Adoption Testimony
Matthew Smith
When Brandi and I got married, we knew that getting pregnant would be a challenge. Infertility was common in Brandi’s family, so the possibility of one day adopting a child was something that we had already discussed. When it came time for us to begin trying to start a family, we were not surprised when we were not able to get pregnant. We did attempt some infertility medication, but very early in that process, we discovered that I was also unable to have children. Instead of being discouraged by this news, we saw it as confirmation that the Lord was leading us to adopt. However, at the beginning of our adoption journey, we had very narrow parameters on what we were willing to do.
First, we only considered a private adoption. We knew that adopting through foster care would be too messy and difficult for us. Secondly, we were somewhat close-minded on the issue of race. And third, we were convinced that we would only adopt one child at a time. If the first adoption went well, then maybe one day we might try to adopt again, but we definitely only wanted one child at a time. With our minds completely made up on those non-negotiable issues, we started the process to adopt. We contacted an agency, filled out all of the paperwork, and did the home studies.
And once all of that was competed, we waited…
And we waited some more…
We waited a really long time…
The only time that our agency ever contacted was not to tell us that we were being considered by birth parents. It was to tell us that our paperwork had expired and needed to be renewed. Because we had been waiting so long…
To make a very long story short, during all of this waiting and through a great deal of sadness and frustration, God began changing our hearts. Gradually, we became more and more open to different situations. The Lord showed us that His plan was so much greater than the perfect little plan that we had mapped out for ourselves. And on December 20, 2018, we finalized our adoption of not one but two children who are of mixed race that we adopted out of foster care through Child Protection Services. We wanted to do things our way and according to our own plan. God had something very different in store for us. And now that we have our two precious children, we wholeheartedly testify that God’s plan is better.
Adoption is a beautiful illustration of the gospel. We sinned against God, and that caused mankind to be expelled from His holy presence. But out of His great love for us, He crafted a perfect plan to redeem us. And through Jesus’ work on the cross, He saved us from sin and death and welcomed us back into His open arms. He adopted us back into His family. All He asks from us in return is faith and obedience.
I mentioned earlier that this version of our adoption story is the short version. There’s no way I would be able to get in all of the details into a short article like this. You see, there was a huge amount of pain, brokenness, and a countless number of tears along the way. Even when we were finally introduced to Jeremiah and Stella Kate, the two wonderful children who would eventually become our own, the path did not really get any easier. Like I said above, foster care is messy, and we faced a great deal of adversity before they officially became ours. But it was worth it. And so is trusting and following Jesus. We sometimes think that being a Christian should be easy. We think that our lives as believers should be filled with riches, blessing, and nothing else. But like adoption, the Christian life can be messy and painful. But God has a way of taking those messy circumstances and turning them into something beautiful. We only need to trust Him and obey Him. In the end, it is always worth it.
