Saturday, July 29, 2017

Cary and Sami's Adoption Story: God's Good Timing

Chosen the first time they presented their profile. Love poured out on the brave expectant mama who had chosen them. A beautiful daughter soon in their arms. Parenthood finally beginning-the answer to years of prayers. A home filled with the sweet baby murmurs they had longed for. Then, the unexpected: a brain tumor. And still, not skipping a beat, Sami and Cary walk on with hearts full of faith and gratitude, choosing to praise Him, their eyes wide open to all the ways God is at work.

Sami shares, "Cary and I have been overwhelmed by God's goodness and His faithfulness through our adoption process. We have also learned so much about complete surrender and giving everything to Him. Leading up to our decision to adopt, we waited for 7 years for God to answer our prayers to start a family. Throughout this season of hoping and waiting to become parents, God taught us to rest in Him. When we were tempted to worry or doubt or fret that there was something we should be doing, He has been faithful to teach us that we can and should rest in His arms. This peace has been so freeing and such a blessing. All of the things that God brought us through as we waited for our daughter have prepared us so well for this next season that we are now in."

"When our daughter was almost 7 weeks old Cary was diagnosed with a brain tumor and has since had brain surgery. We are still waiting for reports and to know what the plan will look like moving forward. I know that without God teaching us and loving us through our adoption process, this season would be much more difficult! Ultimately, we are so thankful that God is a big God that is always in control! He knew the timing that would be perfect for us and sent our sweet baby girl at exactly the perfect time. We are thankful that He chose to give us our sweet girl to be a light in our lives during this season and that He loves us more than we can ever imagine."

 "Adoption has been such a gift to us. We have gained an amazing extended family through Stella's birth family and cannot imagine our family any other way. CAC has been an invaluable resource to us through prayer, encouragement, guidance and support and we love that God led us to them for our adoption!"




(Photo Credit for all photos: Sara Way from Timeless Moments Photography)

Please join me in praying for continued healing for Cary. God's grace that is so clearly on this precious family of three.
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For more information about domestic adoption, please contact me at katief@christianadoptionconsultants.com

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Thursday, July 20, 2017

Adoption Story: Jesse and Kelly


“A baby is a dancing joy of life.” — Debasish Mridha


The joy that this sweet child has brought to his parents is unmistakable! Jesse and Kelly are so clearly bursting with love for their son and it makes my heart so happy to see what God has done in their adoption story.

Jesse and Kelly began seeing adoption situations in March and were matched a month later. They got to know the expectant mama and prepared their hearts and home to become parents. But in July they experienced heart break as things didn't go as planned and they were back to waiting again. God wasn't finished with their adoption story and they didn't give up hope. Eight weeks later they were matched again and their adorable little boy entered the world last November. He is an answer to so many hopes and dreams! Tears have been turned to happiness in this precious family of three!

(Photo credit: Nicole Modeen)
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For more information about domestic adoption, contact me at katief@christianadoptionconsultants.com

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Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Sweet CAC Babies and 4th of July!

It's such a joy and honor to watch God work in the lives of so many adoptive families. Happy 4th of July from some of my CAC sweeties!
















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Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Jon and Melanie's Adoption Story: Lifting Their Hearts to God


“Waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one's thoughts.”
- Elisabeth Elliot -

Every adoption involves waiting and waiting, however long it lasts, is never easy. There are so many different ways that people respond to the wait. Some focus on those around them, seeking to love the precious people already in their lives. Others get angry, placing blame on someone/anyone for why they are waiting, even blaming God. Still others want to give up or sadly, they do give up. And then there are those who wait with a lifted up heart, going to God about it, casting their cares on Him, refusing to give up unless He tells them to and seeking to trust Him while they wrestle through the waiting. Jon and Melanie's wait was so very difficult but I think that Elisabeth Elliot (quoted above) would have been proud as she watched them wait with open hands to the Lord.

