Friends and family,
We have BIG news!
We are beyond excited to share with you that we are adopting! Our journey to start a family has certainly not been easy, but we are better for it and hope our story encourages you.
As you may or may not know, Hannah and I have been struggling with infertility for over three years now. Consequently, we have been wrestling with God for at least two of those years as we have watched the community around us grow with children and new life. We have tirelessly pleaded with the Lord for His provision in our lives to start a family to no avail. Each new month would bring hope and optimism to be quickly followed with sadness, frustration, and confusion. We felt as if our prayers were falling on deaf ears. We felt defeated.
What we did not realize at the time was that the Lord was providing for us exactly what we needed. After almost two years of infertility, Hannah and I found ourselves seeking the support and guidance of a Christian counselor. We admittedly did not realize just how tired we were until we started this process. Through the continued efforts of counseling, prayer, and the Holy Spirit, our marriage began to flourish. Our marriage is now stronger than ever. Praise God! The Lord used this trial to draw us nearer to Him and consequently each other. What the enemy tried to use to divide our marriage, God is using as a trophy of His grace and goodness. So while we are tired and sad, we are deeply grateful to the Lord for His kindness.
Through this time of counsel, we continued to prayerfully consider where the Lord was leading us. Do we move forward with medical options such as IUI or IVF? Do we move forward with adoption? Do we continue to wait? We had not felt a peace for either medical or adoption paths forward so we continued to wait.
In July of 2022, the Holy Spirit worked in our hearts to create a new found conviction to adopt a child. We prayerfully considered this over the next few days and confirmed that the Lord was indeed calling us to adopt. The Lord helped us realize that genes and blood do not make a family, love does. Through our journey, God has placed on our hearts the desire to love any child that comes into our home with everything we have.
As we embark on this journey of adoption and parenthood, there are several ways in which we would love to have your support.
Pray for our baby. Pray for their heart, that they may know and experience the love of the Lord in ways beyond our understanding.
Pray for the birth mother and father. We do not yet know them, but we pray that the Lord blesses and comforts them beyond their understanding in the incredibly difficult decision to give their child up for adoption.
Pray for us. We quite frankly have no idea what we are getting ourselves into, but we know that the Lord has called us here and we pray for spirits that will love this child the way that God loves us.
If you are willing and able, we would be honored to have your financial support through this endeavor. As part of our adoption process, we have started a crowdfunding campaign. It may surprise you to hear that adoption-related costs can easily total up to $80,000 or more. This is why we have set a goal of $50,000 to help ease the financial burden that often overwhelms adoptive parents.
Because we know that God has called us to this, we trust that He will provide for us. We are stepping out in faith and believing that God will provide in miraculous ways. By setting up this crowdfunding campaign, we are inviting you into our adoption journey and inviting you to be a part of the beautiful story that Jesus is writing in our lives. As participants in our adoption process, know that we are inviting you into the community that we hope to build around our future son or daughter.
We love you all and are so incredibly thankful for you. Now, let’s bring home baby Sims!
Hello friends and family! We wanted to provide you with an update on our adoption journey. In August, we matched with another birth mom. She was actually our first "yes" since our failed adoption earlier in the summer. This last Monday, November 6, we were graced with the birth of a sweet little baby boy. Isaiah Griffin Eli Sims. He came into the world at 7 pounds 13 ounces and 19 3/4" long. He is a precious little chunk, who has yet to turn down a bottle with any form of formula or breast milk in it. Our hearts (and Isaiah's tummy) are so full. We are currently staying in Layton, Utah at the home of an incredibly kind family who has welcomed us into their home as we wait for the legal process to complete (estimated 7-10 days). We'll then be able to travel back to Chattanooga for Isaiah's official homecoming, which will be more joyful and celebratory than Beyoncé's Homecoming.
