It has certainly been a long road for us as we have reached the point of actively pursuing adoption. Truthfully, it often felt like life was going smoothly until this. After meeting on a mission trip in Simon’s home county of the UK, we “dated” long-distance for two years as we pursued ways to get Simon to the US – eventually settling on a fiancé visa which came through (nervously and narrowly) in time for our wedding date! Our “theme verse” quickly became, as cliched as it is, Romans 8:28-29 – that no matter what happens in life, that no matter the circumstances, no matter whether we got to marry when we’d planned, the whole experience would ultimately be for our good because God would use it to bring us closer to Him and to make us more like His Son.
Everything did work out and we settled into married life. We began to try for a baby naturally about 3 years into our marriage, without any success, for about 9 months. As that started to become a growing concern, other aspects of life continued to be positive – including us settling into our church home at Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church here in Birmingham, Alabama, where we quickly became plugged into the church and rekindled fellowship with old friends. Through our attendance at OMPC, God has providentially brought a number of people into our lives who have had their own infertility and adoption journeys, something that has been a great encouragement as we ourselves found ourselves defeated by failed treatment after failed treatment and the heartbreak of two miscarriages during IVF treatment. To have people around us who have an appreciation of what we are going through and who can empathize with the full range of emotions we have felt – disappointment, anger, frustration, helplessness, doubt – has been a great blessing even in such a difficult season.
Although the door is not totally closed on us conceiving our own biological child, we have reasoned that the chances of that are growing ever slimmer. As we have prayed and reflected upon the experience of others in our lives who have adopted, we have come to not only a peace – but an excitement – about the prospect of adoption. Not only to fulfill our hearts’ desire to be parents and to bring up a child in the way of the Lord, but to fulfill another of God’s callings – to care for the fatherless and the orphan (Deut 10:18; James 1:27). What greater way to do that than to give a child a loving, Christian home? We go into this process knowing that it isn’t going to be an easy one. We go into this process knowing that there may yet be many a bump in the road. But, after what we have gone through, and how God has been faithful even in great distress and sorrow, we go into this process encouraged by what God has done in our lives, anticipating what He is going to do in the future.
If you’d like to help us bring our child home – please donate below. Your loving gift and prayers are appreciated.
To DONATE BY MAIL, please make out the check to ABBA Fund (do not write the family name on the physical check, which will invalidate the charitable aspect of your gift ... instead either print out this page to send with it or include a separate note to request that we preference your gift toward the family profiled on this page) -- then mail your check and preference request to:
ABBA Fund, PO BOX 868049, Plano, TX 75086-8049
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**AN IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION FROM ABBA FUND ABOUT YOUR DONATION**
Using the online form on this page automatically submits a request to preference your gift to the family profiled on this page as part of ABBA Fund’s Christian Family Adoption Grant Fund. ABBA Fund administers this fund and maintains full control and administration of all donated funds. We also strive to honor our donor’s preference requests in accordance with IRS and Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) guidelines.
The IRS allows donors to state a preference of how their contribution is used and request that the gift support a particular family — and it allows the charitable organization (ABBA Fund) to fully consider that request as long as the donor understands and acknowledges for charitably given tax-deductible gifts that the ultimate authority regarding the disposition of your gift is at the discretion of the charitable organization. By using this online form, or other method described above, you are acknowledging an understanding of those IRS guidelines.