1 year ago today a 20month old little girl came into our lives! And a year later we can’t imagine life without her! Things are still unknown and delayed thanks to Covid but we wait faithfully and somewhat patiently lol 

She was scared, didn’t talk much (she could but I wouldn’t say much either moving in with some strangers) and when she did we had no idea what she was saying lol she was short and had the cutest cheeks! She slept in a crib, couldn’t reach any door handles, could barely get on the couch and was still in diapers and so much more. 

Little did she know we were just as scared and nervous. All we had ever parented were dogs. And here we go jumping into the toddler phase 🤷🏽‍♀️ 

We felt like we had super powers when we started to interpret what she was saying or wanting lol 

I remember lots of tea parties happening along with a Moana and Elsa phase. She loved bath time and dance parties! 

Fast forward a year later! 

She talks all the time. It’s so fun to see her personality coming out. She has gotten so tall and slimed down! She sleeps in a toddler bed. Potty trained. She can unlock and open all the doors, can reach the counter tops, no problem getting on the couches or jumping on them, runs everywhere, loves coloring and reading books! She prefers showers but still loves an occasional bubble bath with a bath bomb and we still have dance parties. 

I remember the first night we put her to bed not knowing should we hug her and give her kiss lol and now we get in trouble if we don’t give a hug and kiss! 

Instead of asking why all the time, her questions have become more intentional. She is a sponge and doesn’t forget anything! 

Oh and absolutely adores her little sister and is the biggest helper! 

I remember sitting in church by myself a couple of months after she came to live with us. 

They start playing the song Waymaker.

I had heard it once before but not since we had our little girl. And it gets to the this part of the song and I just lose it. I’m talking tears steadily streaming down my face and I couldn’t stop. 

“Even when I don’t see it you’re working

Even when I don’t feel it you’re working 

You never stop, you never stop working 

You never stop, you never stop working”

I remember standing there thinking these words sum up these past 3 years. 3 years of praying, and trying to conceive, friends announcing they were pregnant, starting to feel left out and wondering if we would ever have a family and at one point saying ok God if it’s just going to be me and Nick then so be it! And all the waiting! So much waiting! 

And then here I was in church feeling so grateful and unworthy at the same time of not only 1 kiddo but another on the way! ONLY GOD!

Sometimes a year later that song still gets me. All that being said you never know what God is doing in your life. In tragedies, in job changes or loss, when you feel like you are stuck, when you feel things are great, when you feel hopeless, alone or afraid, in the waiting…whatever you are going through try and find God in the midst and trust whatever happens, whether it is what you wanted or not, is all part of God’s greater plan. 

I know I haven’t blogged in a good while but there isn’t a lot of down time with children. And when they sleep I want to sleep! And honestly for a while I couldn’t type anything without a cryfest. Blame half of that on the pregnancy hormones at the time lol

We continue to be so thankful for each person who has prayed for us and kept up with our journey! Keep those prayers coming. We are hoping things start progressing next month but we will see! 

John 14:27

Stay Tuned 

Nick and Brittany 

Hey everyone,

I am happy to report that our little girl is finally here!!! I can never thank you for the love you have all shown us, especially over this weekend. Thank you for the prayers, calls and texts! Keep them coming because we gonna need them. This little girl has no idea how loved she already is by so many people. I hope she gets to meet as many of you as she can.

Our pride doesn’t like asking for help but so many of you have asked how you can help and what we need. We want to let you help in anyway you want. We are doing things a little backwards but we have made a registry through target and amazon. It is a work in progress but it is there. Don’t laugh at our choices, we have no idea what we are doing 🙂 So feel free to get us whatever you think we need! I’m sure there will be many things we can’t even think of so gift cards are great as well. If you want to give us anything you don’t need anymore let us know. And books of course.

So let me share with you what has happened since I last updated you two months ago.  I pray as you read this you see how God has been orchestrating things. That you see his faithfulness, his goodness, his love.

I last updated you on August 4th. If you remember that post was about how nothing has really happened. We were at a stand still it seemed and I shared some of our struggles with it all. Not long after the update I started thinking that some of our classes we have to take every year were going to be expiring soon. I emailed our agency and at first didn’t get a response. After about a week I emailed them again on August 22nd. They emailed me back the same day with a few classes we were going to need to renew in the next month or two.

When we woke up the next day on August 23rd, we had a message from a friend. It read “Hey are y’all still looking to adopt.” A few chills definitely ran down my body when Nick showed me that message. Literally, one day after I had messaged our agency about renewing our classes.

Proverbs 16:9 In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.

