Glory Story. That’s
all this picture represents. His story revealing His glory in His perfect
timing. We are just the three that get to go along for the glorious adventure
ride. God did this. Not “relaxing”, not coincidence, not “that always happens
after people adopt”, and not because we quit stressing and thinking about it…GOD
DID THIS. His timing. His way. He knew
that the baby our birth mother is carrying needed to be a Daniel. So He waited
until we were walking in that commitment. BUT even as much as our hearts
celebrate the miracle right in front of us, our hearts still break DAILY for
those waiting. Waiting for God to align a couple’s hearts with adoption desire.
Waiting to be matched with a birth mom. Waiting for a baby in your womb that is
healthy. Waiting to receive answers from a fertility specialist. Waiting to add
arrows to your family’s quiver. Waiting. We hurt as we cry and pray alongside
you asking God for more of His miracles to be revealed in your family. We love
you.
Warning: If you don’t believe that God still loves to
do miracles today, don’t keep reading.
We don’t really know where to start as we write this next
installment in this adventure because quite honestly we had no idea that this
would be a chapter. What a surprise! Back in December we got told by a
fertility doctor that we have been working with for a while that our chances
for conception naturally (no medicine or procedures) was next to impossible.
Actually he gave us the figure of .001%. Needless to say, the odds weren’t
exactly in our favor. Let’s just say we started having a lot of conversations.
What do we do next? Why? We have Fenley and she is healthy and wonderful. Our
minds went a hundred different directions. Christmas came and went and we still
weren’t sure where we were at with getting matched with a birth mom. We started
to get sad and overwhelmed. Then we got matched with our birth mom! You can
read about that amazing process HERE.
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| Our Miracle #1 is quite the swimmer! Butterfly is her fav just like mommy! |
After getting matched with her we were so excited! We knew
we had a baby coming in May so we embraced this joy, deciding to fully walk with
contentment and trust while focusing on the wonderful gift coming our way.
“But wait… That’s not all!” It was as if this infamous catch
phrase you only hear on late-night infomercials happened to us in real life and
God was the one saying it! Becca was scheduled for yet another appointment with
our specialist but something was different this time. She insisted on delaying
her appointment and doing a test of her own at home. These tests had been done
many times before though… the test would come back negative and life would go
on. That would’ve been true except this pregnancy test had a different result.
Fenley was gone to a church retreat that Sunday morning which was God’s timing because
to say we were in shock would be quite the understatement. We both went from
crying, to shock, laughter, back to crying again all mixed in with some praise
dancing! J
We honestly couldn’t believe our eyes! Could this really be right?
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| Some dear friends got us these onesies over a year ago as a promise gift that more were on the way. We are so thankful for friends who believe with us! |
Becca drove to the fertility clinic on Monday and the news
was confirmed. They were a little nervous about levels so they told her she
might need to return a few more times that week. On Tuesday they called and
said that her levels were so high she was getting referred out to a regular OB/GYN.
And they confirmed that this IS a miracle!!!! Of course, we already knew that!
God loves that we have modern day medicine, and He wants us to be wise and
utilize the knowledge He has given others but He also LOVES to show off His
power too! We serve such a great, GREAT God.
Just to assure you there has NEVER been a moment in which we
thought about changing our minds to adopt. We automatically knew that this
meant 2 babies— Twins! (4 months apart). We know that this is the way God
intended this. We also knew that we were going to have to tell our birth
mother. We were nervous that she might change her mind. We immediately started
praying that she would see how this was God’s timing and she would have the
same peace knowing in her heart that our babies we were both carrying were
meant to be siblings. As we drove to see her 2 weeks ago, we prayed. We talked
about how we would tell her. We pulled into Chili’s (upon her request) and
enjoyed some small talk over queso and chips. (chips always help right?)
Finally after what seemed like an eternity we went for it. So crazy that we
were nervous because her response was nothing short of a wonderful miracle. Why
did we ever doubt that God went ahead and prepared her heart?! He is so good.
She immediately said “Congrats! This is wonderful! You will have your hands
full. This changes nothing for me!”. Wow. What an incredible gift!
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| While in St. Pete we realized it was spring training. Nathan being a huge baseball fan said this had to be a bonus and so we went to a Phillies/Blue Jays game with seats on the grass. A perfect ending to a perfect weekend! |
Our time with our birth mother after lunch was such a
blessing. We got to catch up and hear how she is doing. We also got the chance to
pray over her before we left. What an honor to lay our hands on her and pray
life and love over her and the baby she is carrying. She is truly an incredible
woman and we are so thankful she is in our life. She is currently having some
difficulties with her living situation and this is not the first time this has
happened. She has had to move a few times due to different stressors from her
past history. This has meant that we have had extra expenses come up. Our total
cost is estimated between $33-$38,000. God has provided every step of the way
and we know He will not stop now. We remind ourselves constantly that if He
calls us to it, He will equip us through it & “God funds what He favors!” If
you feel called to assist us in this final chapter financially to get our birth
mother taken care of in the last couple of months we greatly appreciate it. You
can email us at ntdaniel123@gmail.com
to get details on giving. Please continue to pray for her. She has about 8
weeks left of pregnancy and the next time we are with her we will be welcoming
our second child into the world.
This whole
process has reminded us of different verses along the way and we have shared
those with you. We can’t help but be reminded of our Team D family verse from
2013 which says “Now to Him who is able to do IMMEASUREABLY MORE than all we
can ask or imagine….”finish this verse. More…. MUCH MORE. Double the blessing.
We can’t wait to share these miracle babies with you! Each of you has been and
will continue to be such a huge part of our journey and we are thankful. We
still need your prayers! Pray boldly in Jesus’ name for healthy babies and
smooth deliveries and easy recoveries for both our birth mother and Becca. Are
we a little nervous about what life looks like with two babies four months
apart? Of course! But we know God will be with us. While on our way to St. Pete
a few weeks ago, we were listening to a Zoe Praise and Worship CD and this song
called "We Are Not Afraid" came on. We have never paid much attention to it but
as we sat and took in the words we knew that God was speaking to us through
this song.
This miracle-filled glory story is still being written, and
the truth is, we still have a longing in our hearts for those that we love dearly. When you
walk through infertility no matter how long the journey is, your heart for
those who are enduring it becomes heavy. We have dear friends who are in this
journey. Some of them have been there longer than we can imagine. Their faith
has been tested time and time again yet they choose to continue to love and
worship God. They also rejoice with us and others while they are still walking in
the valley. We simply cannot rejoice in our circumstances without asking you to
join us in fighting and praying for these families. We have been talking to
each other about the tension in praising God for our miracles yet waiting on
Him to answer others desires to have babies too. As you pray a prayer of
thanksgiving on our behalf (which you should totally do!), PLEASE bring those
that are waiting to the throne as well. For those of you reading this that are
in the valley, we love you. We stand with you crying out. We will not forget
you. Your faith and courage amaze us. Thank you for your example.
God is good. He is real. He is working. Never late, but
rarely early. Thank you for being in our village. Let the new adventure begin! (And yes, we are not finding out the gender of either one....so what will it be? Boys, girls or one of each. Wait and stay tuned!)
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| Fenley is already getting gifts as she begins her big sister training! This is from our cousins in NYC so she can read Rosie to her brother(s) and/or sister(s) |
