An Adoption Story: Allison & Matt — Uncovering the Little Way

God’s faithfulness in adoption: Part two

Immediately upon meeting Allison & Matt it was clear that they were ready to jump all into to their next adoption. After experiencing one successful adoption years earlier, they were positive, hopeful, and mostly rooted in the belief that Christ would carry them through this next adoption. With every adoption, the uncertainties and unknowns and can be so incredibly challenging for everyone involved. Allison & Matt maintained steadfast faith every step of the way, keeping their eyes on Christ and how he was guiding them to serve others through adoption.

This adoption story is a little different, written by the two of them, broken up into two parts it highlights how God’s faithfulness has carried them through both of their adoptions and the lessons they learned along the way. I pray you find it as impactful as I do, seeing these two lovely people grow their family to a family of four and keeping God first always.

We felt that the Lord however was not done growing our family through adoption but surrendered our hearts and time table to Him. 5 years later and God has opened the door! We interviewed several adoption agencies and consultants and as soon as we talked with Samantha at Christian Adoption Consultants we knew that she was the one we wanted to help guide us and lead us through our 2nd adoption journey. She was always there for us, to talk us through each step of the journey, to encourage us, to lift us up when we were weak, and to celebrate with us when it was time to celebrate! It was like working with a good friend! As we look back at this adoption journey there are things that are similar to the adoption of our son and things that have been quite different but one thing that has been the same is seeing God’s hand along each and every step of the way.

The adoption journey many times leaves you with a feeling of anxiousness, wonder, and questioning whether you are doing the right thing. However, in Philippians 4:6 we are told, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” There were so many prayers prayed during the past year, prayers for expectant mothers and their babies who were considering our profile, prayers for financial provision, prayers for the wait, prayers for God’s perfect timing.

One thing that God grew me in this adoption was praying specifically for the expectant mom, her baby, and the right family for that child. It’s so easy to think that our family is the perfect family for each baby and to pray for God to bring each baby to us. Though during this adoption God changed my prayer to, “Lord, I pray that as this expectant mother views profiles that you will guide her and direct her to the family that is perfect for her child and his/her needs throughout life. If there is a family who is better suited to raise this child or a family who doesn’t know the love and endless joy of having a child then please lead this mother to those families and if that family is ours then please give her peace that our family is the right fit for her child. Help this expectant mother to see you Lord and your love as she views our profile that she might know you or that it plants a seed in her heart as to who you are.” There were times that I prayed this prayer and “felt” that this would be the expectant mother that would choose us and then would find out that no this was not the child God had to be a part of our family. While each no was a let down I am thankful for the Lord’s reminder to trust in Him and His timing.

That December, less than 2 weeks before Christmas and we were sent three situations in 2 days. We talked in depth with our consultant, Samantha, about the situations and what we should do. Samantha was always pointing us to the Lord and to remember that God would never let us miss the baby that He intended for our family. We prayed as a family over each situation and decided to put our “yes” on the table for this one expectant mother to view our profile. We said yes to our profile being shown Monday morning, were told Tuesday morning our profile had been presented and they would be in touch the day after Christmas, the next morning as I was packing to head to our family for Christmas, I received a text asking if we could chat. After a morning of wondering what we were chatting about, were we being asked additional questions, were we talking to the expectant mother, were we being told no, were we just receiving an update, we weren’t sure. As 2pm came and as we heard the voice of the adoption caseworker we knew within seconds that this was the call telling us we were matched. I wish you all could have seen the smile that came on our son's face as he heard the words, you are getting a baby! It was priceless. You see he saw that afternoon that God answers prayers.

Our son had been praying nightly for over a year for God to give him a brother or sister and on December 22, 2023 he learned a personal lesson that I hope he never forgets that God does answer our prayers and they are answered in his perfect timing! We were elated and we floated through the Holidays with great joy and excitement anticipating the birth of our daughter! While there was great joy and excitement there was also the other side of logistics figuring out where the remaining $20,000+ would come from, how would we get to and from her birthstate, where would we stay while waiting on ICPC (how expensive would that be?), what will our son do while we travel, will he come with us, stay here in town? Lots of questions and things to be figured out.