All joking aside, we have been so humbled through this season of starting our family. Without a doubt, it has been one of the most challenging and agonizing experiences that we have ever been through. And yet, we serve a God who is able to take the worst of our worldly circumstances and use it for our good and His glory. Our "good" does not necessarily manifest itself in worldly blessings, but through the process of sanctification as he molds us into being more like Christ. As two people broken with sin, this has been a painful but fruitful experience as we further realize the depth of our sin and therefore our need for God. We are thankful.
Isaiah's name is inspired by scripture that encouraged us through this trial. Specifically, Isaiah 58:11 where God is affirming His readiness to bless those who are obedient to Him. "And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desires in scorched places and make your bones strong..." Starting a family has been a scorched place for us through years of infertility followed by our failed adoption. To experience God's provision and redemption in our scorched place is such a testament of His love and faithfulness. And still, this child is not our own, but a gift from God that we have the opportunity to steward. We know this is just the beginning and we know there will be many more twists and turns along the way. For now, we take a posture of gratitude and humility, and invite you to sing praises to the Lord, for He has done gloriously.
With love,
Fletcher & Hannah
Hey y’all, it has been a while since we have provided y’all with an update on our adoption so wanted to keep you informed. At the end of May, we learmed that the birth mom had decided to separate the twins. Our hearts were broken, but through much prayer we felt that the Lord had us staying with this case and loving the birth mom and the twins through this process. Our prayer became that she would have a change of heart and keep the twins together.
Today, on our last full day of vacation celebrating our 5-year anniversary/baby moon, we received a call from the agency that the birth mom decided to parent the twins herself and is flying home this afternoon. Our hearts are heavy, but we feel a transcendent peace in her decision that the twins will be together. This has been our prayer for the last 3+ weeks and while it is not the outcome we had hoped for, it is an answered prayer. We will continue to trust in and praise the Lord in the midst of this storm. We know that nothing happens outside of His perfect will. We appreciate your continued prayers over this process. Thank you for your love and support.
With love,
Hannah & Fletcher
Friends and family!! We received a phone call yesterday letting us know that we have been MATCHED! Wait for it... with TWINS! One boy and one girl due August 22 in Utah. We are so overwhelmed with joy and gratitude. We had an introductory call with the birth mama, Natasha, tonight and she was so so sweet. It’s honestly a bit surreal. We are beyond excited and shared so many joyful tears yesterday. The Lord is so faithful. Thank you for your continued support and prayers over the last several months. Please continue to lift up Natasha, her babies and us as we continue on this journey. We love y’all!
Fletcher & Hannah
Hello friends and family! We wanted to share with you that as of last Tuesday we are officially ACTIVE! Woohoo! We had an introductory call with our Adoption Consultant on Friday and received our first case on Monday. We are so grateful to be in this phase of the process and appreciate your continued prayers. We would specifically love prayer for wisdom and discernment as we review the cases of expectant moms. We also ask for prayers for the expectant moms as they review and consider our profile. We don't know exactly where this journey will take us, but we know that the Lord is good, and this will happen in His timing. Thank you and we love you all dearly!
Love,
Fletcher & Hannah
Friends and family! We are excited to share with you that we received our approved home study as well as our completed profile book the week before Christmas. Praise God! We immediately submitted all 218 pages of documentation to FAC for their final review before we are finally ACTIVE! Pending any major setbacks, we anticipate being active this month (January)! So, what does that mean? I'm glad you asked. Once active, we will start to receive cases through FAC to review. The birth mom of any case we say "yes" to will then review our profile book, which simply tells them who we are, why we chose adoption, and what we are about. Once we receive our "yes" from a birth mom, we are officially matched! From there, we wait with great anticipation for the birth of our child as we prepare our hearts and our home to welcome them into our family.
Hannah and I are overwhelmed with gratitude for the support we have received from you all. We are honored by your willingness to be a part of our adoption story. You are truly a blessing. We appreciate your prayers through this journey, and we hope your New Year is off to a wonderful start. God bless you!
With much love,
Fletcher & Hannah
