Brenton and I have been married for 12 years. We have three wonderful biological children and one amazing son that God blessed us with through adoption. Our adopted son came to us through foster care. We have been foster parents for 5 years. We knew after difficult and complicated pregnancies with our biological children and long NICU stays, that God was calling us to continue to build our family outside of Abby’s womb.
God placed a calling on our lives to become foster parents. We have always seen it as a ministry, not only to the children we serve, but to their biological families as well. Psalm 82:3 Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Our adopted son was our very first foster placement. We didn’t know at the time that we would end up adopting, however our hearts were open to it. We went on to love many other babies through foster care for the next 4 years.
After years in foster care, we had dreamed of closing our home and completing our family through domestic infant adoption, however, financially, it always seemed like a far off dream, not a real possibility. Our God had bigger plans for our family! In the midst of a particularly traumatic and challenging foster placement during the holidays, Abby got a call from a friend. As a fellow former foster mom, she was asking about resources Abby knew of in our state for a teen mom that she was mentoring. We told her that we would see what we could come up with and get back to her. The Holy Spirit set a nudge on Abby’s heart to text her friend and say that we would be happy to support this young mama however we could, but if she was interested in talking about an open adoption, we felt God leading us to say that so were we. Man, talk about a leap of faith!
In the meantime, Abby’s friend had shared some about our family with this sweet mama. She poured over our Facebook profiles for several days (unbeknownst to us) and later that week asked if she could have a phone call with us. We remember going into Abby’s office for that call. We were both shaking and in tears 10 minutes into the call when this sweet girl said, “I want you to adopt my baby.” From that point forward, we jumped in with both feet. We knew that no matter how this situation ultimately ends, God was calling us to walk this journey with this sweet girl. Through the many what some may call “coincidences” that it took for all this to happen, we know that God has orchestrated this entire thing from the start.
As we weren’t with an agency, or expecting this beautiful gift, we were financially unprepared to say the least. Not to raise another child, but for the expensive and upfront costs that private adoption entails. We know that we serve a BIG God who isn’t going to call us to something and not walk us through. We have been in faithful prayer that He provides the means to bring this baby home to our family. People have often asked us why we started foster care and are walking through the adoption process, we can only think of one reason: God has blessed our family and we have more love to give. We very much feel this and believe that God has given us a gift, not only in this sweet baby, but also in the baby’s beautiful mama. This is a beautiful story of Chirst’s redemption and love. We love each other because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 It’s never easy to ask for help. In fact, there was a lot of prayer and wrestling with whether we should even put this out there to our friends and families or not.
After seeking wise counsel and much prayer and conversation, we decided to invite others to join us in this endeavor. We ask that you first and foremost join us in prayer for this sweet baby, baby’s beautiful mama, and our family as we walk this journey together. We ask that you would pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in all of it and that this could be a testimony for the glory of God. Secondly, we ask you to consider supporting us financially in this adoption process and walking alongside us as we fulfill the calling that God has placed on our lives.
1 Peter 4:8-11 Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gifts you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power now and forever, amen.
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.