to complete our home study. Life in the military provides awesome opportunities to see the world, but it also provided a great headache in completing our necessary background checks (11 states for the two of us). We also scheduled a family photoshoot, so our profile could be completed with up-to-date pictures. By early July both our home study and family profile book were completed, and we began presenting our family to expectant mothers.
During our wait we presented our family for many situations. We also continued scouring AdoptUSKids and local Heart Galleries, searching for "our child." We applied to work with six agencies through Christian Adoption Consultants and found two others on our own that were more than willing to share our profiles with expectant moms. Hearing the word that the expectant mother had chosen another family or that we weren't a good match for the children listed in the Heart Galleries was hard every single time. We presented our family for over two dozen babies and children ranging in age from unborn to 17 years old, only to hear back that we were not selected.
By September I was growing nervous. What were we doing, investing all this time, energy, and money into adoption when we may never be selected? It was many nights of crying out to God for strength to go on, for Him to clearly lead us to our child. Military life means one must be ready for constant movement. Would we move before we were placed with a child? Would our home study be worthless at the whim of Uncle Sam?
The first week of October I cried every day, rising early and meeting alone with God, begging Him to show Himself real to our family and place a child in our home. So many tears were shed! Even though we had only been presenting our family for three months, I was feeling the pressure of an adoption needing to take place soon. I called Dawn and spoke at length with her about my sense of urgency. She promised that she and Jason were lifting us in prayer and that God had not forgotten about our family.
On October 2nd we heard of a young boy who needed a family. Immediately we presented our family and were very encouraged that "Maybe this is the one!!" There were a lot of promising factors in this situation, but a week later we learned that the mother had not stopped by the agency to pick up family profiles for review. We were released to present our family to other situations in the meantime. Oh, how the tears flowed. What next?
Later that afternoon I found a situation of a young toddler who needed a forever home. After discussing the situation with Jon, I emailed the attorney representing the family. The following day our profile was presented to this mother and she immediately selected our family! We had a phone conference the same day and the following week we met to pick up our new son! The turn-around from "What are You teaching us, God?" to "Wow! He's home with us!" was astounding. Again, Dawn was so faithful to walk along side of us, encouraging us as we hit a few bumps in the road, making sure we were following protocol, and reassuring us that our emotions and wobbly knees were perfectly normal!
Our son has now been home with us for 3 months. Every day we grow more in love with him, and our biological children adore him. Settling in has not been without its challenges but seeing God's faithfulness to lead us together and watching our son flourish, has been worth every tear that has fallen throughout our journey. Our beautiful birth mother raised our son for 18 months on her own before deciding to place him with a family. When contemplating his future, she knew beyond a doubt that she wanted him raised in a two-parent home with young children. Yes. She specifically chose our home because we had very young children -- the exact reason we were afraid we would not be selected.
Our adoption is a very open, loving adoption. We adopted our son from a nearby state, so we will be able to visit as desired by both families...until the military moves us away. We communicate via instant messaging several times each week -- which has been very healing for the birth mom who has stated over and over that she knows our son is meant to be in our family. The openness of our adoption has also eased the transition period in so many ways. Completing missing sections of his medical history, reminding us of bedtime routines and more have been possible because of ongoing communication.
Through it all may Jesus Christ be glorified. Adopting a son into our family has made the sacrificial love of God so much more evident. He chose to do hard things for us so that we could live with Him forever! The way that He welcomes us into His family is the perfect model for us to welcome our son into our home: freely, unreservedly, just as if he had always been here.”
We are grateful that we could be an encouragement to Jon and Sarah in their journey. It is our honor and privilege to so! We would love to walk with you too on your own adoption journey. Please call to chat with us today or shoot us a message – no question is too insignificant.
I love this! It gives me hope that we can adopt a "non infant" as we've always wanted.
ReplyDelete