Guest Post: Heather

Week 3: Rob, Heather, Daniel, and Isaac

On the last day of February 2009 (two days before learning that Ish was going to be part of our family!), the indiansandpirates parents traveled to Pittsburgh for a CPR training, the final requirement on the list from our adoption agency. At this training, we met Rob and Heather, a couple also waiting to adopt. Since those four hours of sharing a defibrilator and learning about one another, we have become friends - and adoptive families! Here is their story, shared by Heather.

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Our story begins as God worked his purpose through a car accident. In the summer of 1999, I was taking a Marine Mammology course in Sarasota , Florida , when I was in a car accident. Rob worked at the body shop where my car was repaired. I went to school about 45 minutes north of Sarasota and he lived 45 minutes to the south, and we met in the middle. On our first date, we discussed children and family. Our journey had begun.

We married in May 2002 and began trying to start a family about a year later. The years that followed included tests, vitamins, hormones, more tests, procedures, more hormones, and much heartache. We were deemed fine and yet we remained childless. Throughout this time we had brought up the idea of adopting a child. We agreed that if it came to spending a large amount of money for a procedure, we would rather put the money toward adopting. In the summer of 2007, we agreed that we should begin pursuing adoption as the path God has chosen for us to grow our family. That fall we began the process.

Besides all the daunting paperwork, we began networking with everyone we knew to try to raise some money for the adoption. Even though we were both working two jobs to save money, we knew it wouldn’t be enough. We had a large garage sale and put up information on our adoption and its costs. Through our church, family, friends and the garage sale, we were only able to raise about 10% of what we needed. We live in a rather depressed area. I even lost my second job at Thanksgiving. After a rather slim Christmas and months following, I was blessed with another job at a Child Care Center. The pay wasn't much, but there was an added bonus - free child care, once we needed it.

Then, our adoption took a new path, one completely directed by God. We were presented with a situation of a 2 year old boy in Oregon . This in itself is worth noting. We had said we would take a child only up to 6 months old and Oregon was not a state that we had agreed to go to, not having friends or family to stay with there. After much prayer and consideration, we couldn’t get this little boy out of our minds, or hearts. In church one Sunday, I remembered that an old school friend of mine’s mom lived in Oregon , so I emailed her. Her mom offered us a place to stay, a car to use, and even to pick us up at the airport. God had all the details worked out. The rest of the story seemed to be falling into place, even the openness, as this little boy, Daniel, would be our son.

As we were adjusting to life with a toddler, we learned of another possible adoption situation. This time it would be a kinship adoption, which we figured would be much less expensive and possibly the only way we would have another child. After a couple of months of sporadic communications, we learned that the mother had decided to parent. We were disappointed, but the experience showed us that we were ready to open our hearts and home again to grow our family.

We began the process to adopt again through Bethany as Daniel’s adoption was being finalized. We were unsure of where the funds would come from to support another adoption, but knew beyond a doubt that God was leading us down this road. We put our faith in Him and jumped in with both feet. Before finances could be worked out, we were blessed with a second son, Isaac. Isaac joined our family on Thanksgiving Day, just two days old.

We applied for loans and grants to help pay for Isaac’s adoption. We had received a few grants to help with Daniel’s adoption expenses, but we used all of our savings as well. We know God intended Daniel and Isaac to be our children. We have faith that somehow the money will work itself out.

We are not wealthy people. We are rather simple. We live in the country in an older house. We work hard. We worship with our small church family. We love and help others. We have made mistakes and will make new ones in the future too. Our dream is to raise a family in God’s love.