We both graduated from the same college on the same day, but our paths didn't cross until 3 years later at our church in Greer, SC. Jonathan was a pastoral intern at the church and was given the task of leading a mission team to put on a fine arts camp at a small Colorado church. Well, Jonathan doesn't consider himself an artist, so he asked Christy (who is an artist) to help lead the team. She said "yes" and things quickly went from planning a mission trip to planning a wedding!
Life in DC
After 6 months of marriage, J and C set out with a handful of friends to start a church in the Washington D.C. Metro area. Planting a church from the ground up has proven to be a challenging experience intermingled with immense joy. We constantly get to see firsthand God's transforming grace in people around us and his sanctifying work in us.
Change of Plans
Before we were married, we talked about adopting someday, but our plan was to have 1-2 kids biologically first. Over time, it became clear that having biological children was probably not going to happen for us. So, we began researching international and domestic adoption by attending informational meetings at adoption agencies, talking to adoptive families and reading a lot about the topic of adoption. After several months of praying and seeking counsel, we concluded that it was time to start the adoption process, so here we are in the midst of it!
Grace Along the Way
We're not sure how we would have handled the ups and downs of infertility, and the plans leading up to adoption, without the prayers and support of our family, friends and church. Our families welcome God's plan to grow our family by means of adoption, even if that means their grandkids may not resemble our family roots. We are grateful for their openness and encouragement.
God is doing something special in our church family regarding adoption. In our small church, 2 individuals work for adoption organizations and an adoptive family just picked up their son in China. Others are coming up with creative ways to help us with fundraising. We are thankful for each of them and the many others who have rejoiced with us over our desire to adopt.
We live in a broken world that includes infertility and many other kinds of trials. But through the pain we have experienced, Christ has ministered to us renewed joy as we remember our own spiritual adoption into God's family. We are grateful that we get to adopt so we can provide hope and love to a child who needs a family.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
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