“Well, I just delivered our baby.” This was the message we received from our son’s birth mom early Friday morning. After connecting with our case worker and wrapping up some business at home, we began our journey halfway across the country to meet our new son!

Backing up a few months…In June we had the unique opportunity to meet our baby’s birth mother in person. Over ice-cream we were able to discuss how our Open Adoption would look and lightheartedly made predictions about whether the baby would be a boy or girl. (We all decided to be surprised at birth). 

Now here we are – still in the midst of adoption legalities, medical treatments, and looking forward to our trip home. Yet as we have walked through a hurricane of information and feelings over the last several days we see God’s hand clearing a path before us.

We see his handiwork through the two grants we received just days before our Placement Fee was due. He opened up the opportunity for us to stay free of charge at the Ronald McDonald House while our baby receives care at the hospital. He also connected us with a young doctor interested in pursuing adoption with her husband. Even more so, he is weaving a unique relationship between our son’s birth mom, our son and us and we believe this will develop into something rich and beautiful.

Thank you for sharing in our adoption journey with us!

Last Thursday we received a phone call that an expecting momma chose us to parent her baby! We are honored, thrilled, and a bit overwhelmed…After taking a couple of days to process the information, we kicked into gear the plans we made over 4 years ago. Your generous gifts that have been waiting in our Lifesong account were wired over to the agency for our first set of fees ($27K) – Thank you!

What’s next? We enjoy getting to know and building a bond with a woman who we hope will be a special part of our family for years to come. We complete more paperwork. We apply for more grants. We pray for and walk alongside a new friend. And we wait…This time with a due date.

How to get involved:

When we first started our MyStory, we didn’t know what the final fees for our adoption would be since they varry between agencies. Now that we’ve matched, we’ve raised our goal by $17K to equal our agency Placement Fees (when the baby is placed in our home). There will also be additional Home Study and legal fees following placement to finalize the adoption. Would you consider sharing our MyStory or “Rooted & Est. in Love” T-Shirt (Comment for info) with your communities?

Over the last 6 months we have presented our profile 22 times. Throughout our adoption journey we have reviewed over 80 expectant family situations.

So what kind of mommas make an adoption plan for their children?

Some are single; some are married and have fallen into incredibly difficult times. A handful are young mothers; many are in their late 20’s or 30’s and already parenting children. Some have experienced abuse. Some are mentally incapable of raising a child. Some are addicts, homeless or between jobs. Some are incarcerated. The one thing all of these mothers share in common is their love for their child(ren), yet they are desperate and feel they lack the necessary support (emotionally, physically and financially) to successfully raise their child(ren).

While adoption is certainly about embracing another member into our family, Domestic Adoption is more specifically about offering an opportunity for people in a tough place to feel heard, respected and supported. The agencies with which we are working consider adoption to be a secondary service. Their primary purpose is to help mothers experiencing crisis pregnancy find ways to care for their families themselves. Material needs are provided including housing if needed, medical care, transportation to and from doctor appointments, food, clothing, education and lifetime counseling, and more. If these mothers still feel that they do not have the support they need to raise their child(ren), then adoption is offered to them as an additional service. 

After presenting our profile to an expecting mother/family, we sometimes hear that she has become unresponsive to the agency and social workers – this usually means she has decided to parent herself. As an adoptive family, we have had the unique honor of writing letters to moms (and dads and their children sometimes too) who I fully believe just needed to hear a little hope. And though they were 90% convinced adoption was the best choice at one point, a dozen or more loving letters from families who genuinely want the best for them offered the boost of confidence they needed to pursue parenting after all! 

When you donate, your funds go to help these same families. Even if we never bring home a child through the Domestic Adoption process, our journey will be worthwhile.  We will have been able to pray for desperate mothers whom we would have never met, and were able to offer a letter of hope and confidence to them. 

Thank you for offering hope to the hopeless!

