Jason and I NEVER intended to adopt a child. It was never on our radar… like at all! Becoming adoptive parents, especially to an older child, was just never something that we set out to do. But God’s plans are always better than our own, right? Adoption through God orchestrated events kind of solidifies God’s plan for your life.

God Orchestrated Event #1

This adoption has God written all over it. As a matter of fact, I often say that Addison came to us through a series of God orchestrated events. I was living in Nashville, TN and never thought I would leave the city. But God put a desire in my heart to pack up and leave the city and move 700 miles south to the middle of nowhere! When I say that I live in the middle of nowhere, I mean we have a Dollar General store and one flashing red light in our little community. I am 35 minutes away from the closest WalMart, and an hour away from the closest shopping mall. THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! What are the chances that I would end up HERE after living in the big city for the majority of my life?

God Orchestrated Event #2

We have ALWAYS been a homeschool family! My two oldest children are now grown and moved out of the home with families of their own. Both of them graduated high school through homeschooling. My youngest child, who at the time was 10 years old, had never been to public school until we moved here to this community. But she wanted to go to school so that she could make some friends. I ALLOWED IT, which that in itself is a miracle. Louisiana schools are definitely not known for their amazing educational benefits.

After allowing her to attend school for about two weeks, I realized that this was NOT going to happen. I decided to yank her out and bring her back home to homeschool. Luckily she hated it enough to agree with me. But during her time at that school she made a very good friend named Riley (who is choosing to changer her name to Addison) who was 9 years old at the time. So I made sure to exchange phone numbers with that little girl’s family so that we could keep them in touch.

Over the next year or so Addison spent a lot of time at our home. We had her with us nearly every single weekend, every Wednesday night for church, every school break (including Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas), and nearly all summer long. During this time we got to know Addison and her story. It’s really sad that a nine year old even has a story! And what a story it was! But the reason I call this the God orchestrated event # 2 is because there is no way we would have ever met this little girl if I hadn’t enrolled Peyton into public school. I mean… what are the chances?

God Orchestrated Event #3

After about a year of knowing Addison, who had been living with her aunt and uncle with five other kids in a two bedroom house, Addison’s aunt told me that she was pregnant. I had joked about Addison living with us permanently before, but this time I was serious. When she told me that they were about to bring a SEVENTH child into their home I asked them to consider the possibility of allowing us to take her permanently. I was almost shocked when she said yes, and Addison actually came home with us from church THAT DAY and has now been living with us for over two years.

We started the adoption process at the beginning of 2018 and we are STILL WAITING. Her situation is a little different than most because even though she was orphaned by her parents, she was not in the foster system. Her mother is still out there somewhere. Not to mention that the cost of a private adoption in this type of situation is SUPER EXPENSIVE! We are looking at roughly $10,000 by the time this is all over. But there is no way that we would have it any other way. This little girl is special! And the fact that all of these God orchestrated events brought her to us, tells me that I am living within God’s will for my life. I know without a shadow of a doubt that none of this is coincidence. He brought me to this little tiny community, 700 miles away from home, for this exact reason.

I actually left out one very important God orchestrated event that happened way before I even became an adult. I will save the details of that for another day, but let’s just say this: I survived a tragedy of my own when I was a little girl about the same age as Addison. That tragedy left me without a mother myself, and the details of her story hit a little close to home. I now know that God allowed me to experience some of the things that I did as a child because it made me into the person that I needed to be FOR THIS MOMENT. God began this work when I was a little girl myself. The thought of that sends chills down my spine. Oh what plans He must have for this little girl!