We did some praying and told them we were interested. We were airing on the side of caution until we got some more info. If you remember a little over a year ago we had gotten another message about adopting a newborn and it didn’t happen. By the way that sweet boy is right where he needs to be. I did not realize however how much that affected me. Up until a week ago I had been very guarded through this whole process.

After gathering some more info and speaking with our agency and the cps worker we felt at peace with saying yes we wanted to potentially adopt her.

It is crazy to think when we first started this journey we wanted to just adopt a child whose parents rights were already terminated. When asked our preferences we said boys. Obviously we didn’t really care. If we were able to get pregnant we wouldn’t be choosing.

In this situation the parents rights aren’t terminated. It is a little girl and we will be fostering at this time with the end game hopefully being adoption. Why we try and even control certain things I don’t know. You would think one day we would learn God is going to wreck our plans anyways.

But I will tell you, there is something about the peace that comes with God’s plans. Even though this is opposite of what we planned. Even with the risk of knowing something could change and she might not be with us forever; we feel such peace about it all.

The verse I have held on to this past year rings so true right now. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. not as the world gives do I give to you. Let your hearts not be troubled, do not be afraid.” John 14:27

Fast forward about a month and all of the paperwork and classes are taken care of and we get word a couple of days ago that her advocate needs to come out to the house and see her room and talk to us. We got the room ready.

Side story: About two weeks ago we had a friend bring a few items over from the collective closet. It is for fostering families in the area who might need immediate things for a new placement or can get things as needed. One of those items was a pack n play. Incase we needed it temporarily before we got a crib. We hadn’t opened it yet until a couple of nights ago when we were getting the room ready. We had decided last weekend that at we were going to do her room in animals. Imagine our surprise when we opened this pack n play for the first time and it was animal themed!  5 days before she is supposed to come. Seems like another God wink if ya ask me.

Here is one more God wink for ya. Beginning of Sept my mom was at a women’s retreat. I had called her and told her we had talked to cps and we would know the next week if they were ok with our home study and a few other things. That weekend she won a prize. It happened to be a small pink blanket and pink heart pillow that would be perfect fr a little girl.  And yes the next week cps approved all our stuff! Pretty neat if you ask me.

The advocate came Saturday to check things out. It was a short visit and he gave the ok. We worked all weekend anxiously awaiting Monday. We woke up to a phone call that Monday was still the day.

She was placed with us yesterday afternoon and we survived the first night of playing, dinner, bath and bedtime. We love her so much already and will love her for however long God calls us too.

Prayer requests

1. Pray for us as we all get adjusted to what this new life is gonna look like. We are just  jumping right in there.
2. Pray for her as she warms up to us and gets used to us and her new home.
3. Pray for her family as they adjust without her
4. Pray for Nick and I as we figure out this parenting thing. That we wouldn’t get frustrated with each other and we continue to communicate well why figuring out how to parent.

 

 

 

I realize it has been about four almost five months since I updated everyone. That’s because there isn’t much to update. We still get emails regularly. It has slowed down a little bit during summer. A lot of them are still sibling groups of 3 or more. Some legal risk. A lot of teenagers. We have both yet to feel God saying here is your child.

With that being said these past few months haven’t been all rainbows and butterflies. If you know me you know I am pretty positive person. Usually in a good mood. Typically don’t get down in the dumps very much. The end of April through beginning of June was rough.

Most of you know we were in a wreck and the car was totaled. My purse was stolen and I was having to deal with identity fraud and all that fun stuff. That is the short version.

Then mother’s day came along. I was in no way prepared for the emotions that came with it this year. I celebrated my mom. We had a great weekend. I have friends who were new moms and excited for them. But I also have friends who in the past year have lost their mom. Even friends who have lost a child. My heart was heavy for them this year. And then there was me. I found myself feeling a little hopeless in the becoming a mom department. On top of it being Mother’s day almost everyone in our Sunday School class is having kids and you just feel like you are getting left behind. It is crazy to be able to be so excited for each and every one of them and love their babies but also have really hard days where you envy that. That was something I had never felt before. I have always wanted to have a family but I have always been content with whatever God has planned whether that involved kids or not. But for whatever reason I was feeling a little depressed. New emotions that I hadn’t experienced before. It was hard. It took me a few weeks before talking to Nick about it. I think part of it was being in denial and the other part not wanting to seem weak. But talking to Nick and my family and friends helped tremendously. Definitely helped me process things and work through those feelings.

