A lot of people have asked our story, or what led us to adopt. I thought it would be easiest to share an excerpt from an application we recently submitted answering the question:
What is your motivation to adopt?
Our motivation to adopt comes from knowing God has asked us to, and we are so thankful that he has. Adoption has never been a plan B for us. We adopted our son before we were ever trying to conceive and had planned from the very beginning of our relationship to adopt first.
Adoption has blessed our family immensely but beyond that, God calls us to care for the least of these. We don’t count ourselves “saviors” by any means but count it a privilege to be a part of our son and his birth mother’s story of grace. Adoption is not easy, there are unique joys and challenges for everyone in the adoption triad. However, we continue to see God’s gracious hand in our family.
We have built our life around adoption, the choices we have made have always included adoption. Even when we were overseas, we were working toward adopting. Our plans were certainly interrupted in 2020, but we continued seeking the Lord’s guidance and here we are!
I (Lauren) have a very clear memory from when I was in high school, sitting on my bed reading my Rainbow Study Bible circa 2003 and really felt the Lord was telling me to adopt one day. I took it seriously, even as a teen. On dates I would ask the guy how he felt about adoption, if he was hesitant or disinterested….he was out. It was so important to me to marry someone who shared my heart for adoption. Oron has three adopted siblings and shares my love of adoption. It was just part of our family culture as soon as we got married. We started making preparations for adoption long before we were even “eligible”. I called Holt International our first year of marriage and we were told we were too young to adopt with them.
Oron’s mom and my mom worked at different pregnancy care centers while we were growing up. My parents were in youth ministry almost my whole life. I think it really helped shape a compassion for people from all walks of life. Christians get a bad reputation for being “judgmental” toward women who find themselves in hard places and making hard decisions. However, our personal experiences could not be farther from that. Both of our families opened their homes continually to people in need of God’s love and care. Growing up, neither of our parents shielded us entirely from the world’s brokenness. They got to work loving people and taught us to do the same.
One last thing and I will end my novel here. One real grace in our life is our family. I mean, our families are just the best. Any baby or child in our home will be getting the grand parents of the century. The love and care our son receives from his grandparents, aunts and uncles is truly unmatched. They have all made room at their tables. The grandmas spoil him silly; the grandpas take him on adventures. His aunts and uncles ride dirt bikes, play air soft, and teach him their trades and take genuine interest in his spiritual wellbeing. And our son is the best cousin, he is the oldest cousin on both sides and has an adoring little band of minions following him around most of the time. Im certain will make a fantastic brother. Having a supportive family is a motivator for us because why would we not want to share our biggest blessing.
Latest Update
Just by way of an update: Our homestudy is completed. We signed a contract with an adoption consultant that uses a multi-agency approach. Right now, I am working on gathering photos for our profile book! If you would like to stay in the loop, I would love for you to add your email address over on the right under the “Let’s Connect” button. As an FYI you may eventually get emails associated with my blog once I start an official newsletter.
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