“And after you suffer for a short time, God, who gives all grace, will make everything right. He will make you strong and support you and keep you from falling. He called you to share in his glory in Christ, a glory that will continue forever.” -1 Peter 5:10
After all the tears I cried for 5 years not being able to conceive my own child, God has now doubled our portion and restored our hearts beyond what we could ever expect through adoption.
We are excited to share that Bara Faith is going to be a big sister!
But no, we are not “that” adoption story where I got miraculously pregnant after adopting. Instead the Lord surprised us in a different way. Bara Faith’s birthmom is expecting again, and we have the honor of also adopting this new little gift on the way!
Ever since we were dating, Stephen and I have always talked about having two children, a girl and a boy, but after everything we went through to adopt the first time, we were uncertain if we ever would adopt again. Yet… shortly after Bara Faith was born, she was prayed over and prophesied that she wouldn’t be our only child, so I always wondered deep down what God had in store down the road. And we definitely didn’t expect another child to come along THIS soon, but what a beautiful double blessing it has all become! As the news began to unfold in our lives, all I have continued to think is that God is completely a God of restoration.
And He is a God of grace.
I always like to challenge Him to speak in these situations when He is calling me to greater faith. Just as He had given me Bara Faith’s name 5 years before she was born with the promise that He would create a baby girl for me, He had always, since I can remember, placed the name Jackson Ray on my heart should I ever have a boy. Before we found out the gender of this new child, I kept hearing Him tell me that this new child is our Jackson Ray. Granted, our birthmom was still too early on to know the gender, but from the beginning, we’ve all said we felt this time it was a boy. Just that gut feeling from the Holy Spirit. But not knowing either way, in the midst of my praying, I decided out of curiosity to look up the meaning of Jackson, because in all these years, I never actually knew the meaning of the name, and I couldn’t help but smile when I found out it means:
“God’s graciousness.”
And Ray, that was always to be named after the middle name of my late father, Johnny Ray. To then I really really smiled when I discovered another meaning of the name Jackson means “Son of John.”
So with that, God spoke, and we moved forward blindly walking in faith yet again.
Then earlier today… we found out the gender. And it indeed was… God’s graciousness.
It IS A BOY on the way! It’s our Jackson Ray who will be arriving around September 6! And we couldn’t be more thrilled!
God is good all the time and all the time God is good. He always has the bigger picture in mind, He still keeps His promises, and He still speaks today.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. -Ephesians 2:8
Here’s to begin shopping for cute little bow ties and suspenders!
Oh, Scarlett. I cry tears of such joy for you! I’ve been following your blog for so many years (since about 2006 timeframe). I never knew someone I just followed along with regards to photography, I would relate on such a level as infertility. Your journey and your faith give me such hope in my own infertility journey. I have the darkest of days (I know you can relate) in this journey and seeing such positive and wonderful things happen to you and Stephen with your faith in the Lord gives me such hope and such faith that I don’t think I can say thank you enough for. Your posts of positivity always seem to come at JUST the right time when I need to see them. Thank you for being able to open up about this part of your life and give hope to those of us still in the trenches of it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your reminders that God is always wanting what is best for us.
KARA! This made my day. I’m so glad I could be an encouragement to you with our story. Please know I’m always here to chat with. I know it’s a rare thing to find someone who “gets” the dark days of infertility, so please know I’m always here for you! 🙂 I just know the Lord has a beautiful story waiting for you in His perfect timing!