If you have been following Abigail’s Facebook lately, you will know about our Shoes With Heart Fundraiser. Right now, Jonathan’s basement Work Room is filling up with bags of used, kinda smelly, shoes. As we sit and sort through shoes that are in good enough condition to donate, we thank God for those who donated the shoes; we pray for the families who will benefit from their sale and we ask that the gospel will be carried forward by those who will wear these shoes. What a cool opportunity!

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!'”

The Shoes With Heart shoe drive ends the day after Thanksgiving, so there’s still time to give lightly used and new shoes! Our adoption will receive funds based on the weight of shoes donated. Then the shoes get a new life as they are redistributed to micro-enterprises in developing countries. If you are in the area, visit us at our Drive By Shoe Drive on October 30th from 11am-2pm at Campus for Kids (https://life1025.com/event/drive-by-shoe-drive/).

Yesterday we were sitting with our social worker having our annual Home “Visit” over Zoom and I (Abigail) found myself discussing how I was ready to embrace a new season of our adoption journey. In all honesty, this last year we were worn down and I was ready to call it quits on the Domestic Adoption Front.  However, Jonathan has reminded me that we are called to adopt and we need to step forward in obedience and worship. 

As we say in our adoption profile, faith is foundational to our family – we are once again placed in an opportunity to demonstrate our faith. We believe that God directs his followers in many ways. After all Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me…” One of those ways is through prayer. We had been trying to decide whether to renew with our consulting group for multiple reasons but the biggest was because of the expense (Working through an adoption consultant widens an adoptive family’s reach regarding potential adoption situations). So we simply prayed that if we should re-enroll with the consultant group, that they would offer us a significant discount – which they did without any prompting on our side! Hallelujah! 

So here we are entering year four with renewed energy and excitement of what God will bring! 

Practical ways to help:

1. Donate Shoes! (We are running a Shoe Drive Fundraiser through the end of November…more on this to come)

2. Pray with us that the next time we have to meet with our social worker, it will be to tell her that we are matched with a family and on our way to meet our child(ren)

3. Preorder a Fundraiser T-shirt (Comment on this post if you’d like info)

4. Read In On It: What Adoptive Parents Would Like You to Know About Adoption to understand how to talk to your friends about their personal adoption stories

It’s been a year since our Both Hands Project and we are amazed at the friendships that have been forged with our crew since then!  As it’s been a while since our last post, here’s a quick rundown of what’s been happening in our adoption this past year:

• Generous donors have helped us raise over $26K for Olsen Jr. so far – Thank you!
• We prepared the nursery in our new house.
• We updated our Home Study complete with another round of background checks, medical reports, home and psychological assessments – this is the document that tells adoption professionals, lawyers, and judges that the Olsens are legally certified to be adoptive parents.
• In November we were excited to receive a grant from the Family Formation Charitable Trust!
• In February we recreated our Family Profile – this is the booklet that introduces the Olsens to expecting parents as they try to decide which adoptive family will raise their child.
• We continue to apply for grants, present to expecting families, and wait… 

“The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” 

_{King Solomon}

We have now been sojourning through adoption for 21 months – some days excitedly sailing on waves of accomplishment, many days sitting in the still waters of anticipation.  A sense of power naturally follows the ability to accomplish something, but when faced with stillness, one is challenged to question who is really at the helm. In a society where responsible adults are encouraged to set for themselves 5-10 year goals and then plans to attain those life goals, it is uncomfortable to admit that our lives are actually outside of our control. The entire world has had a taste of this waiting recently. For many, their work, school, vacation, or even just day-to-day activities have been turned upside-down and backward with no end in sight.  And so, we wait.

I remember speaking with a pastor friend some months ago about our adoption progress (or seemingly lack thereof) who mentioned what a sweet place it is to have to wait. I didn’t think of this as “Sweet.” Challenging, Aggravating, Difficult? Yes; but not “Sweet.” Looking back, I understand he meant how sweet it is to be in a place where I must recognize the weakness of my humanity and, with awe, trust God’s handiwork. From God’s hands come true provision, prosperity and peace.

