Hope Deferred

Feb 1st, 2025 - We got the call!

Can you believe it?!

I was on a road trip in Wyoming with my friend, Abbey, when my watch rang and Courtney was calling. Courtney is our Consultant with Faithful Adoption Consultants and she told me, when we first connected in October that she'll ONLY call me for ONE reason. I ran across the basement with my watch in the air screaming, "ABBEY I'M GETTING THE MOST IMPORTANT CALL OF MY LIFE!"

I finally made it to my phone and answered, "Hello???" My heart was racing. Courtney asked me to get Tommy on the line so I called him In... and she told us that we've been matched with a mom!

---

A few days earlier we had gotten a text from Courtney saying that a young mom in Connecticut saw our profile and would like to jump on the phone and ask us some questions. This was the 5th expectant mom that we've pursued with Faithful Adoption Consultants and the first who wanted to talk to us! Courtney said these calls are usually about 15 minutes long, not to ask too many questions but let her get to know us.

We jump on a call together in the middle of the day and talked with this expectant mom for 45 minutes! She was so sweet and seemed to care about the people she chose to place her child with. We left the conversation with the mom wanting a little more time to consider but she said she isn't looking at any other families, we're the only one on her mind!

So began a new 'waiting' season. We've experienced a lot of different 'waits' In our journey to become parents. For anyone trying to get pregnant, you know about the 2 week wait. With my first pregnancy, we had gotten news that the pregnancy wasn't viable so we inevitably waited for the baby to leave my body. Since then we've been waiting by the day, the week, the month, the year...

So four days later, Courtney called with the best news - "She's picked you! You'll get to meet your baby April 22nd In Connecticut!!"

There was a moment of silence and unbelief on the phone with Courtney & Tommy and with Abbey by my side. We hung up with next steps and instructions on wiring money to the agency. Abbey prayed over us. It was surreal. It was beautiful.

On the way to the airport, Abbey and I started conspiring on how to tell our friends and my family...

It was a week of joy, dreaming and planning! Joy in getting to tell our families, dreaming up names and play dates, planning a big dinner to tell our friends, sending packages in the mail and postcards to extended family members who have support us. Our dreams were finally coming true!!

Are you waiting for the shoe to drop? Part of me was too..

---

We got the call 7 days later that the birth mom is cancelling the contract and decided to parent. I was stunned and, again, speechless.

Tommy came home from work and spent the morning giving an update to everyone who had celebrated with us the last week. My whole heart was simultaneously so proud of the mom for choosing to parent and devastated that the dream of parenthood was gone in a moment.

We've been here before. I'm so grateful for a partnership where we have learned to love and grieve well together.

---

We saw God's kindness through the situation right away. I'm not trying to 'tie a bow on it' and share a fake happy ending - we cried and still grieve the dream of meeting a baby in April - BUT GOD has been so gracious!

The birth mom thanked us for our prayers and credited God with giving her a better job, softening her parent's heart and finding resources to parent within the week that we were praying for her.

Tommy and I spent the week processing and grieving the news before we opened our hearts to seeing more profiles. Our friends gathered back around us truly showing how the Church community can "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." Romans 12:15-16.

--

Simultaneously, this was also the day that our church began a 40 day fast to Make Room for God in our day-to-day lives.

Part two of our story is coming next but it's amazing that our adoption journey started and ended with a fast and pursuing God whole heartedly 💕