I think another reason I hadn’t blogged in a while was because I struggled with sharing how I had been feeling. Did I really want to get deep with y’all. At first the answer was no. But i want to be able to look back on each update, whether good or bad and see God’s hand in it when it’s all said and done. I have probably starting writing this update 4 different times. Today I decided to finish it. I know I am not alone in struggling with infertility. I know I am not alone in my feelings of wanting to be a mom. So if this helps one person feel like they are not alone then I am glad I shared it.

I also know we have so many people out there praying for us and that we aren’t in this alone. I think sometimes as Christians we are afraid to share our feelings because we feel we shouldn’t be feeling depressed or having anxiety or whatever the case may be. And that isn’t how it should be. We Christians are broken. We are sinners. It is in our dark moments that we should be able to share with other believers and rally around each other. Be praying and walking with our brothers and sisters in Christ who are struggling.

It probably took me a month or so to start feeling better. We are good a place now.  So thank you to everyone praying for us and checking in on us. We wish everyday an email or phone call would come in and we will have exciting news to share with you all. But until then we will keep waiting and trusting in God’s plan and enjoying the time we get to spend together.

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer

Of course keep those prayers coming.

Pray for our emotions. Pray our spirits stay lifted and positive and even when they don’t that we can be there for each other and support each other as needed.

Pray we get an email or phone call.

Pray for our future child and all the children in foster care right now. That they are in a place where they feel safe and loved and being shown God’s love everyday.

~Britt and Nick~

 

Hey everyone,

So as most of you saw I  made a short post that our home study was approved!!! I didn’t blog because I didn’t have much to say besides that. We were waiting to get more info on what happens next

I am happy to say that our home study was sent to the adoption coordinator. We received an email from her yesterday! I can’t tell you how relieved and excited we were. Especially me. This past week I wasn’t sleeping good. I would get off work and it would take me an extra hour or two than normal to go to sleep and then have to go back to work. I was very anxious for some reason.

Anyways, we are super excited to officially know we are moving forward. Now that we are on the email list here is how it will work.

Any referral the coordinator receives, she sends out to everyone on the email list. Any family looking to adopt is on the list. So we will be getting lots of emails. Most of them won’t apply to us. We are looking for newborn-5/6yrs old. We already got 6 emails but most were sibling groups of three or four kids or teenagers.

Once we get an email of kid we are interested in we let the coordinator know. She would then send our home study to the child’s case worker and we would wait and see if we get picked to visit with the child. We might not be the only family interested in the kid so just because we are interested doesn’t mean we will get picked.

Still lots that has to happen before we adopt but it seems a lot more realistic now. We could get an email tomorrow of a kid we are interested in or it could be months down the road. Here is to more waiting. You would think by the end of this we will be the most patient people lol

Keep those prayers coming. Nick and I talked about looking at all these emails. When you open the email it says something like sibling group of 4 or teenage girl in the subject line. You then have to open the attached file to see any photos or more info about them. We decided based on the subject line, if it does not pertain to our age range we are not going to open the attached files at this time. We think that would be too hard seeing all these sweet kiddos and reading about them knowing it would be a no anyways. I think that would break my heart.

So pray for us as we determine what emails to open and for our hearts as we start this process.

Pray for all the kids out there needing homes.

Pray we continue to seek the Lord and his plan and not our own when it comes to making decisions. I hope we both will stay on the same page and will just know when we see our kid. But it is also possible one of us could say hey that’s the one and the other not feel the same. Pray we continue to communicate well and be respectful of each other.

Again, thank you for following along and being on this crazy ride with us. We feel your prayers and love. It is more appreciated than y’all will ever know. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come!

~Nick and Brittany~

 

 

 

A quick update and some clarification for everyone. We have noticed this week with everyone checking in and asking how the home study went we realized we might need to clarify what we mean when we say we are adopting.  I’ll get to that in a minute.

First, the home study went well. There wasn’t much to it. We weren’t really nervous. We didn’t practice questions or try and think what she was going to ask leading up to it. I was just ready to get it over with. It was pretty much what we expected. She looked at the house just to make sure the room where the child would be staying was big enough. That the weapons and medications were locked away or in a safe place. She then asked us a ton of questions about our childhood, relationships with our families, our story and things we loved about each other, strengths and weakness when it comes to parenting, etc. She was just trying to get a feel for how we would raise a child and the relationship we have with each other and what our future family would look like.  It was fun getting to share our story and say things about each other that we definitely don’t tell each other enough.

So now we wait some more.  She has two weeks to type up our home study. She will then turn it in to our agency.  After that they review it and let her know if there is more she needs or errors she needs to fix. They then gather with their panel to discuss us and then decide if we are approved to adopt. So we are hopeful within the next month or two we will be approved!!!

