We had grand plans when we got married and committed our family to the Lord in March 2008. The plan was for Joyce to teach for 2 more years, while we aggressively worked to get out of debt. Once the debt was taken care of, we would start a family, and Joyce would quit teaching to stay home with the kids.

God let us go along in that blissfully ignorant plan for all of 3 months. In June, God called Nathan to the ministry, which is a story all of its own. All of the ministers that we knew told Nathan that he really needed to go to seminary to prepare for ministry. We began to realize that our plans were not the grand plan that God had in mind for us.

Within two weeks after Nathan surrendered to that call, God spoke softly to Joyce that she needed to quit her teaching job now and trust that He would provide.

After much prayer, that is what she did. It was our first big leap of faith as a married couple. We thought the reason, at the time, was that a move to a new town for seminary might happen in January.

However, the move didn’t happen until the next August, and God had a whole different reason for that test. He was preparing us for the next lesson when we moved. He taught us then that he is fully capable of providing for us, even when he asked us to do crazy things like quitting 2 good jobs, selling your home and moving 700 miles away from family, right in the middle of an economic downturn.

When we moved to Abilene, the idea of having children soon took a back burner for a little while because it took a long time to get settled, which is a story that requires its own blog post. Somewhere around our 3rd anniversary, we decided it was time. We have now been married for 7 years, and God has not yet blessed our home with children.

When we were still dating, the topic of infertility came up one night. Joyce asked Nathan how he would handle it, if for some reason we were not able to have biological children. His response was that he’d always thought he’d like to adopt at some point.

Joyce had always looked at adoption as the last possible option, and only to be done if nothing else worked. As time ticked along with no baby on the way, Joyce was still resistant to adoption, yet when we prayed about and considered other options (IUI, IVF, surrogacy), we never felt like these were roads that we were supposed to go down either.

In the summer of 2013, God began to do a work in Joyce regarding adoption when she read two articles written by her friend Marv Knox. The articles dealt with what the Christian response should be to the newly passed abortion laws in TX. Among many other things, God used that article to drive home the point that there is a difference between being pro-life and being pro-birth. As Christians, we need to help the children that are born to women who might have chosen abortion. That help could come in many forms. One of those ways is to provide a loving home, through adoption, to those children whose biological parents can’t or don’t want to raise them. Is there a better picture of the gospel than bringing a child, born into less than a hopeful situation, into your home as a part of your family forever?

We prayed for a year and explored lots of options. Along the way, we asked our parents, other family members, and a few close friends to join us in praying for wisdom. After more than a year of prayer and exploration, God revealed that His plan for our family is adoption, even if a biological child comes along someday. Nathan’s seminary degree is in Family Ministry, and that ministry is to start in our own family through adoption.

Early this year, we chose Christian Homes and Family Services as our agency and began the process of filling out papers. We went to orientation in April, where God confirmed again that this is the path that he has paved in advance for us, but our faith will definitely be stretched! Before we can get on “waiting” list that is given to birth parents, there is a mountain of paperwork that needs to be done, a home study and the not-so-small chore of coming up with nearly $13,000. Once we are chosen by birth parents, we will need at least that much more to complete the process. We know that God already knows where the money will come from. He is faithful to provide everything that is needed to do what He has called us to do.

As our friends and family, we desperately need your help in the following areas:

  • First and foremost, we need your prayers.
    • Please pray for the child.
    • Please pray for us as we begin what will surely be a roller coaster experience.
      • For our spiritual, emotional and physical health
      • For our relationship to continue to grow and flourish
      • That we will be ready (as much as possible) when the door opens.
    • Please pray for the birthparents of our child. They will also have an emotional, physical and spiritual roller coaster experience.
  • Share our story if you so desire!
  • If you feel led, please donate to our adoption fund.

Here are links to the articles mentioned above. Take a few minutes to read them. God is pro-life, not just pro-birth, and there are many ways you can join him in being a life-giver, even if you are not in a position to adopt.

https://www.baptiststandard.com/opinion/editorial/15273-editorial-get-ready-for-all-those-babies

https://www.baptiststandard.com/opinion/editorial/15294-editorial-revisiting-all-those-babies