Since before Jesse and I even started dating, the Lord began whispering the idea of adoption into both of our hearts individually. You see, both Jesse and I are adopted. We didn't grow up in an orphanage. We both had loving families. But spiritually, we were bankrupt, strangers and enemies to the family of God. Our condition was far more serious than any physical orphan. We were undeserving of grace and even more undeserving of adoption, but God pursued us, loved us, and made us a part of his forever family through the work of Jesus Christ
As we grow to know our Father God more deeply, we see adoption at the very heart of God's character.
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.- Deuteronomy 10:8
_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._James 1:27
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families… - Psalm 68:5-6
For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" - Romans 8:15
Adoption IS the heart of God and the heart of the Gospel, and as our relationship with the Lord grew and our understanding of His Word deepened, we knew that adoption would one day become even more a part of our story. As we dreamed together during our engagement, God placed in our hearts the dream of a family that would mirror the one we are promised to have one day in heaven.
"After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands." - Revelation 7:9
The question for us was never IF we would adopt, but when? And where from?
With much prayer and guidance, the Lord led us toward a domestic infant adoption.
Almost two years ago, God began to really stir in our hearts even more the idea of adopting. I brought it up to Jesse, and we prayed. The cost of adoption in particular loomed over us. With the average cost of adoption being anywhere between $20,000-60,000, we were terrified. Then, for my birthday, Jesse handed me a $100 check to open an adoption savings account, an affirmation that it was time to start pursuing our child! Though $100 is small in comparison to the enormous cost of adoption, it was a step of faith that began this journey we are currently walking.
Over the past two years, God has continuously affirmed our call to adoption. He has been so gracious with his provision, and we have been able to put more money into savings than we ever would have hoped on the day we opened that $100 savings account. Sweet friends have handed us checks that have blown us away. He has given us an incredible support system in our local church and friends. He has led us toward an incredible agency that loves the gospel so much and birth mothers so well. Continuously, we are blown away by His provision through the generosity of others.
Our paperwork is complete, but we are still in need of financial support as we continue toward bringing home baby Wood! We would be so grateful if you would consider a donation to bring our baby into their forever home! We hope by inviting you into this process you will see yourself as a part of the community we hope to build around our child as they grow up!
More than anything though, we ask that you please be in prayer for us and our family at this time. Please pray that the Lord would provide financially. Please pray for the heart of the birth mother we don't yet know - that the peace of Jesus would rule in her heart. Please pray that God would give us trust in His good timing and plans that are so above our own. And please pray for this child, that the Lord would protect them, and that they would know they are so deeply loved, by us and their heavenly Father!
Gratefully,
Jesse & Lauren
