Faith makes miracles happen!

My husband and I talked about growing a family through adoption even before we were married. On our 3rd anniversary, we put our faith in God's hands and began our adoption journey. We went to a few informational meetings and met with a couple of lawyers to explore our options.

After completing our homestudy and still not feeling sure of the agencies and lawyers we had spoken to, a friend gave us Christa's phone number. This was the beginning of a tremendous "leap of faith". After speaking to Christa and Phill, we filled out an application and received an email back requesting more information and inviting us to the August Orientation.

After going through the Orientation and completely reworking our profile with Christa's help, we felt God had led us in the right direction and we were at peace with our decision. In November, we received an email from Spirit of Faith about a birth mom who had recently found out she was pregnant and due at the end of December. The email explained that the baby had been exposed to some potentially dangerous situations including no prenatal care until the 3rd trimester. After speaking to our doctor and doing a lot of praying, we decided to once again, take a leap of faith, granting our permission to Christa to share our profile with the birth mother. A week later, we received the phone call that she selected us to be her baby’s parents. 

A long, worthwhile wait 

We had been trying to adopt since November of 2004.  After years of dealing with different agencies, we heard about Spirit of Faith through a friend last year.  Spirit of Faith is different from everyone else we worked with because the staff there truly cares about the birth parents and adoptive families.

After five years of waiting, we had almost given up hope.  Then, Spirit of Faith networked with another local agency on our behalf and connected us to an expectant parent, due to deliver a baby any day.   At that time, we were in the process of updating our home study which needed to be done by Christmas Eve.  With the holiday, there was no way our paperwork could get there in time.  Phillip Wurster partnered with the other agency and devised a plan to work out all of the details on our behalf.  At 6:04 p.m., we got the call that we were the proud family of a baby boy, born on December 24th .  We couldn't believe it!  Our wait to complete our family was finally done.  We drove to Ohio to meet Miles for the first time on New Year's Eve; what a wonderful way to bring in the New Year.

Miles was released into foster care on December 28.  We went to his foster family's house to meet him for the first time. When Ellen opened the door, we instantly fell in love with our new son. We had decided to let our son, Keegan be the first to hold Miles since he had waited so long to be a big brother. The smile and tears on Keegan's face when Ellen placed Miles into his arms was totally worth it.  To this day, we are still very close with Miles' foster family. We truly believe that our story wouldn't have ended the same if Spirit of Faith and Ellen hadn't been part of it.

I know that sometimes, the wait seems like forever, but stay focused and keep praying.  It was amazing to see God's hand in our adoption. God blessed us with a handsome son and so many wonderful people to help us through the process.  Thank you so much to everyone at Spirit of Faith.  A very special thanks to Phillip for all of the countless hours he worked on our behalf on Christmas Eve.  We highly recommend Spirit of Faith to both birth parents and adoptive families.

Dan, Michelle, Keegan, and Miles

The Gift of a Father
Often when I see Mark with Isaac I think the most wonderful gift Isaac's birthmother gave him was the gift of a father.

If she had not decided to make an adoption plan, but had chosen instead to raise her little one herself, Isaac would have had a mother. He even would have had wonderful grandparents who most likely would have been very involved in his life (we met them, and they are wonderful people). But he wouldn't have had a father.

The other night I listened through the baby monitor as Mark put Isaac to bed. Since I'm ready for a break by 6:30 or so, that task usually falls to Mark--and he does a much better job than I do. Mark talks the whole time while he's putting on a diaper, changing Isaac into his pajamas, as he gives him his evening bottle. That night I listened as Mark read Isaac a simple board book, but added his own commentary, pointing out details in the pictures. When they got to a picture of a baby in a "bouncy seat", Mark said, "Oh look, Isaac, that baby is in a bouncy seat--his mommy must be in the shower." :-) Then Mark rubs each of Isaac's fingers and each of his toes, as he counts them--One, two, three, four, five. Usually he will quietly sing Isaac a song just before he puts him down in his crib with his Mr. Elephant.

I absolutely love watching Mark be a dad--I'm sure every wife who is blessed to have children loves to watch the transformation of her husband into a loving father. It makes it a little more amazing to me that it is the miracle of adoption that not only gives me the opportunity to see Mark become a father, but that makes it possible for Isaac to even have a father in his life.

I am so grateful for the woman who made this choice.  When Isaac's birthmother is thinking about him, I pray that God will comfort and bless her, and give her some sense of the wonderful gift she gave her child--the gift of a father.

Thoughts from a Birth Mother about her son:
If I stopped for one minute and thought about my emotions, I wouldn't have given my son up for adoption.  He is my son - I love him - I am his mother!  The decision was not about what I was feeling, but what my son deserved.  My son deserved a 2 parent home.  My son deserved parents that were ready to be parents.  My son deserved to be raised by adults - not immature teenagers.  My son deserved a stable home environment.  My son deserved so many things, because he was my son; he deserved the best!  I could not provide any of those things for him.  The only reasons to keep my son were all selfish... they were all about my feelings, and what I felt I deserved or should be allowed to have or experience.  Handing over my perfectly healthy baby after being with him for nine months, but only holding and seeing him for three days, was the hardest thing I have ever done.  It has been 17 years, and even now thinking about that moment, I just started crying.  I did not make that decision because I thought for one moment it would be easy for me; I did it for my son.  I think about him... and sometimes, like on his birthday, I am sad... but most of the time when I think about him, I think about what a great life he has.  He has a great family, good parents, a brother, a happy, stable life, a pet... all the things I would given him myself if I could have... and that is how I sleep good at night.  I know he is happy, and has a solid foundation for a successful future.  That is the most a parent could want for their child... and it is what I have given my son.
~Becky

Our Journey to Grace
She doesn’t have my eyes, or my nose. She loves shoes and food just like me. I love her just as much as my other three kids. After waiting two years for our china adoption my husband Scott and I and our three biological children decided to switch to the special needs program. We switched on Tuesday and we were linked to Grace by Thursday. Her special need was, she had several birthmarks which were removed in china. The five of us traveled to China over this past summer to bring her home. I have a son Scott 15yrs, Madisen is 12yrs and Ella is 9yrs. We all adore her and it has been such a faith journey. If I was younger, I would do it all over again. Grace has adjusted so well to us. She sleeps and naps well, She is funny and happy and bonded with us each in her own way. She is so amazing and really completes our family.
Sincerely, Julie