Bryan and Jayne's Adoption Story: Established Steps

"The heart of a man plans his way but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

Sit down and chat with any adoptive parent and they will tell you that their adoption journey did not look exactly how they thought it would. Hearts hold the hopes, dreams, and plans for how an adoption will play out. But ultimately, only the Lord’s plan will stand. Bryan and Jayne know this well and yet, they are quick to share about God's care each and every step of the way. I hope that hearing about their story will encourage your heart that His ways are good even though they are so mysterious!

Bryan writes, “Four years ago when our older daughter was one year old we decided it was time to start working on our second adoption. Our hope was that in a year or so we would have our second child. Those were our plans, but God had something else in mind. After a failed match and waiting for two and a half years, we were very discouraged. Our pastor happened to get lunch with Katie’s husband and somehow our story came up. Soon after we got started with Katie."

"It was a roller coaster ride emotionally, presenting to over a dozen expectant mothers, but after 10 months we were finally matched. It was two days before Christmas when we received the call that she had chosen us. What a great early Christmas gift from God! We made plans to fly down to meet her in early February (she was due March 20). But again, God’s plans were different than ours!"

"At the end of January we received a surprise call that our little girl had arrived 8 weeks early! We headed out the next day to meet our beautiful baby girl in the NICU. We would see over the next six weeks that God had gone before us and would take care of all of the details. We were able to get into a Ronald McDonald house our first night and as we checked in, a couple came into the room and introduced themselves because they recognized Jayne from Katie’s private Facebook group for her families. What are the chances that on our first night in Florida, we would meet another couple that were adopting a baby that was in the same hospital NICU as our daughter? More than that, Katie was their consultant."

"We saw God going before us in so many ways, including getting to meet A, having her visit baby J in the hospital, the friendship that developed with the couple we met that first night, the many friends and family that went out of their way to visit us in Florida, the unprompted financial support we received, our parents helping out by caring for our older daughter, and the wonderful Ronald McDonald home we were blessed to stay in. In addition to all that, God surrounded our sweet baby J with wonderful nurses and doctors who cared for her."

Jayne shares, "It was a long journey but looking back I can see the Lord in every step of the way.  There were many times of crying out to Him exhausted and frustrated and feeling like our prayers were not being answered but the Lord was and is always with us and loving us no matter what. I am so thankful that he always had J and her birth mom in mind as the answer to our prayers.” 

I feel so grateful to have watched God care for this family every step of the way. And I'm so glad that He carries out His plans even when they look different than ours.

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