Raleigh and I met while attending Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. We were married in the chapel of my home church in Franklin, TN on May 26, 2006. It was a beautiful ceremony performed by Raleigh's dad.
We knew we wanted to eventually have children, but we never discussed adoption as the means to expand our family. This changed in the Spring of 2008.
In April of 2008, Katherine Arnold Wolf suffered a devastating stroke. She was 26 at the time- a young mother and wife. Raleigh and I both attended Samford with Katherine and her husband Jay. We did not know them very well, but did know of them. Katherine was Miss Samford one year and has a personality that lights up a room. Her love for the Lord truly shines through her. Once I learned of her stroke, I began to feel God lead me to pray for her full recovery more than I've ever prayed for anyone. I felt the call to intercede on her behalf without ceasing. Her experience began growing my prayer life exponentially.
We knew we wanted to eventually have children, but we never discussed adoption as the means to expand our family. This changed in the Spring of 2008.
In April of 2008, Katherine Arnold Wolf suffered a devastating stroke. She was 26 at the time- a young mother and wife. Raleigh and I both attended Samford with Katherine and her husband Jay. We did not know them very well, but did know of them. Katherine was Miss Samford one year and has a personality that lights up a room. Her love for the Lord truly shines through her. Once I learned of her stroke, I began to feel God lead me to pray for her full recovery more than I've ever prayed for anyone. I felt the call to intercede on her behalf without ceasing. Her experience began growing my prayer life exponentially.
Raleigh and I had many conversations about what it means to pray without ceasing. Raleigh and I both desire to live our lives in constant dialogue with God as one way to 'pray without ceasing. We also agreed that there are times when God calls us to be prayer warriors for others and spend time on our knees in uninterrupted prayer for others. This is what God was calling me to do for Katherine. I felt God teaching me how to love others well during this time, but I did not know that this journey of my heart would continue.
In May 2008, the Chapman family's youngest daughter, Maria, died during a tragic accident. The journey of my heart continued as I wept for this family and again felt the call to intercede on their behalf. I do not know the Chapman family personally, but they attended my church in Franklin. Steven Curtis often led worship on Christmas Eve and their sweet family was present at church on Sunday mornings. Also, I felt somehow connected to them because their oldest daughter Emily began leading her parents to adoption after she took a mission trip to Haiti. I also went to Haiti multiple times with my church and each trip was a transformative experience for me.
It was undeniable that God was transforming the way I love and care for others. God continued to stretch my prayer life in ways I had never experienced before as I prayed for this family. During this time, I was reminded that the Chapman family had adopted three daughters. I did not feel called to adopt at this point, but I did desire to learn more about the process.
Raleigh and I went to the beach in June, and I purchased the book The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans. As I read this book, I learned about the Chinese population policy that began in the 1980s, which restricted families to one child. This policy was established because China’s leaders believed that the country was overpopulated. The result was that thousands of babies, almost all of them girls, were abandoned by their parents and had to be placed in orphanages. My heart wept as I thought about the thousands (maybe millions) of children in Chinese orphanages. I know that God desires to place children in families. While still at the beach, I had Raleigh drive me to the bookstore I purchased every book they had about adoption.
Raleigh and I went to the beach in June, and I purchased the book The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans. As I read this book, I learned about the Chinese population policy that began in the 1980s, which restricted families to one child. This policy was established because China’s leaders believed that the country was overpopulated. The result was that thousands of babies, almost all of them girls, were abandoned by their parents and had to be placed in orphanages. My heart wept as I thought about the thousands (maybe millions) of children in Chinese orphanages. I know that God desires to place children in families. While still at the beach, I had Raleigh drive me to the bookstore I purchased every book they had about adoption.
Through the stories of Katherine Arnold Wolf and the Chapman family, God transformed my heart and I felt the call to adopt. Raleigh and I knew we wanted children one day and when we discussed adoption we thought of countless reasons why we should adopt. We kept asking each other Why Not? instead of Why? We had/have the desire to raise a child, the love to give a child, and the resources to support a child, so WHY NOT adopt a child?
In our logical minds, it didn't all make sense (timeline finances, etc) but our hearts were at peace and we knew God had placed this on our hearts for a reason.
Over the next month God continued to open our eyes and hearts to the needs of orphans all over the world. There are millions of orphans around the globe that need a family. We began researching international adoption and attended an International Adoption informational meeting at Bethany Christian Services. In big and small ways, God continued to confirm our call to adopt.
Over the next month God continued to open our eyes and hearts to the needs of orphans all over the world. There are millions of orphans around the globe that need a family. We began researching international adoption and attended an International Adoption informational meeting at Bethany Christian Services. In big and small ways, God continued to confirm our call to adopt.
Raleigh and I agreed that we needed to be in a home before we began the adoption process. We were living in a precious little guest house in 2008, but it was tiny and did not have space for a baby. We closed on a house July 3oth, 2008. We continued to pray for God to give us wisdom and discernment during this process. It was not what we planned. Adoption takes much longer than the typical 9 months of pregnancy. Adoption did not fit my "life schedule" of when I anticipated I would be a mother. We definitely did not have thousands of dollars in our bank account to start the adoption process. Yet despite all this, I felt a peace about this decision so much that I feel that we might be living in disobedience of God's will if we do not at least continue to prayerfully explore adoption.
We applied to the Korea program with Bethany Christian Services in October 2008. We were put on a waiting list because our agency had already met their "quota" for the year and they were not allowing any new families to begin. In February 2009, we met the annual quota and were allowed to begin our home study. Our official home study to Korea date was July 30, 2009.
On February 4, 2011 we saw a picture of our perfect son, named Si-won, on a waiting child email from our agency. I called Raleigh immediately and he agreed that we should request his file. He was considered a waiting child/special needs adoption because of his UPJ obstruction which caused severe hydronephrosis of the left kidney.
Beau at 5 months old- the first picture we saw of our son
Celebrating the referral of our son at dinner with our family! We are parents!
photo taken by simple color
Lovely story. ^_^
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