We immediately started praying and asking others to come alongside us and pray through all these details. In the next few moments you are going to see God as our provider. We started a fundraising page, we applied for grants, and had to humble ourselves before our friends and family and ask for their financial support. A few days after the holidays, I received a phone call from my sister-in-laws friend, someone I have maybe met briefly twice. She and her husband had planned to adopt but then got pregnant and decided not to move forward with adoption but they had already raised some money in a grant that was only allowed to be used towards adoption and she had made contact with the grant company asking if the money could be transferred to us. The answer was yes, after a little paperwork the money totaling just shy of $5,000 was transferred over to us. We were receiving donations from family and friends at this same time. We interviewed for a grant during this time as well. One day I was thinking and praying, “Lord, this amount of money on paper makes absolutely no sense. There is no way that we can make this work. This amount is too great.” But GOD reminded me, oh you of little faith, sit back and watch me! And do you know that we had every penny that we needed to bring our daughter home literally days before she came home?

In January we received news that we might need to pack our bags and be ready because our daughter might be coming 6 weeks early. Scary, but we knew God would keep her safe. We started praying and God did keep our daughter and her birth mother healthy. So healthy in fact that she waited til 5 days before her due date to come! During those 6 weeks we were thinking about where we would stay when we got the call. My dad called me one Tuesday morning after his prayer breakfast and told me that one of the men in his breakfast had some connections in her birthstate and that he was going to see if he could find a recommendation of a place for us to stay. I also reached out to a friend of mine whose parents lived there. My dad’s friend called me a few days later and said you have a house to stay at on a lake, here is the contact number, you may have to pay utilities or a little fee. Matt called the owner of the house that evening and was told no way, the house is FREE! FREE?? What, no way? This was a huge answer to prayer! No additional expense for lodging was now needed. This family blessed us tremendously with a beautiful lake home to wait out the ICPC paperwork process. A day later my friend called and her parents also were willing to have us stay with them. God opened doors through His faithful servants, both generous Christian families, willing to help ours.

We had no idea how long we would be in the birthstate, we were told to expect up to 14 business days, (which would be 15 for us because of Presidents Day). While I didn’t like the unknown of how long we’d be there I relished in the fact that I had a daughter, that my parents brought our son to meet her and so that Matt and I could have our family together during this wait. I relished in the fact we got to make special memories during that first week together as a family. Each day that passed that we heard no news allowing us to go home was tough. After being there for a week, I texted Samantha, friends, family, and church family to please pray we could come home even that day but in my mind and heart I had come to terms with the fact that we would be there through the weekend and into the following week if not longer. We decided that morning to just hang out around the house, soak in the newborn snuggles, and to take a nature walk as a family. We were about to get ready for our nature walk when we received phone call letting us know that our paperwork had been approved and that we were able to come back home. It was almost lunch time so we had to decide were we making the 10-12 hour drive back or would we wait til the next day or even through the weekend? Well, we jumped off the couch, and got all packed up and cleaned up and headed for home as a family of four! We were so excited to bring our daughter home! God heard our cries and our prayers, our desire to be at home as a family of four and I know that God moved that paperwork through the right desks at the right time to allow us to come home.

One last thing that I want you to see through this testimony of God’s faithfulness, his goodness, his perfect timing, and so on is that I want you to know that these two birth moms who made me a mom are my heros, they are brave, they are strong, they are courageous, they are loving, and I am so thankful for both of them.

While this is my testimony to becoming a mother I hope that you see that God is there for you too. That you can go to him in prayer, you can go to him in hard and good times, and that he is always there for you. His timing might not always be our timing but His timing is always perfect timing. And when that is hard to hear and see in the present there is the other side when one day you will look back and realize that the timing was just a way of God refining you and drawing you closer to Him. It’s a way that He allows us to get to know him and His character more closely. I thank God daily for my children and honestly some nights as I tuck them into bed I have a tear slide down my cheek as I think of the generosity of God that he allows me to be my pride and joys mommy! God is so good! And I also thank Him that through the process of adoption I have grown in my understanding of who God is and that He has refined me to become more like Him in the process. God is a God who hears, who cares, who loves, who provides ways even when it seems like there is no way. God is a faithful God, a God who is near in the hard times and good times. God is a God who wants us to bring him the good and the bad. God is a God who wants a relationship with you and who wants to show you who He is, allow Him in to make Himself known in your life!