Our Adoption Testimony
Anna and I started dating back in 1999; We were Middle School Sweethearts! I remember spending time together dreaming of the family that we hoped to have someday. We loved the idea of a large family with both biological and adopted children. After dating for 7 years, and then getting married, we started trying to build our family together. We soon realized that it would be difficult to have children as we discovered we had infertility issues that kept us from getting and/or staying pregnant. It was a very challenging time in our marriage as newlyweds. We had hoped to have many children (12 to be exact) early on in our relationship and just having one seemed like an insurmountable feat. It was a stress on our relationship and I really wish I had been more mature in my walk with Jesus. Being the husband, I felt helpless when we struggled with infertility. I wish that I could have guided Anna better, as the head in our marriage, towards Jesus and away from what the world offers as comfort in these situations. In 2011, my sister gave birth to her firstborn son. Unfortunately, she was deep in the throws of her drug addiction and was unable to care for him. She asked us to take care of him and eventually chose to allow us to adopt him. John has been such a blessing to our family. He is a gift from God. He came at a time when we were longing so deeply for a child. He needed parents and we needed a baby to love. It has been wonderful being his Daddy. We have been fortunate to have an open adoption with my sister and John’s biological father. About five years later, God answered our prayers for another child. Yael is our first biological child and our first daughter. John and Yael are very different in their personalities, but it has been a joy to parent them. In 2020 (John was 8 and Yael was 3), we were pregnant with our second daughter Miryam. At our week 40 check-up, the Midwife was not able to find her heartbeat. She had passed on to be with the Lord. This was a very painful surprise. She had been perfectly healthy and the pregnancy had been going well. God was very near to us in those early days after Miryam went home to be with Him. To be honest, we were terrified to ever be pregnant again. We prayed and asked the Lord to take this desire for a big family from us. It was too painful. We fasted and prayed and sought the Lord. We even had several friends praying with us to seek His direction. We heard a resounding answer from Him. His desire was to strengthen us and help us receive more children from Him. He did just that! In 2022, Anna gave birth to Penelope Joy! Her middle name was very intentional. We believe God wanted us to have Joy in a time that was very scary for us. The Lord brought a lot of healing to our family through Penelope (more than she will likely ever understand). After Penelope got a little bigger, we felt a desire to add children through our family through adoption. We learned that the home we had been living in was too small. A homestudy would require more space in order to allow us to adopt. Believing this was His will for our family, we bought a bigger home and expected Him to fill it! After we moved into our new home, we were getting unpacked and talking about our plans to adopt. A couple weeks later, we found out we were pregnant again! What a joyful surprise! Zelda Grace was born on February 21, 2024. After more prayer, we agreed that the Lord still wanted us to adopt! So, after Zelda turned one year old, we started the process. In June 2025, we were officially cleared to adopt (homestudy and other requirements completed). We expected we would likely be waiting for several months or even a year for a Birth Momma to select us. But, exactly one month after being active, we received a wonderful surprise! A Birth Momma had chosen us! We were (and currently are) over-the-moon! Our baby is due December 7, 2025! We are so excited and satisfied and blessed! I am so grateful that we went to the Lord in prayer rather than acting out of fear. It would have been so easy to decide we weren’t going to take a chance of losing again and decide against having more children. But, we trusted Him and submitted to His will. His plans for us are so much better than we can imagine! He is a wonderful, loving Father! Thank you so much for taking time to hear our story!
STRIPE charges an online processing fee (2.2% +.30 USD per transaction)*. Your donations will be decreased by this amount. You may also send a check payable to “Lifesong for Orphans”. In the memo line please write “Blevins 11665”, to ensure it is credited to our account. Please mail to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 9, Gridley, IL 61744.
Lifesong has been blessed with partners who underwrite all U.S. administrative and fundraising costs (TMG Foundation and other partners). That means 100% of your donation will go directly to the adoption.
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