This couple presented again and again to expectant mamas, so willing to say "yes" and so very ready to become parents. But they kept hearing "no" again and again. As a Mennonite family, they wondered if their faith wasn't connecting with the expectant mamas reading their profile. They wondered if they would ever be chosen. I thought my heart might crack as I walked alongside them, wishing with all that was in me that the expectant mamas reading their profile could see the incredibly kind, loving, and gentle hearts of this precious couple. They kept praying that God would fulfill their desire for a child. And then one day I got a call...an agency was looking for some very specific characteristics in an adoptive family and I wondered if this was exactly the situation for Jon and Melanie. I will never forget hearing what this expectant mama shared with the agency when she looked over their profile book, "I love Mennonites! I've been reading their things over and over. I think they are perfect!" The exact thing they feared might prevent them from being chosen was actually a huge part of what connected their son's birth mom's heart with theirs. Here is a little from Melanie about their journey:


"As I hold my son in my arms; I reflect back on our journey to him.  Nothing could have prepared us for how difficult the wait was, or for how much love for him and for his birth mom instantly overwhelmed us.  I spent many hours in our furnished nursery journaling, crying, and praying.  We had battled with infertility and years of medical treatment; yet were convinced we wanted to be parents. During the 15 months of having our profile book shown to birth moms, I sometimes wondered if I could present another time, or hear another no.  But my desire to be a mother was even stronger than the desire to quit. 

 God taught me that He is a Good Father.  That His plans for me, and for the baby that became my son, were wonderful,  and so much different and better than I could have dreamed.  I learned that adoption is complex; and that it is possible to feel pain and pleasure simultaneously. So as I hold my son tightly, I hope that he grows up to know and believe that the arms of the mother who gave him life, those arms placed him into mine, and in that moment, love forged a bond that is unexplainable."
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For more information about domestic adoption, please contact me at katief@christianadoptionconsultants.com

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Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Adoption Story: Dave and Amy's Twins

One of the extra sweet parts of adopting through Christian Adoption Consultants is the beautiful adoption community that is there waiting for you with other CAC families. As an adoptive mama myself, I still benefit greatly from that community that I became a part of over 5 years ago when we started our first adoption. Dave and Amy are two special parts of the CAC community and they have been an importance source of encouragement for many CAC families.

God has given this couple huge hearts filled with passion for adoption. They helped launch their church’s adoption, foster care, and orphan care ministry and they serve as the leaders of the ministry there. They also are a part of the CAC staff as Adoption Specialists who help spread the word about CAC and they do it with compassion for those walking through infertility and wise help for all those considering their adoption options. I feel so grateful to work alongside them and to call them my friends!

Somehow, their "congrats" blog post got put aside but I figure this is better late than never. I mean, who doesn't want to hear about TWINS?! When Dave and Amy got started on their second adoption we learned about an expectant mama due with twins. Dave and Amy's lives were already pretty crazy busy with the two little ones they had at home but they were filled with faith and excitement to put their "yes" on the table, ready to see what God would do. And what He did was connect the heart of that expectant mama with theirs and grow their family in ways they would have never dreamed! Amy shares about their second adoption:

"We are so thankful for Katie and CAC's part in growing our family.  Adoption is often an emotional roller-coaster and Katie was always there to point us back to Jesus.  I will never forgot the call from Katie when she said "Your family is about to get a lot bigger!" I started laughing in both shock and joy! It was only the beginning of many joyful moments and many surprises to come.  The twins ended up being born early at 34 weeks and we started out with some rough months of RSV and hospital stays.  

 We found out when they were about a month old that one twin, Ezra was deaf.  This led to many tests and appointments to see if there was anything else going on.  Eventually we were told Ezra has Usher Syndrome type 1d which affects hearing, vision, and the vestibular system (making things like sitting and walking very hard). Now we knew Ezra was deaf and vision will deteriorate, possibly leading to blindness. So this began a whole new life for our  family filled with doctor visits and therapies.  A shock to us and somewhat overwhelming.  

 Through it all we had a peace that God had placed these two precious boys in our family and He would give us what we needed to parent them.  Yes some days I need to be reminded of this but God seems to use His people at just the right moment to help remind me (so many of these reminders come from our CAC extended family).  See this news was all a surprise to us but God has been preparing us and placing people in our lives as resources and support literally our entire lives. We are blessed to have both these precious boys in our family and they are teaching us how to trust God's peace and strength on a daily basis."

