I came across two quotes (authors unknown) this weekend that in many ways describe what it was like for Ben and I to pursue our dream of starting a family. 

The first….

“It’s not going to turn out the way you thought it would. It will be better.”

And the second…

 “Keep the faith. The most amazing things in life tend to happen right at the moment you were about to give up hope.”

Up to this point, we’ve chosen not to share specifically about Joe or our adoption journey on social media. There is a fear in putting our story out there that is difficult to put into words. In the past 24 hours we’ve decided that our faith is bigger than our fear and that sharing could bring others hope and encouragement in their own life challenges.  

Two years ago today, we received a phone call and within hours Joe entered our lives and changed them forever. We fell in love the second we laid eyes on him. We were his new foster parents and he was just three months old at the time.  

You see, for quite a while, we thought we were in control of our plan for our lives. We knew that we wanted to get married, buy a house, and eventually have kids when we decided we were ready. We saw others’ lives play out this way so why would it be an different for us?  After several miscarriages in my late 30’s though our world was rocked and we seriously started to question whether or not the dreams Ben and I had of having children would actually become a reality. 

We eventually decided to pursue adoption.  Coming to this decision was a journey in and of itself and involved a lot of letting go.  It was equally confusing to determine whether or not we should work with a private agency, an attorney, or children’s services.  I’m incredibly embarrassed to admit that there were times when I had thoughts that starting our family through adoption would somehow rob us of so much of what it meant to be parents. I couldn’t have been proven more wrong. In fact, what God has shown us in the last two years is that while things haven’t turned out the we planned with starting a family, the way things have unfolded is actually far greater than we could have ever dreamed or imagined. 

We adopted Joe on May 11, 2015, when he was nine months.  We are blessed, to say the least. And we are so thankful to so many people who walked with us through a time that was filled with uncertainty. We look at Joe every day as an example of God’s faithfulness. The joy he has brought to our marriage and our family is incredible. Joe has taught us to love bigger than we ever thought possible. Our faith has grown tremendously through this experience, too. There were times throughout the process to become foster parents when our hope tank was near empty and we were ready to go a different direction or give up on our dream completely. We’re so thankful that we hung on just a little longer to receive that call to pick up him up on October 17. And now we know that faith in God also includes faith in his timing. 

 Where do you feel your hope is slipping away? In what area of your life can you start trusting in God’s timing and believing that it will turn out better than you could possibly imagine? We want to encourage you to keep praying and pressing on in faith because God is in the business of working all things together for good.