Now on to the adoption part. Like i said above, Nick and I will be getting approved. Notice how I didn’t say licensed. There are basically three main ways you can foster and/or adopt.

You can just foster. That means a child is removed from their home and could be placed in your home. You would foster them until it is time for them to go back home with their family if that ends up happening. With fostering, the ultimate goal is the child will eventually be reunited with their family.

You can also foster to adopt. This is where they would try and place a child in your home that will eventually be put up for adoption. If and when they were ready to be adopted you would get that option first since you are fostering to adopt.  However, there is no time frame for that or guarantee they would become available to adopt. There is still the chance they would go back to their family.

So Nick and I are not doing foster care or foster to adopt.

We are doing straight adoption. There are many kids in the state of Texas right now that are available for adoption. These kids parental rights have been terminated, they have no other family or family members who want to adopt them. They are in foster care waiting for someone to adopt them into their family. So once we are approved, it is our understanding that we will start getting emails of kids that are ready to be adopted. Our agency will try and match us with kids they think would be a good fit.  Once we see the kiddo that we think we want to adopt, we will get to meet them and have a couple of visits with them outside our home to see if we think it will be a good fit. So it is not like fostering. We are not going to get approved and then get a phone call the next day about a kid who just got removed from their family and needs a place to stay. (I say we won’t but who really knows). Once our kid comes to stay with us they have to live with us at least 6 months before we can officially adopt them.

With that being said as much as we would love a newborn that is a little unrealistic with the route we are going. But we are open to newborn to ages five or six years old. We will see what the good Lord has planned.

There is also something called legal risk. This is where you foster to adopt but the chances the child will be put up for adoption are very high. Higher than just doing regular foster to adopt. Still no guarantee though. They could still be placed with a family member or a family who has adopted other siblings. Typically it isn’t the parents first child and they don’t have parental rights to any of the other children. Lots of drug abuse cases. That is something, depending on how things go, we might consider in the future.

We are trying to grow our family and we feel the best way to do that is to adopt. I don’t think we are ready to try and foster to adopt with the possibility of that child being taken away from us.

With all that being said I love God’s sense of humor. We will see what he has in store for us. Our prayer is that we continue to be faithful not fearful and do whatever it is he calls us to do. Especially now. It all got real very fast. It is a little overwhelming at times to think at some point this year we could be parents! We are more excited than anything though. I hope that gives everyone a clearer picture of our plan at the moment. Maybe it will peak someone’s interest a little more about possibly fostering or adopting 🙂 If it does we are always here and willing to talk and answer any questions you may have.

Prayer request

1. That we would be patient over the next few weeks/months as we wait to get approved
2. When the time comes we would be obedient in what God is calling us to do and hear him ever so clearly when he says that one is your child
3. The devil wouldn’t get in our heads with fears and doubts about adopting and what kind of parents we will be

Stay tuned. I have a feeling things are about to get good!

Brittany and Nick

 

 

Hope everyone had a good thanksgiving. It was the only day Nick and I had off together out of the last 8 days. We spent the day with my family for a little bit in Kaufman and then with his family in Van and ate way to much. We have the day off today so let the Christmas transformation begin 🙂

A quick update. From what we were told, we have completed all of our paperwork! YAY! And we were told we can move forward and schedule our home study! We are hoping to hear something this week about getting it scheduled. If we can get it done before Christmas that would be wonderful. Once we do the home study they have to type it up and meet with a panel. I don’t think we will be approved to adopt before the new year but we are thankful we know what is next. Helps me be a little more patient and understanding since it is the holiday season.

A new little development. There is something called legal risk placements. Legal risk means we would take in a child whose parental rights have been terminated but maybe parents are appealing OR rights have not been terminated but are more than likely going to be terminated. So we may get a child but with the understanding that child may be reunited with parents or family.

Nick and I talked a little bit about legal risk after are weekend training in October but hadn’t really talked more about it until recently. Our case worker emailed us about some other things and she was wondering if we had talked about it anymore because they had a newborn baby boy recently needing placement that was legal risk and she had thought of us. Of course she had to say that right?! I told nick about the email and what she said at the end and that was that.

But something inside of me just had me thinking about the possibility of doing legal risk. Lots of questions that come up with that.  Of course our plan the whole time has been adoption and now here I am considering legal risk placement. We are wanting to grow our family and if we do legal risk that might come with a lot of heartbreak. It could also come with a lot of joy. Odds are in are favor but not guaranteed. It is really scary to think about but is it something we are willing to risk? A thousand thoughts going through my head.