 (To check a couple other beautiful stories of my families who have brought home twins, read here and here.)
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For more information about Christian Adoption Consultants, please contact me at katief@christianadoptionconsultants.com

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Saturday, March 11, 2017

Adoption Update: Our Daughter, Keziah

There is so much to say...so, so much to attempt to convey about the heartbreaking and breathtaking beauty of adoption. But for today, we invite you to rejoice along with us in the gift of our daughter, Keziah Lamia (KEZ-ee-uh Luh-mee-uh). The name "Keziah" comes from the book of Job in the Bible; Keziah was one Job's daughters during the time of restoration and renewal God brought about in his life-a reminder of God's redeeming love. Lamia is the beautiful middle name that her brave birth mom chose for her. We pray that Keziah's life is marked by the selfless love of of her birth mom as well as the unchanging love of our Heavenly Father.

Our sweet girl was born on Thursday morning and we left the hospital with her on Friday evening. She is teeny (5lbs 13oz). She is beautiful. She is so very loved!

We thank God for the gift of her life and we thank Him for each of you who have prayed for us, supported us, and encouraged us all along the way!

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Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Adoption Story: Andrew and Ashlee's Open Heart

One of the most essential ingredients in any adoption journey is humility. Andrew and Ashlee walked out their adoption with humble hearts-wanting to learn, wanting to grow, and wanting to follow God's direction for their family. They asked me thoughtful, wise questions as I served as their adoption consultant. But more importantly, they humbly went to the Lord with their questions and sought to follow His direction throughout their adoption journey. Ashlee shares some of what God did in their hearts as they surrendered their own plans to follow where He led:


I'll be honest, when we started our journey we were not comfortable with the idea of an open relationship with H's birth parents - like, at all. We were uneducated and really just ignorant to what an open adoption really looked like and had only heard the "scary birth mom" rumors. But after choosing to at least be open to well, being Open, we begin to really seek God's guidance in this area. The more we read and talked with other adoptive families about it the more we saw God's heart and his desire to weave together families and build connections out of potentially broken situations. And we remembered that this child is ultimately God's - not ours - and He is certainly more protective of her than we could ever be. So we began to fall in love with the idea of embracing another mother and truly showing her compassion and acceptance and love. And not only that, but being able to demonstrate this to our boys and H as well.

This picture is a painting I made for H's birth mama... I remember crying as I made it for her because I knew how far we had come in really caring about her and truly trusting God in our relationship. She said it's hanging in her living room and she reads it everyday. That makes my heart smile.  We are in no way experts regarding Open Adoption and in fact, are treading on very unfamiliar territory, just taking it one day at a time. As the weeks, months and years go by I'm sure our relationship with H's birth parents will ebb and flow but one thing is for sure... She will know them and will always be able and encouraged to reach out to them.

Andrew and Ashlee got started with CAC in September of last year, began seeing adoption situations in February, and were matched in March. Their daughter was born in June, just 10 months after they had started with CAC. Reflecting on their journey as a CAC family, Ashlee shares,

Because it's just so true that you don't know what you don't know. And the more you learn, the more you realize how much you don't know." For this reason - and so many more - we are forever grateful that we were put in touch with Katie at CAC. A friend who had adopted the year before recommended I call her and so I did. My husband and I knew we wanted to adopt, but were still in prayer if it was the right time. I had my list of questions ready for Katie and she was so encouraging, non-pressuring, and full of honesty. I remember hanging up the phone feeling so peaceful and reassured that God would give us clear guidance on this journey.

Shortly after that first conversation, we were confident that CAC was part of that tangible guidance. Besides the incredibly helpful resources they provided, Katie was always there for us, ready with an answer, or an encouraging word, and most importantly, perspective, as we took one step in front of the other for the next several months. Her experience and wisdom was pivotal in our conversations surrounding open adoption, meeting our daughter's birth parents for the first time and what an ongoing relationship with them might look like, handling the intimate details of our daughter's birth, and truly trusting God with everything.

Our journey, in hindsight, was nothing we expected but everything we prayed for. It challenged every belief that we had and we are truly different people then we were at the start. We know without a doubt that God put Katie and CAC in our lives for such a time as this, and we are forever humbled and grateful.

 God is good and He is faithful. Our daughter is the perfect caboose for our family of six.
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For more information about domestic infant adoption, please contact me at katief@christianadoptionconsultants.com


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