One month ago, our prayers for resolution were fulfilled. Our meek, “your will” prayers, our gentle guidance prayers, our big bold, “I know you will” prayers, our desperate pleas, our prayers from and with so many people in our life, even from those we don’t know…there were prayers interceding before the Lord for us, and the Lord heard, and we are at peace. After 7.5 years, the adoption of our three blessings has been finalized! We are so incredibly grateful and filled with so much relief and awe of the faithfulness of God!
In reflection of the last several weeks, we felt led to share a piece of our story. This is the testimony of God’s goodness as our case came to a close and as we have been able to finalize our adoption. Of course, I’m not providing the majority of the case or emotional details, this, believe it or not, IS the quick version! Much of our adoption story is not for sharing publically, but rather the kids’ choice to share as they mature and feel led. However, we do not want to miss our side of the story, giving the opportunity to testify of God’s protection over us, seeing us through it all.
In January of 2018 Kyle and I started the licensing process of becoming foster parents. I previously worked in the field and “understood” how placements and cases went. We desired to adopt from the beginning, but understanding how foster care worked, we agreed to concurrent planning, knowing a case could go in several different directions- reunified with biological parents, moving to family members, guardianship, adoption, etc. We trusted the Lord in his plan for us, and for any children we would take in.
By June of 2018, our license was open and within the first week of being ready to accept placements, we got the call for our precious eight month old Chase. We picked him up first thing the next morning. We knew that he was ours to love, for however long. By January 2019, we learned that a sister was born and we eagerly picked up our beautiful Kaliyah from the hospital through “Snowmageddon” at six days old. For the next 16 months, we fell deeply in love with these children and desperately desired permanency with them. Then in May 2020, our COVID baby was born. He was the only one we were actually prepared for, having a hunch that he was coming, about one month in advance. His room and car seat was ready, clothes borrowed, purchased, washed and prepared, phone calls of support already made, schedules arranged… only to discover at 10 days old, that, despite our efforts, we were not CPS’ first choice for placement. For the next 16 months, we kept his room prepared and prayed over. We waited for him. Of course we prayed he was safe and would not need to be “relocated,” causing trauma, but we also desired that he have the chance to be with his siblings. Similar to many times in our foster/adopt journey, the Holy Spirit put an impression on my heart that we were not done, he would be ours, to keep praying for him. We waited. As time went by, with no timeline, just a sense of hope that he would eventually come, we took on new schedules and packed away the baby clothes and equipment. His room remained waiting with a crib and prayers, alone. Then, one random, busy Tuesday, we got the phone call, giving us a two hour notice (with a 1 hour drive) that he needed a new home. In October of 2021 I picked up Khalin from the office from an emergency removal and after returning from soccer, the three siblings got to finally rest in their home with us, together.
Foster care is intense. Our journey to becoming legal parents was long and often grueling. Many of our days, especially ones surrounding court, we wondered if our kids, who we were raising all those years, would even be with us the next day. The kids did NOT know this was a possibility, but we did. There were MANY times we had to prepare our hearts for the possibility of them leaving us, and it could have happened just as quickly as they came to us, in a few hours’ notice. In foster care, we have no legal standing, and often felt like an outcast in court and in the meetings. Being a foster parent truly puts you at a low seat, serving and loving deeply, with no control over anything. The lack of control truly determined so many parental decisions we made over the years. We could not relax on matters that many parents take for granted. In the 7.5 years of being foster parents, even up until the final date of adoption, one injury, one rumor, one ticket for a wrongly buckled car seat or wrong type of life vest honestly had the power to remove the kids from our home, as they were not legally ours. What kept us grounded was knowing that truly, none of us actually knows when our final moment with our loved ones will be, and we would do right and love deeply in the process, and will continue to, moving forward.
For five years, the children being in foster care involved twice a week visits with their biological parents and siblings (a 2 hour round trip drive), monthly home visits, quarterly court hearings, regular communication with workers, and then new workers, and even cross-agency workers, as our case was spread, overtime, through 4 agencies. In April of 2023 the courts terminated the legal rights of the biological parents. Without going into detail, there is a rollercoaster of emotions that weighed on us and our family at this time. For with every victory on our end, honestly, involves separation and grief, on the other end. That is a topic for another time.