So I pray about it. Always seems like a good thing to do. I’ve felt like I would be the one open to legal risk more than Nick so at the end of prayer I said “Alright God if this is something Nick and I should consider doing then I want Nick to bring it up.” (that was a good idea right, I think deep down I was hoping Nick wouldn’t bring it up)

About 24hrs later Nick and I are having dinner before we got to work and He says ” I’ve been thinking.” I immediately knew what he was about to say. “I think we should consider doing legal risk.” I just sat there a let him talk. He gets done and I say ” I have to tell you something but I don’t want to cry.” He is like just tell me. I tell him “I prayed yesterday that if legal risk was something we should consider doing that you would bring it up.” He looked at me and kind of laughed and said something about God’s sense of humor. So we have briefly discussed it here and there and are praying about it. Hopefully we can talk more this week since our schedules we be somewhat back to normal.

So I don’t know what God has in store for us or what decision we will make. We might still pursue adoption and later do legal risk if things aren’t working out. We might go ahead a go forward with legal risk. Who knows.

 

1. Pray for Nick and I to have good conversations about which direction we want to go even if it means the Lord is calling us out of our comfort zone.
2. Pray our home study gets done as soon as possible and goes well.
3. Keep praying for our future child!

 

Brittany and Nick

Hey friends,

I think we left off with us getting ready to go to training and getting all our paperwork filled out.  In the last month we were able to go to a super training weekend in Dallas.  We spent the weekend getting a ton of info thrown our way. Eight classes thrown into one weekend. It was long but we enjoyed it. Very informative. We now have a huge binder of info that will probably go out the window once we get a child. J/k, kind of. It really is some good info. We came away meeting some great people. It is nice to know you aren’t alone in your questions, thoughts, doubts, etc. We have been working diligently to get our paperwork done and we are getting so close to being done. I think we have 2 forms left that we will turn in Monday and that will finish us off! Unless of course they come up with some more or lose some. Praying that doesn’t happen. I know I have said it plenty but thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your prayers. I/we have felt peace through this all. So far it has gone smoothly and fairly quickly. Not to say I haven’t been a little frustrated at times with some of these requirements we have to do but hey I don’t make the rules.

I also think it has been neat to see how God continues to teach us and reassure us along the way and just felt I needed to share how he continues to be the awesome God he is.  We don’t make it to church every week due to our schedules but when we do, the lesson just seems like what we (or at least I) need to hear.  We started the book of James two weeks ago in Sunday School.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:1-4.

These first four verses just resonated with me. You can hear verses many times but then it just takes once for it to hit ya differently.

The first four words..”Consider it pure joy.” Who wants or is even going to be looking for pure joy in their trials. We had a good conversation about this is Sunday school. Yea God let me have joy in the fact Nick and I can’t get pregnant. Cancer, divorce, death of a child or any loved one, job loss, not finding a job, infidelity, bullying, whatever the case your first thought isn’t to consider it a joy right? However, in these trials we can find joy in the fact that God, if we trust him, will use these trials to grow our faith.

So no I don’t think I’m going to have joy that I can’t get pregnant for whatever reason right now. BUT I will and have joy in the fact that my faith in Christ has grown and will continue to grow through this. That I can see changes in Nick and his faith. That we have grown closer to each other and together through this process. I will have joy in trusting that our story will touch at least one person’s life. That we get to share the love of Christ with a child one day. I will have joy in knowing God’s timing is perfect and he has the perfect child for Nick and I.

But the only way I believe all that is because I have been through other trials. I have seen these verses lived out in my life. I can’t imagine going through what we are going through without ever having any other trials. Without ever having to trust God, to lean on him, to patiently wait on His time and not our own. Because of those trials this one doesn’t seem so terrible. I handle each trial a little differently because I’ve grown from the last one. Each time it is a little easier to find the joy. Don’t get me wrong, we aren’t perfect. We have moments where we each are like this is hard. We just want to start a family. It is ok to grieve, to be sad, have doubts. It is ok to ask God why. He can handle it.

I’ll never know why my second grade Sunday school teacher was killed by her husband. A man I hugged every Sunday morning up until junior high. But God doesn’t owe me an answer. At the time I’m sure I was demanding some.  I find joy in the fact that there were over a thousand people(if not it was close) at her funeral though and that her legacy still lives on through so many people. She led so many people to Christ while on earth and after as well.

I’ll never understand why my dad was disabled for 16 years before he got approved for another surgery and it worked. No doubt that is hardest on him than anyone else. But I find joy in knowing God does answer prayers. Not always how we want or how fast we want but he does. I find joy in the fact that my family is stronger having gone through that together. Those sixteen years shaped me and molded me into the woman I am today and will help shape my family as well.

