This is a special post for me. Not only is it a guest blog, but it is written by my amazing sister Beth.
Her and her husband have two adorable little boys and are currently in the process of fostering to adopt. This is their real and raw story of how God put it on their hearts to adopt, and the process of "waiting" for their children. A sweet and powerful reminder that no matter what we are "waiting" for, there is peace and comfort in trusting in the Lord and His perfect timing.
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| Prepared the girls room with expectation |
April 2013- I sat at our women’s conference at Rainier Hills Christian Fellowship. My pastor's wife, JoLee prayed for all of us and said, “We have gifts for each of you. Please go to the table. We have prayed over these verses and want you to randomly select one.”
I grabbed one and went back to my seat and read:
Psalm 68:6, “God sets the lonely in families, He leads out the prisoners with singing.”
I had no idea what this could even mean for me. We had lunch shortly after and my friend Nicole asked me what my verse was. I told her with my perplexed look on my face still not finding any meaning.
She said, “Maybe you and Kevin will adopt and rescue children.”
That verse has sat on my windowsill for the next two years.
I would pray over the verse often and always remember Nicole’s words to me that day.
June 2015- Kevin, my husband, and I were at crossroads and had no real direction as to which path to take. It was obvious to us to get pregnant after my first son Jace so he could have a sibling as we cherished so much growing up.
After I had my second son Hudson, we both had different ideas about what are family unit would look like. I wanted more children and Kevin was content with our family of four. We knew we needed to bring it to the Lord because ultimately it is not about what we want, but what He has planned for our family. We specifically prayed together for clarity if we were to adopt, have more children biologically, or not have any more children.
We waited for His Call.
We waited for His answer.
We waited for His Will.
August 2015- I was sitting in Cowboys Stadium at our annual AdvoCare Success School and He answered our prayer. It is a moment I will never forget. August 8, 2015 in section 243 at 2:42 pm.
“You will adopt a baby.”
I was hot, emotional.
I wrote down what the Lord had just told me.
It was too big to tell Kevin over the phone.
I waited.
While I waited I praised the Lord. I wrote our baby a letter. I thanked Him for direction.
I walked into our home and told Kevin the Lord had spoke to me. This was not the first time these words have come out of my mouth. He looked wide eyed and expectedly. I said, “We are supposed to adopt.” Without hesitation he responded, “I always knew we would adopt.” We did not know what we were doing or getting ourselves into but we started the process in obedience terrified, excited, anxious, willing.
September 2015- We went and met with Bethany Christian Services in Shoreline, WA to hear more about the Domestic Infant Adoption program they offered believing this was the path we would take. For almost three hours they talked to us and answered all of our questions about the program. The last five minutes she said this and it changed the direction we thought we would go, “There are more families waiting than babies available. I want to dangle a carrot for you and talk to you about our foster to adopt program. We truly want you to do whatever the Lord is calling you to do.”
We went out to lunch after and knew Foster Care was the path we were to take even though in our minds it scared us more than anything. We had peace in our hearts even though, emotionally, we were on a roller coaster where we couldn’t see the next turn.
February 20, 2016- We received our Foster Care license after completing mounds of paperwork, 24 total hours of classes, CPR/First Aid certification, FBI clearance, and 4 separate home study visits.
February 21, 2016 - We received 3 placement calls. We were no where near prepared for “the call” already but we acted when we felt strongly we were two take in two littles.
On that Monday, we were told 99% chance we were going to get these two darlings by Friday 99% chance our mind meant 100%. We got their room ready. We made several trips to our local clothing bank as we prepared to add two more little ones to our family.
Friday came and went. We got no call. We had no new information.
We prayed on their bedroom floor over and over again as we waited.
During the wait we experienced every thought and emotion possible.
We stood in faith that we would get these two blessings. We prayed without ceasing for these children. We wrote letters, drew pictures, cried, prayed, laughed, woke up many nights not being able to sleep, had our family, friends, and church family praying as we got no answers from our agency or the state. It was the longest 6 days of our lives from that Friday when we thought we would be picking them up to that Thursday when we got the call that they were placed with another family.
My heart felt like it had been ripped out of my chest.
The pain and grief I felt is nothing I have ever experienced before. It in no way can be described but we love those two and still do. Our hearts ache knowing we wouldn’t get to celebrate their 2nd and 1st birthday that we had already marked on the calendar. New pajamas were washed and placed in their cribs for the first night. They still are in the same spot. Their birthdays are still listed on our calendar. We still talk about them daily and pray for them regularly.
For whatever reason, God allowed us to love these two deeply and we are so grateful even through the pain of not knowing if we will ever to get to have them as a part of our family.
We are still in the wait but know God’s plan is perfect and His timing is perfect.
We eagerly wait for “the call”
Our hearts have grown.
Our faith has grown.
Our love has grown.
Our trust has grown.
Our patience has grown.
None of this would have been possible if we did not have to wait.
We are thankful for the wait and will continue to trust Him on this journey to add to our family.
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| First born Jace Robert Madill |
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| Younger brother Hudson Wayne Madill |