For another two years we continued in both the foster care and also adoption process, which means more workers, more papers, more time communicating, but also, a significant decrease in visits, giving us more flexibility within our schedule. This process continued to be lengthy, due to appeals and competing parties, which was an extremely long and emotional process. Due to some of these reasons we were informed that we would not get the court date that most do and can plan for, having loved ones join in for a special hearing. At first, this broke my heart, after all we had been through, all this time…we did not get to celebrate and have the in person or even virtual court room resolution as so many others do. But, overtime, God gave me peace over this. The disappointment of it never went away, but God helped me to accept it.
At the beginning of our adoption process we were told the earliest for finalization would be March of 2024. Then everything just stood still, we continued to wait. Finally in March of 2025 we began to see a breakthrough. The barriers slowly began to pass away. With every barrier removed, we celebrated, one step closer to legalizing our family! In March, we were told that by July 2025 it should be final. So, with these anticipated dates, we began planning the amazing circus / Greatest Showman party that I had dreamt of over the last seven years! We had to lock down a date and through much prayer, we planned in faith that it would resolve timely, we confirmed plans for 9/20/25. Then we continued to wait. Mid-June of 2025, another barrier passed, but not in enough time to finalize by that estimated July date. So we waited. August 13th lifted the absolute final barrier. At that point, the plan was that when the order of adoption was signed and finalized by the judge, our worker would call us to give us the good news. Any call starting August 14th could be “the call. ”With every text, every email, every phone call…we waited so eagerly, the news was heavily anticipated. My phone never left me. I had a play gavel and adoption announcement sign in the car, just waiting to be used. I fantasized about ten times a day about how we would share the news with the kids and our loved ones. I desperately desired for the kids to be finalized before the beginning of the school year. Khalin was starting Kindergarten and I wanted them all to be able to start fresh, with new legal names. But, that didn’t happen. It crushed me, that final week was incredibly hard.
Every Friday I would contact my worker, begging for any update. We were told it was sitting with the judge, just waiting to be signed. Four weeks went by, I was being told it was “sitting with the judge.” Then the second week of September I got news that it was in fact NOT sitting with the judge, it had not gotten that far, there was misunderstanding between court workers. Again, I was crushed. After so much daily anticipation of getting that call, I was told it could continue to take even longer. Our party, scheduled 9/20/25 was approaching and I wanted to be able to fully celebrate the legal finalization. As hard as this was, God showed me that “even if not,” He was in this and would make the finalization happen, just maybe…again, not in the timing I wanted.
Court was scheduled for 9/16/25, this was a hearing that I was told at an earlier date, was probably unnecessary, as the adoption should be final at that point. But, it wasn’t. I felt that if there was a tiny chance we could virtually sit before the judge and ask, since it was in the courts waiting to be signed, that she would sign it during, or right after the hearing. So, we planned for this, even though I was told it was unlikely to occur. We told the kids about court being that day, just like so many other court dates that have passed, and we prayed together for it. But to prevent disappointment in them, we did not tell them what we were desperately praying to occur during the hearing. Kyle and I did some “just in case” planning. We planted ourselves in a location near the kids school to take the zoom court hearing. We told a few loved ones, in anticipation of them celebrating with us in those first moments.
We set up our station, ensured the computer was plugged in and had a good connection, tuned into the online zoom meeting, had my notebook prepared to document all the updates, and everyone provided their introductions. Then, to our surprise, the judge said it, the news I have eagerly, desperately, begged to hear for four weeks…rather 7.5 years… the judge announced “let’s start with the good news! Yesterday, I signed the orders of adoption for Chase, Kaliyah, and Khalin.” Our eyes welled up with joy as we finished hearing the judges happy news, the other workers were smiling and tearing up on the other side of the call. The judge moved forward to discuss the remaining aspects of the case and we were told we could leave the hearing- we were DONE! We joyfully celebrated and praised Jesus. We didn’t even need to make our request by the judge, she had already gone before us and done it the day before! We called down my sister-in-law, working on site, and celebrated together. Then, we got to tell the kids! We went to their school, pulled them and their three cousins out of school, went outside and shared the news with a sign that I, of course, had prepared 🙂 We rejoiced and cried, it was beautiful! We told the kids to get their backpacks because we needed to go eat celebratory pancakes and spread the good news! Chase and Kailyah ran down the hallway of their class, burst into their classrooms and announced “I’m adopted!!!” Khalin burst in with a “I’m leaving!” We got their things, discussed the details and feelings, ate pancakes, and called or met with our family and closest friends, sharing the good news all day long, ending of course in some delicious ice cream!
