Big Nerves and a Bigger God.

"The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy." - Psalm 126:3

If you were to survey Ben and I during this adoption season- or any season of our lives, frankly, I was/am definitely the more hesitant one. Worries tend to flood my mind far before they do in Ben’s. I have no idea WHY this is the case, but I tend to dream up the most negative outcome of a situation before seeing the positive in the current circumstance. I'm more tentative, less trusting, and even less willing to risk.

So before we said, “yes” to the adventure of adoption, I probably would have been more comfortable jumping off of Mount Everest. I was terrified- specifically with the raising money aspect. At best, fundraising to me felt awkward. At worst- it was paralyzing. To be gut-wrenchingly honest, fear kept us from announcing our desire to adopt a few times. To dig a little deeper and peel back the curtain even more- a week before we announced our adoption, I was doubting everything, spouting nonsense like, “We can’t go through with this. We can’t adopt. It’ll never happen. It can’t happen, right?? It’s too much. We weren’t meant to do this. Leave it. Only super strong, faithful people adopt.” To which, Ben calmly replied:

“We will not let fear lead this.”

I love that man. And I love his humble leadership in our family.

I took a deep breath, trusted my husband, trusted this was God calling us out of our comfort zone and took the next step. We prayed a lot. We asked questions- A LOT.

And I can say this with super shaky knees - God has not failed us. He has provided abundantly more than we could have dreamt.

And we are filled with joy.

Through the past few weeks since we told you all about our desire to adopt, you have stepped into this journey with us in ways we truly never saw coming.

-You have bought 66 shirts that people in the community will see!

-You raised $4,045 that will go directly towards our expenses and fees.

-You have given beyond the GoFundMe we set up and asked if you could donate in other ways.

-You have prayed. You have encouraged. You have asked genuine questions and waited for our answers.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! You are a part of God’s faithfulness to us and we pray to never, ever, ever take that for granted. We feel so grateful and incredibly humbled. We will continue to walk in faith that this is exactly where God has us.

If you would like to continue to pray with us, here are some key points we are lifting up:

1. Adoption Grants! We are continuing to raise more funds through different grant applications. They are tedious and time consuming, so we are praying to apply for the right grants.

2. Our Caseworker - She has a very heavy load from the pandemic season, and we are praying she can rest and refuel during this time.

3. Whoever our expectant mama and eventual adopted child will be - It’s wild to think there will be a new baby living under our roof someday. When? We don’t know. Who? We have no idea. But we are confident God already knows the name of our baby and we trust that He will put the right expectant mama in our path. We are praying for wisdom, confidence, and courage during this waiting season.

Once again - thank you. We love you. We truly couldn’t do this without you. And all glory to God, who is able to do infinitely more than we could ever ask for or imagine!

We will talk with you soon,

Melissa and Ben