When I, Danielle, was 16, in 2008, I went to a right to life march in Washington DC. We stood on in front of the capital for 24 hours as we fasted and prayed for Roe Vs. Wade to be overturned. There were many speakers and worship teams that led and shared throughout the day. There was one man who particularly stood out to me though. He said something to the effect of, I want to challenge you to stop praying today unless you have every intention of being part of the solution when the Lord hears our prayers and overturns this terrible law. Its easy to stand up and pray for this to end but I want to ask you are you ready to open your doors to your home when there is suddenly an abondance of unwanted babies in our nation because the foster care cannot handle it. If we are going to press in and pray then we also must make a commitment to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our nation when he hears our prayers.
James and I were already dating and I remember calling him the night I got home and telling him all about it. I remember telling him then I felt the call to adoption and asked if we ended up together if he would be open to adoption. He immediately was like YES! As years went on and we got more serious about marriage We agreed we’d like to have two or three kiddos together if the Lord allowed and then any kiddos after that added to our family would be through adoption.
Fast-forward to June of 2023 when Roe vs. Wade was overturned and I felt the Lord just knocking on my heart saying, what are you waiting for? At this point Our kiddos were 8, 5, and 2. We had just finished adding on to our house and building the ministry barn and honestly barely making it financially. We continued to randomly talk about it but never made and real steps forward. We just kept praying the Lord would provide so we could at least save us for the first downpayment. By May, James was ready to just get the process started. He continued to remind me that this has been a desire of our hearts for years and we already know it’s God’s will because He commands us to care for the orphan. He flat out told me he felt like I was waiting on a neon sign from God.
Sadly, May and June turned out to be two very challenging months. It felt like it was just attack after attack in about every area of our lives. This included both our vehicles totally breaking down, one needing a transmission replaced and the other totally biting the dust. These purchases totally cleared out everything we’d been saving for our downpayment. Quite honestly it seemed like the worst time to try to start the process so yes, I was needing a neon sign to know this was God and not just us.
Well, the last week in June I had a dream that we were on our way to pick up a baby boy from the hospital. I remember waking up and being like, “Okay God! I believe that was you.” I began to ask God to give me a name to start praying over for the son he had for us to adopt. Immediately the name Jeremiah came to mind. Not that I dislike the name but honestly it was never a name we’d ever considered with our three pregnancies. I kind of dismissed it as random and continued to pray. Then I had a thought, the meaning of names had always been a huge factor when choosing our kiddos names in the past I began to wonder if there was a boy name that meant “Chosen by God.” From the beginning I’d always said I don’t want to go overseas and choose a child, but I wanted to be chosen so it was clear of the little one God had chosen for us. I grabbed my phone and it was 5:12am and I opened google and typed in “boy name meaning chosen by God.” The tears came uncontrollably when I saw the name Jeremiah at the top of the page. Jeremiah- chosen by God.
When James awoke, I told him I got my neon sign, and contacted The Villages that day and set up for Monday, July 8th. After that we decided to go ahead and schedule our initial home interview the following Wednesday, July 17th. The next day we signed the contract and started the initial application. It was accepted and on July 29th we made our first deposit to official start our road to adoption. Friday, August 2nd we received our 45-page home study along with the lengthy list of all the other documents they would need from us. This required us to make doctors appointments for physicals, vet appointment for up-to-date vaccine report, well water testing, plus every other piece of paper proving financials, insurance, and identity of every family member in the home.
We found out mid-June that we qualified to an $8,000 match grant through We Care for Orphans and Lifesong. We are currently in a waiting season until we raise the funds for our next payment of $20,000. At this point our family profile will be actively promoted by our adoption agency to be matched with a birth-mom. We would so appreciate it if you’d choose to join us in this journey of adoption.
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 “Schroeder 11232”, 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.
- In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong for Orphans. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.
- Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. Individual donations of $50 or more and yearly donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $50 will gladly be sent upon request.
- *3.5% fee for donations given with an American Express card