Then there are things like money. Recently we had some extra money and we were going to use it pay some stuff off. Then life happens, need new tires, oil changes, house repairs and you are just frustrated because you are back to square one. Then we get a check in the mail for almost the exact amount of money you had to spend all those things. Sorry y’all that is not coincidence. There have so many other times stuff like this has happened so honestly I don’t worry too much about money anymore. I’m not perfect, Nick can attest that I still get very stressed about finances sometimes but it is much improved.

There are things we might not ever understand but there are some things we can. I can look back in our 4 years of marriage and see how God has been working on us leading up to adoption. Y’all we couldn’t have done this our first year. Probably not even our second. We have grown so much as a couple, especially in the communication department. Can I get an amen! Nick had never even considered adoption when we got married. Just to look back and see how God’s hand has been in our marriage and how things have unfolded up to this point has been special and reassuring that this is what the Lord is calling us to do right now!

Nick has been through his fair share of trials too. Not to speak too much for him. He is napping as I type this.  Cancer has been the biggest nuisance in his family.  He can tell his stories and how he can look back and see God’s hand in it all. His 15yr old self was pretty mad at God but God placed people in his life at the perfect time and used his trials to bring Nick closer to Him instead of turn away from him.  Aren’t I thankful he did. So when cancer hit his family again recently, he could say ok God I know you got this. Going to trust you.

Through each of those trials, trust me there are way more, I have grown a little more in my faith. I have trusted God easier each time, I have had patience a little better each time. I believe it a little easier when I say His timing is perfect. I don’t ask why as much. With each trial it really is easier to find the joy.

Maybe you are in a dark place right now. Maybe you are going through something awful. Maybe you haven’t thought about previous trials and how you have grown through each one. I encourage you to stop and look back. Look back and see God’s hand in it all. I encourage you that even though the circumstance isn’t joyful, to find a little bit of joy in it. Know that if you will let him, God is right there with you. He isn’t causing this bad thing to happen to you but He will use it for you to grow in your faith and trust Him more and that is the most Joyful part. That is more important than never going through any trials and never growing in your faith.

Sometimes I get done typing and have no idea how I got this far but I just trust it is what someone needed to read today. So for whoever read this far I am praying for you. Praying whatever life is throwing at you right now just know you aren’t alone. Let God walk beside you and find joy knowing your faith will grow stronger through this and you will be a little better equipped for the next trial.

Prayer request for us:

1. Prayers all our paperwork gets processed quickly and nothing gets lost. I would love to be approved to adopt by the end of November before the holidays hit but all in God’s timing.
2. Continued prayers for patience and peace. Y’all have been doing good on that!
3. Keep praying for Nick and I. Feel like recently the devil has creeped into some conversations and caused frustrations on my end and we don’t have time for that.
4.  Keep praying for our future child and while they wait the are being loved and poured into. Pray for all children in foster care right now.
5. Last but not least pray for someone you know going through a tough time right now.

 

Hopefully the next update will be letting you know we are approved to adopt. How exciting that will be. Thankful for each and every one of you that are on this journey with us.

Brittany and Nick

 

 

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

I have been holding tight to this verse this past month. We did get a little update recently. Baby boy is doing well. He is healthy and out of the hospital. That was great news. Still waiting on some other things to get worked out. I would say at this point it is 50/50 on whether not we will get to adopt him or not. We understand it is a tough situation but whatever the outcome we know it will be ok. Either way that baby will grow up in a loving home.

We also want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your prayers and those of you that have checked in on us here and there. Nick and I have both felt at peace about the situation and that is nothing short of all the prayers from y ‘all asking the good Lord to give us peace only he can give us.  We can feel results of those prayers. Keep them coming.

So while we are being patient, we are getting paperwork and things done for our agency we are using. We also found a super training weekend in Dallas coming up soon. Which means we are going to get all of our training classes done in one weekend. That will help our stress levels tremendously as we will not have to worry about rearranging our work schedules. Our application is being processed. Get to go get fingerprinted this week so it is good to know our stuff isn’t just sitting there.

A little inside scoop into the paperwork. For starters a thirteen page application. Followed by a ten page questionnaire, a.k.a Our autobiographies that we both have to do. Then a bunch of other paperwork from digging into your run ins with the law, to do we have a pool or trampoline and anything in between.  As we have been doing this paperwork and working on my autobiography, you realize how much they want and are going to know about you. Really makes you think about your past and are you forgetting something stupid you did when you were 16. Thankfully the answer is no.

