As many of you know our family’s story has
been filled love, loss, grief and the abundant goodness of our God.
In January of 2013, it was with
immeasurable grief that we mourned the loss of our daughter Kate, who was
stillborn at 7 months.
If you have
experienced a loss like this, we would highly recommend Angie Smith’s book "I will carry you: The sacred
dance of grief and joy". Angie and her husband Todd also
faced the hardship of loss when they lost their daughter Audrey, just hours
after birth. Please read their story here. Todd is part of the trio
that is the amazingly talented Christian group, Selah. www.selahonline.com
+Selahonline angiesmith19
We were humbled
and will forever be grateful, as Selah dedicated Audrey’s song "I will carry you" at a concert we
were attending, just a month after we lost Kate. I had emailed the tour manager prior to the
concert, but never knew what was in store.
It was an emotionally packed, God ordained evening for everyone at the
concert. There was healing in our hearts
and no doubt many others in attendance were blessed that evening.
One year later we were blessed with our
son, Cullen Isaiah.
Isaiah 61:3 “and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of
beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of
praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of
righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”
After Cullen was born we were “feeling
good” about our family size and having 3 beautiful children to raise here on
earth.
(L to R: Caden, Kristen, Reese and Cullen making Kate's 4th heaven born birthday cake!)
In October 2015 we felt God speaking to us, specifically that we should be open to more children. We didn’t know it, but we were a couple of weeks pregnant at that time.
In October 2015 we felt God speaking to us, specifically that we should be open to more children. We didn’t know it, but we were a couple of weeks pregnant at that time.
We were both very excited to have heard
God’s word and the kids were especially thrilled with the expectations of
another member of our family!
It was another difficult season in our
lives, when Kristen had a miscarriage 13 weeks into the pregnancy.
For the next few months, we wondered what
all that “openness to more kids” was really all about. Maybe we heard
wrong? Then on Father’s Day of 2016
Kristen said “Maybe we’re supposed to adopt?”
We were amazed and overwhelmed with God’s
timing as our sermon at church that very morning was on the book of James and
more specifically, adoption.
There were many verses that God spoke to us
through that day, but James 1:27 captured our hearts, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to
look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being
polluted by the world.”
That was the moment we knew we were to
pursue an adoption.
God’s love for all His children is near and
dear to His heart and we are so grateful for His calling for us and this
journey, which has led us to adopting from South Korea.
This brings us to the here and now. Most of you know that adopting a child into a
family can be a costly endeavor. We
simply do not have the funds to fully finance an adoption. Yet, in the next
month, we will have our homestudy completed and soon we’ll begin reviewing
referrals from our adoption agency. We
know full well that embarking on this journey could take months and maybe
years, but are stepping out in faith that He will meet all of our needs.
First and foremost we ask for your
prayers. There is no greater power than
that of prayer and we covet them.
Second, we would humbly ask if you feel led, to make a
financial gift to help make an immeasurable difference in the life of our
child.
We greatly appreciated any contribution you
can make and no gift is too small!
Please check back often as we’ll update our
funding status as we continue to raise money through applying for grants,
having garage sales, silent-auctions, pancake breakfasts and maybe even a
Chick-fil-a sponsored dinner!
Our ultimate desire is to bring God glory
throughout this process. We know that
God is able to provide and we desire nothing more than to show the greatness of
His love for us and the love he has for all of his adopted children, through
this process.
We would love your prayers in the following
areas
- God’s provision in our fundraising efforts
- Our preparation for parenting our adopted child
- Preparation in the heart of our adopted child, to receive us as parents
- Our children’s spiritual, emotional and mental health
- Safe travel to and from South Korea
- The people of our adoption agency (Children’s Home Society / Lutheran Social Services)
