The Rest of Our Adoption Story

                I’ve realized as we begin a new year, it’s time to share the rest of our adoption story. It should be obvious to most people that follow me on social media that I don’t like to share the hard things on a large scale. It was hard for Matt and I to realize we needed to start blogging about our experience with infertility and our road to adopting Jonah. As much as I dislike “going there”, the story doesn’t end with Jonah’s placement.

                It took us ten months to finalize his adoption. I won’t go into all of the details of why this was such a long ordeal, but I will summarize by saying that it mostly had to do with Jonah’s birthfather and his refusal to consent. We ran the gamut of emotions over this. We knew because of his lack of support of Jonah’s birthmother that his rights would be terminated against his will if it came to that, but we were trying to avoid that road if we could.

                When we were called and told about Jonah’s birthmother’s situation, I felt God clearly tell me about his birthfather, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this!” I held on tight to those words for many months, and felt drawn to pray that Jonah’s birthfather would consent so that we would be able to have a connection with him and he would be able to receive updates and pictures. I know, crazy, right? I still had my fair share of moments of wanting to strangle him, feeling outraged; truly infuriated that he would make this process so long.

                There was a book my mother gave me for Jonah called “The Circle Maker”. The basic concept of the book is learning to pray bold, unrelenting prayers. I began to pray with more boldness than I had ever experienced before. God would point me to verses, leading me to speak blessings over Jonah’s birthfather. Only through the Holy Spirit could I have done this.

                By the time July rolled around, Jonah’s birthfather had been given multiple opportunities to sign the consent, and every time refused. He eventually seemed to drop off the face of the earth, and we had come to the decision with our attorney to have his rights terminated in court. On the Monday after Independence Day, Jonah’s birthmother communicated with our agency letting them know that she had spoken with Jonah’s birthfather and he was ready to consent! After they met with him and he signed the papers, they called us to let us know. We were in shock at God’s provision, just as we had been when Jonah’s birthmother had changed her mind and chosen to place him with us.

              

                 We finalized our adoption September 16^th, and what a glorious day it was!  Since then we have enjoyed getting more information about Jonah’s family history and exchanging pictures with both of his birthparents. As incredibly difficult as our journey was, we have ended with the best possible outcome for Jonah. I am filled with joy every time I think about how God took such a miserable mess in both our lives and Jonah’s birthparents’ lives, and turned it into something beautiful and unique.

                I pray more than anything that the spiritual muscles I’ve gained in our journey will not grow weak sitting on the mountain top. We know God will need to provide a miracle for us to continue building our family, and I pray we will recall his faithfulness and believe again. We thank each and every one of you that prayed us through the most difficult times. We pray our story encourages others to believe for the impossible.

Living in amazement, Kristin