But in this world we are judged and defined so much by our past. Whether buying a car, house, trying to get a job, wanting to adopt. You don’t think too far in the future when you are young. You don’t think about not being able to have kids or whatever the case may be but what if something in my past would keep me from adopting? Whew that would be tough. But our past doesn’t have to define us. I am so thankful I believe in a God who doesn’t judge me based on my past. A God that loves me despite my mess ups and failures. A God that forgives.  A God that says despite your past, if you accept me as your Lord and savior you will spend eternity with me in heaven.

Thinking about that just makes me anxious to hurry up and get approved to adopt. I can’t imagine these kids who feel like their past defines them. That some of them feel unwanted, unloved and unworthy of a family. I pray we can not only show a kid how wanted, worthy and loved they are but more importantly show them how much Christ loves them!

It makes me think of a recent song that I really enjoy. It is called Fully Known by Tauren Wells. If you haven’t heard it check it out. But here a some of the lyrics.

“It’s so unusual its frightening. You see right through the mess inside me.                               You call me out to pull me in, you tell me I can start again and I don’t need to keep on hiding.                                                                                                                                                      I’m fully known and loved by you. You won’t let go no matter what I do.                         And it’s not one or the other. It’s hard truth and ridiculous grace to be known,             fully known and loved by you. I’m fully known and loved by you.”

We can’t even fully know our spouse, sibling, best friend, etc. If we could, what would we think? How awesome and somewhat unfathomable that we are fully known by God and he still wants us, still loves us, still wants a relationship with us, still wants us to hang out with him forever in heaven.

In the end I am not defined by whether or not I can be a mom. We aren’t defined by our occupation, popularity, how much money we have, how many awards we win or letters behind our name. None of those will matter.  What will matter is if your identity is in Christ and are you going to spend eternity in heaven. My prayer is that if you are reading this and don’t know the Lord. If you can’t say your identity is in Christ that you would come to know him as you Lord and Savior.

Matthew 6:19-21 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

Prayer request

1. Continued peace and patience for Nick and I. That we would continue to grow closer to Christ and each other through this process.
2. Pray for the family and decisions they have to make. They need wisdom and peace as well in those decisions.
3. Continue to pray things continue to go smoothly with paperwork and classes we have to get done with no or minimal hiccups.
4. I also ask you take the time to pray for adoptive and foster families today and their children. It isn’t all rainbows and butterflies.

Thank you so much again for the love, support and prayers. We continued to be overwhelmed by you all 🙂

Brittany and Nick

 

Talk about things changing quickly. We have had some new developments in the last 72hrs. Let me preface by saying nothing is set in stone or a for sure thing at this moment and we want to be sensitive to the situation so we will keep it vague. With that being said the point of this blog is to share our story. To be open and honest not just in the good but the bad and most of all to share how amazing our God is along the way. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer and we want as many as we can get going through this process that isn’t always rainbows and butterflies. This has also become a way for me to write things out and process stuff as well. I truly do not know how people go through this or life sometimes alone or not knowing Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Even in the midst of the unknowns we still have joy and hope. We know along the way their could potentially be heartbreaks and situations going not how we wanted. But even when we think about those things we rest assured that God has a plan for our life and a child for our life and his timing and plan are far, far greater than ours. We are thankful to have two loving families (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins included) who we can call and just cry or vent and tell them what emotional high we or on or what emotional low we are on with no judgement. That they are praying for us daily.  As well as great group of friends who we can do the same with. God has also placed us in a wonderful Sunday school class who has already walked through some unimaginable things. Who we know without a doubt are praying for us and there for us in the good and the bad because we have already witnessed it. We both have great coworkers that are praying for us and hundreds of other people as well. I guess for all that being said don’t go through life alone. Get to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior if you don’t already know Him.  Then find that community, if no where else get plugged in at church with a sunday school class and people you can do life with.

I had no intentions on writing any of the above when I started this. Sometimes the fingers just get to going lol So here has what has transpired recently….

Nick and I attended another info meeting with an agency last Tuesday, as we were still trying to decide what agency to partner with. We left feeling a little discouraged about some stuff. We were talking on the way home and one thing I said was ” I feel like the only way we are going to get a infant is if someone calls us and says they know someone wanting to give their baby up for adoption and thought of us.”

Few days later we basically get that phone call. (I know your eyes are probably wide open and mouth as well). Mine sure were! Sorry guys that isn’t coincidence. That is all God. They had saw our blog and had been praying about it for a few months now. That was neat for me to hear because I struggled with am I going to blog and share our story or not. That was just a nice reminder that if God lays something on your heart then go for it, even if it seems out of your norm or comfort zone.