Here’s a peek into our Both Hands project day:  https://youtu.be/U2IaR8ZdX2s.  We were blessed with clear skies and a great crew of volunteers!  

We are thankful for every one of you who have helped us reach 50% of our goal for our Both Hands Campaign!  Tomorrow is the big day!  We will be painting, washing windows and building a fence for Ms. Karen. (Click on this link to read her story: https://bothhands.org/project/olsen-8135)

The last couple of months have been a whirlwind of busyness around this event.  It has been challenging to remember the true purpose for this event in the midst of preparing all the things necessary to finish this event.  Last night we were reminded that our fundraiser and service tomorrow is not an event but part of a relationship.  We have the cool opportunity to be a part of a community who cares for its own and to demonstrate the true nature of what it means to be in the Church – a life-giving body who looks out for one another.  James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…”  But it’s not just about religion, it’s about the relationship.

Want to be a part? It’s not too late to give. (Scroll down for directions)

We are gearing up for our Both Hands project on April 13!  Here is a little information about the sweet lady we will be serving:

Ms. Karen is a caring mother of three grown children, grandmother of two, and pet-rescuer. Having been on her own for 29 years, Ms. Karen had to boldly raise her younger daughter (now a veteran) and son (a mechanic) as a single mom. A car accident injury and multiple surgeries left it difficult for Ms. Karen to keep up with needed home maintenance tasks. Our team is looking forward to helping her check off some of these items on her list!

Both Hands, a partner organization with Lifesong, helps adoptive families raise money for their adoptions.  We organize a service project for a widow (or widower), then we and our volunteers raise support for our day of service.  All of the funds raised go towards the adoption.  And the really cool thing is that we get to help someone out while raising funds at the same time!

For more info check out our project page: https://bothhands.org/project/olsen-8135!  Want to get involved? Leave a comment.

We are excited to kick off our next campaign with Both Hands!  We are raising a team of volunteers to do work on a widow’s house in our community.  Volunteers will raise support for their day of service (similar to participants in a 5K race) and all of the proceeds will go to bringing home our child.  And any money raised beyond our need will be given to another adoptive family!  It’s not just a fundraiser, but an opportunity for our community to come together and show love to someone in need!  You can learn more on our project page:  https://bothhands.org/project/olsen-8135.  One hand to serve the orphan and one hand to serve the widow ~

 “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress…”

Today is the last day of our current campaign goal and (with our Lifesong for Orphans matching grant) you have helped us raise $18,000 ~That’s just $2000 short of our goal for this campaign!  Thank you

Tomorrow starts another exciting sojourn in The Olsen Odyssey – so stay tuned…

 We are honored that God has called us on this journey and blessed by the depth into which he has plunged us in understanding his character.  We already mentioned that adoption is written into the fabric of who we are – painting a picture of God’s love.

Patient Love:   As we wait to be matched and as we wait in anticipation for our child to be placed in our arms, we are encouraged knowing that we serve a God who identifies with us.  God the Father is also waiting in eager expectation to welcome home his children.  As the apostle Peter explained, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 

Selfless Love:  Even if you didn’t grow up in church, you are likely familiar with John 3:16.  The first part reads “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” Ask yourself – To whom did he give his Son? Our Lord not only identifies with waiting adoptive parents, but also with the heart-broken mom selflessly following through with an adoption plan for her child.  Acceptance and Sacrifice are both loving acts.

Celebrate with us:  Our story had not been live a week, before we were overwhelmed by the kind support and incredible generosity of our friends and family!  Because of you, we have reached over 80 percent of our current campaign goal which includes the matching grant from Lifesong for Orphans.  Thank you (you can still give a tax-deductible donation by clicking the “Donate” button or by sending a check to the address below.)!

Stay tuned for details on our Both Hands project.“One for the Widow. One for the Orphan”…

How to get involved:

• Pray for expecting parents considering an adoption plan for their child(ren).
• Educate us as new parents – Comment with your favorite parenting book/resource.
• Join our Both Hands Project Day Team.
• Donate to the Olsen Adoption Fund.