God has been so faithful, and we feel so blessed as he continues to write His story through our lives. If this is your first time hearing about our adoption, then we would love to share more of our story with you.
Our story began at First Baptist Church of Geneva. Alli and I were both employed by the church. While we were employed by separate departments, we worked in the same office. Alli had been hired in December of 2012, and Jonathan was hired in February of 2013. Two months after Jonathan’s hire, we had our first date. We went hiking at a state park, which then turned into a lunch date. We talked all afternoon and soon found ourselves looking for a place to eat dinner together. By the end of the date, I knew that I was going to marry Alli. Five months later we were engaged and began planning our wedding. On May 3, 2014 we were married. There has been so much joy and laughter as God has written our love story. There has also been pain and mourning, something that we had not anticipated nor were we prepared for. In August of 2015, Alli got pregnant, and we quickly began to dream and plan for the new life that was ahead of us. But the dreaming was short lived, as Alli began to have some complications a few weeks after discovering she was pregnant. A week after the initial doctor’s visit, our greatest fear was confirmed, Alli had miscarried. We had experienced the greatest of joys and the devastation of loss all within a matter of weeks.
Through the grief of losing a child God brought comfort and healing to us and and we learned that even in our deepest sorrow God’s love is deeper still. We find peace knowing our little one is with Jesus and we cannot wait to meet him in heaven someday.
Even before the miscarriage and before we said “I do” adoption has been a topic of discussion. We’ve both always wanted to adopt, and we knew that some day adoption would also be woven into our story. In March of 2017 we attended our first adoption conference. Our goal was to learn about the differences between domestic and international adoption. We also wanted to learn about Foster Care, and the possibility of fostering to adopt. As we sat through the sessions, we felt God working in our hearts. Both of us fought back tears through most of the presentations. Following the seminar adoption became a prominent topic of conversation in our household.
I remember the day Alli came and sat beside me on the couch and asked, “what if we adopted first?” It was a few months after we had been to the seminar. After a brief conversation, we decided to begin praying about it together, to see how the Lord might lead. Our prayer soon became, “Lord, build our family any way that seems fitting to you.” In April of 2018, while we were sitting at the beach in Florida, we decided that it was time to begin our adoption journey. We have been amazed and in awe of the way that God has worked throughout this process. It has given us a deeper understanding and knowledge of the God that we serve, and it has given us a greater understanding of his love for his children. We cannot wait to give that same love to our little one very soon!