However, there is a lot to the situation. There are many things that still need to happen before it really becomes more of a sure thing and even then it isn’t a sure thing until it’s done. We have had an emotional 48-72hrs. We are brand new at this. Lots of information to take in. We are going to take the next couple of weeks and process things, and most of all be in constant prayer about the situation. Thankful for people God has placed in our path that have been through this and can keep it real with us and keep is grounded. It seems God has been orchestrating some things behind the scenes and we are continuing to trust Him.

In the meantime, we have finally chosen an agency to partner with here in Tyler so we can continuing working on getting approved to adopt. No matter what situation comes up we have to get it all that done.  We received an email with the first like 20 attachments of paperwork that needs to get done so yay. We will get started on all that soon.

So a lot to be praying for.

1. First and foremost we want everyone to pray for this sweet baby. For its health. That whatever is best for that baby, whether with us or another loving home (as tough as that would be) that is what mine and Nick’s prayer is. That God will place that baby in the perfect home. (It is crazy how quickly the things you pray for can change. It isn’t about us anymore).
2. Pray for the family. Like I said there is a lot to the situation and things that need to happen. Pray that God continues to orchestrate things and whatever needs to happen will happen. (I wish we could give more specifics, I like to pray specifically for people but just remember God knows their names and who you are talking about).
3. Pray for Nick and I. You never want to pray for patience because you know God is going to give you something to test that with. BUT we need prayers for patience. Prayers as we process things and the situation unfolds. Prayer for us as a couple as this is all brand new and exciting and scary all at the same time. Pray for us to be sensitive and understanding of each other needs as we process things differently.

I have already seen God working in us both. I’ve seen Nick grow so much in this last week. Seeing God work in him has been so neat. You learn new things about your spouse in new situations and I just love him even more 🙂 I know if we continue to keep God first and each other second we will no doubt come out stronger in the end.

Thank you all so much for coming along with us on this journey. Share it with anyone you think could benefit from it. I hope it is touching a few lives and keep those prayers coming! Probably won’t be too much to update over the next couple of weeks but when we have more to share you will know. Stay tuned…

Proverbs 16: 1-4- To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue. All a person’s ways seem pure to them but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do and he will establish you plans. The Lord works out everything to its proper end…

~Brittany and Nick~

 

…Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to purpose of his will… Ephesians 1:4-5

So we had our first info meeting on Tuesday with an organization here in Tyler. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us this past week. We left that meeting feeling really good. It was nice just to get an idea how the process works. We got a lot of detailed information which was great. We have another meeting on Tuesday with another agency and then we will hopefully decide between the two which one to go with.

I led with that verse in Ephesians for a reason. After our meeting we updated our immediate family on how our meeting went. How excited we were to just get started. And you hear them say how excited they are to be grandparents, to be an aunt. To add another grandchild. To be an aunt and uncle. To add another niece or nephew. I start to realize how blessed we are. I cried happy tears as I thought about all our conversations and thinking about the day we get to tell them they get to be all those things. (We also decided crying will be a regular thing through this process as much as I hate crying).

Then I start thinking about the day we will get our child. Once we are approved to adopt we will start receiving emails of children who are available for adoption. (Cue more tears).  My prayer (and I know it will happen) is that when Nick and I see a child we will just know he/she is the one! What an amazing thing that will be. We will get to tell our child we chose he/she. We love them and want them to be part of our family FOREVER!

That leads me to thinking about how God chose me. (CUE MORE TEARS). Refer back to the top. Before the world was formed God chose me. He chose you. (If you want to talk about predestination and what not we can set up a time for that, some of y’all immediately went there as you read this) He wants to spend eternity with me and you. Like who am I that the God of the universe sent his only son to die on the cross for my sins (John 3:16)  so that I my choose to follow him and spend eternity in heaven with Him. If that doesn’t humble you I don’t know what does.

Side note: I’ve been binge watching grey’s anatomy (yes I have seen all episodes..do not judge) and so about the time my happy tears stop the episode where Christina Yang is leaving the show comes on (CUE ALL THE TEARS AGAIN) lol. I know all you Grey’s fans understand me right now. I digress

I am thankful to serve a God who forgives me, who knows how many times a day. Who cries with me, who rejoices with me. Who loves me unconditionally despite my failures. I am thankful he is an example of the love I will strive everyday to have for our child.

So keep those prayers coming.

1. That we remain faithful and not fearful. It is easy to let those fears creep in and take over.
2. Our meeting Tuesday will go well.
3. Wisdom and discernment the next week or so as we decide on an agency
4. Continue to pray for our future child that they no matter where they are that they know they are loved.
5. Pray for Nick and I as we continue to make decisions together.