Once Upon A Little Brother!

Wren is excited to share the news.....

She is going to be a BIG SISTER!

Jesse and I are excited to be adding another child to our family. God led our hearts to foster to adopt a little boy currently in foster care. His name is Nile Bryson and we are already falling in love with him! Nile is 18 months old with beautiful blue eyes, long lashes, and brown hair. His personality has blossomed the more he had gotten to know us and he is a busy little man! He will transition into our home on March 28th (tomorrow!!) and we will foster him until we can adopt. We don't have a time line yet for that but we are pretty sure it will at least be 6 months before adoption can happen. As with most foster placements there is some risk that things would not work out for us to adopt Nile. We are trusting God and moving forward despite that knowing that all is in His control.

These last 5 months or so has been a whirlwind of calling DCS, filling out paper work, lots of discussion with the current foster family, waiting, and wondering how or if this whole thing would even work out. Here's the story of how God brought this little guy into our life.

Last fall Jesse and I began to pray about adopting another infant. During that time I was convicted through my Bible study that we were seeking approval for our own plans rather than asking God what His plan for us was. Jesse and I began to pray a little different, more that God would reveal his plan to us rather than just praying about when to adopt again. A few days later a resident of ours at Gateway, who is very fond of Nile, told me she thought we should adopt him. He was currently in foster care with another couple from Leo church so we knew him and had even babysat him before. When this resident said that to me God opened my heart and I felt the Holy Spirit telling me that we really did need to consider adopting this little boy. I had been told about this little boy possibly going to adoption, from our resident multiple times in the past, but it wasn't until that time that I felt God saying "yes, you need to consider this". Jesse and I began praying and trying to contact DCS to see if it was even possible to get a foster license while working at Gateway. For month's we prayed, made DCS calls, completed paperwork, and moved forward despite a lot of unknowns and uncertainties if we could get licensed. In January we learned that DCS would approved a foster license for us specifically for the purpose of adopting Nile! Then we began supervised visits in February and March to prove we have relationship and that the adoption would be in his best interest. Everything went so smooth and God put the right people on the case to advocate for the adoption. On March 6th Nile had court and the judge approved him moving to our home on March 28th! We have been doing visits every other day for a few weeks now to prepare for transition.

We still have a lot of unknowns and at times it seems surreal that we will be parents to another little one, but we have confidence this is God's work. We also take confidence in the story of the current foster family. They had been praying for someone to adopt Nile because they very clearly felt God was telling them their role was only to foster at this time. They have fostered him since birth and have provided a loving, safe, and nurturing environment the first 18 months of Nile's life and for that we will forever be grateful. They had asked several families if they would be interested in adopting Nile but nothing worked out. They had considered asking us as well but didn't know if they should or not since the foster dad is an employee of Gateway Woods. God jumped over that hurdle and brought Nile into our hearts without their prompting and we actually went to them asking about his case and if adoption would be his future. They are very peaceful and feel God has answered their prayers although they are hurting at the thought of letting go of the little boy they have loved for 18 months. Please keep them, Nile, and our family in your prayers. Lots of change and transition is about to take place but God has been faithful throughout the entire process and we know He will continue to work all things for good.