We have a picture that is now framed in our kitchen of that day, us holding the sign as we exited their school. Kaliyah looked up at it last night and said “I will never forget that day,” with the sweetest, most genuine smile on her face.
I am sure we could write posts and blogs all day long about the details and emotions of our process. I am sure that the Lord will continue to speak to us and reveal His beauty of this journey to us, as we now enter into our healing process. But for now, I reflect on one month post-adoption and I am so grateful! I do not know why our case took 7.5 years, I don’t know why…to many things that happened, or didn’t. But I can see that in all of this, even through our doubts and frustrations, God never left us, forsaked us, was upset or surprised by our feelings or prayers. He kept us going, praying, intervening. In the end, on that final day, our request didn’t even need to be made. He had already intervened and completed the job, the adoption was already completed before we even knew! And, we got our news during a court hearing! A court hearing that we were told we would not get! We were not with the kids when we received the news, but we were right down the road! Being able to have the fun experience of pulling them out of school and providing them the announcement alongside of their cousins and aunt, and seeing them run in and tell their friends out of the celebration in their hearts, was so beautiful! .
Our adoption was finalized on 9/15/25, the court hearing when we learned of this was 9/16/25, and our party was 9/20/25. We had the perfect timing to fully have fresh feels and excitement for our finalization at our party, which is exactly what I dreamt of, all these years.
“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”- Ephesians 3:20
In reflection of the journey we have been on, I need to reveal the faithfulness of God through the work on His people- You! Thank you to all of you, who have cared about our story, who have supported and loved us and prayed with us through it. Thank you for encouraging us to bring the fears of inadequacy to Jesus, who IS in control, who met us with peace and further patience. You have lifted us up and told us to keep pressing into God, praying and advocating for us before the Father in heaven.
Despite the fears of what could happen, the kids never got seriously hurt, we never had allegations/ “special investigation” against us. There were honestly several seasons during our time that it looked like the kids would not be staying with us longer due to the court showing their family further graces. The plans were being made, the siblings were being told …but that never came to be. The lies were exposed and the kids remained safe, in their homes. Once they were with us, they never left. I can attest 100% that this is only through the power and protection of the Holy Spirit, keeping us away from very common childhood/ foster home issues, that had the potential to add further barriers to our adoption. Thank you for your prayers for protections over our kids, it is evident that the Lord heard our request and granted it. Throughout this process, though long, the Lord remained faithful in protection and support over us. Not only physically but with our mental health as well. The timeline has not been what we imagined, and I am sure that the Lord will continue to reveal to me more of the “why’s” as we enter the healing journey. But I know that without the support of all of you, our endurance and resilience would not be what it has been, and I thank you for this, for helping to protect me, and my entire family.
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 1:3-6
Lastly, thank you for celebrating with us. We are overwhelmed by the amount of love we have received from all of you! Thank you for celebrating by coming to our circus adoption party, which is everything I imagined! My goal was first to serve the kids with their interest and ensure they felt so loved, and my second goal of the party was to celebrate our village, may it reveal our gratitude towards all of you, throwing a party we could all enjoy with laughter, wonder, and the celebration of God’s goodness. Thank you also for the kind facebook comments, gifts, the cards of encouragement, kind celebratory gestures, the hugs and enthusiasm- it has been amazing and more than I envisioned, all these years leading up to our big day! We have hung up the gifts of frames and wall art, we have enjoyed some of the food/dessert gift cards, we have made our build-a-bear toys in celebration! Moving forward as a legal family, we will continue to enjoy the gifts of kindness and generosity from you, and from our heavenly Father, from whom we are all adopted.
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt it into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”- Ephesians 1:3-5
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