God shows up: the Noah's adoption story

Posted with permission by Gary and Catherine Noah, who have attended Oak Mountain for the past eight years and who recently adopted Mary Blake. Here’s their story of God’s faithfulness:

Adoption is all about taking the next step, even when where you’re headed isn’t clear or visible. You take the next step because God has called you there and He promises to show up. That’s all you have to go on, usually. And that’s all you need.

But it’s hard. Hard to trust that there’s a point to the story when you don’t even know which story is being told, when you don’t know what comes next, when you don’t even know the ending.

It’s there in the confusion, the frustration, the anger, the despair, the aimlessness that God shows up.

Adoption was like that for us—not knowing the whole story but fighting to trust God to show up in the face of seeming impossibility. Here’s how He showed up for us:

We knew that we were called to adopt even before we were married.  We made the decision to pursue getting pregnant first, but after two years and much disappointment, we decided it was time to pursue adoption.  While this wasn’t plan B and we had always felt like the Lord would one day grow our family through adoption, it was heartbreaking to not experience pregnancy.

Little did we know, the adoption process would be heartbreaking in its own way.

While preparing our application for Lifeline Children’s Services, we were contacted about a baby that was up for adoption through another agency.  We jumped right in, even going to the hospital and meeting the baby and birth mother at delivery.  Just a few days later, the birth mother changed her mind.  We were devastated.  

We decided to continue the adoption process and filed our paperwork with Lifeline as originally planned.  Several months later, we got the call that a birth mother had chosen us.  We were thrilled!  We were able to meet her before the baby was born and then go to the hospital at delivery.  We felt confident that this was our baby, but a week later, we got the news that we would not be getting the baby.  Our hearts broke again.

Shortly after, another birth mother chose us.  This time it was twins.  Again, a few days after delivery, we received the call that she had changed her mind.  We couldn’t believe this was happening to us for a third time, but we held on to the fact that the Lord had called us to this.  He never promised it would be easy or painless but He did promise that He would be with us along the way and would give us all that we needed to continue the journey. It’s all we had. And all we needed. But it was hard. Really hard.

Just a few months later, the rest of our story was written and Mary Blake Noah was born.  We got the call when she was five days old and had her home in our arms when she was just three weeks old. Now, at 13 months old, she is a daily visible reminder of God’s faithfulness to us.

It’s not the road we would have chosen, but it’s the road the Lord had to lead us on to teach us the things that He did. His kindness came to us through the people of Oak Mountain. They spoke truth when we needed to hear it, they reminded us of the gospel when we struggled to believe, they prayed for us, encouraged us, and had hope for us when we had none. OMC’s Porch Light Ministry also helped us financially by giving us a matching grant that helped with our final adoption cost.

In other words, God showed up. He always has. He always will. To God be the Glory, Great things HE has done!

Porch Light Orphan and Foster Care Ministry

Following on the heels of this blog’s last entry entitled “The Church: An Aircraft Carrier,” where we "zoomed out" on the bigger picture of God's mercy to and through us, over the next several months we’ll “zoom in” on the existing Mercy Ministries at Oak Mountain Church.  This will enable  you to be aware of what’s already going on, the purpose and scope of each ministry, and contact information so you can know how to become involved. In addition, we’ll be sharing stories of people who have walked with Jesus more closely because of these ministries.

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Part of Oak Mountain Church’s vision is to follow God’s command to “look after orphans and widows” (James 1:27) by supporting foster care and adoption through training, financial assistance, and connecting people with resources. The church’s foster care and adoption ministry is called the Porch Light, which comes from the idea that a porch light left on says “Welcome. We’ve been expecting you,” and it’s this idea that’s behind the mission statement of this ministry: “Until every child has a home.”

Porch Light has embraced the philosophy of Christian Alliance for Orphans who state, “Working together, our joint initiatives inspire, equip, and connect Christians to ‘defend the fatherless’ (Isaiah 1:7).”  Click here to learn more. 

An exciting part of Porch Light Foster Care and Orphan Ministry is financial assistance for families interested in pursuing adoption but who don’t have the resources to fund or fully fund that desire.  How encouraging to know that there’s this kind of help for those undertaking the often-daunting adoption process!

Another aspect of this ministry is respite care, which gives foster care families a needed break. Click here to read the story of a mother whose heart was deeply impacted as she allowed God to use her to minister to a child and his foster care family.

God has always been in the business of bringing His children home and welcoming them unconditionally, and He graciously allows us to demonstrate His love in the same way, by giving children a home. Stay tuned for the story of a family who did just that!

If you want to learn more about how to become involved in the Porch Light Ministry (foster care, respite care, or adoption support) or if you need assistance in the adoption process, please contact Ken Jones at kjones@oakmountainchurch.org or 205.981.4335.

For a complete list of Mercy Ministries at Oak Mountain Church, please see the “Mercy Umbrella” at the bottom of this blog.

Making things new: one foster mom's story of hope

Posted with permission from Melanie Singleton. She and her husband are part-time foster parents, serving as respite care, relieving full-time foster families when they need some time away. Scroll to the end to find out how you can be more involved in foster care in Birmingham.

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This week we have an extra 7-year old living with us, a sweet little boy named B. His cow-licked blond hair, gray-blue eyes, and rambunctious nature remind me of my own boy. Yet, he’s not like any boy I’ve ever known. I’m not used to hanging out with children who have lost everything precious to them. 

For B, riding in the car stirs up memories of loss. He says that he lived on our side of town before with another foster family.  In fact, he’s lived with several different families in the past year. For my kids, they go to the park to be pushed high on swings by loving hands, run wild, and have picnics. But for this precious boy, the park reminds him of a place he used to go with another family— a family that has moved on.  


 


After lunch today, a trip to the grocery store prompts him to peruse the free magazines at the entrance. I go for the free car and truck magazines thinking those would be fun for boys. Instead, he goes for the apartment magazines.  




Mama says I need to help pick out a new house. Our neighborhood is bad—gunshots and drugs.  




Again, I am hit by the reality in which he lives. Shouldn't he be thinking about the things of 2^nd grade--wiggling loose teeth and learning to tie his shoes? We blast his favorite music on the way to pick up the kids from school and he sings loudly and looks through his magazines (I did convince him to get some car and truck magazines for fun). I sit in carpool line thinking about schoolwork and dinner and he shouts from the back seat every few seconds: Mrs. Melanie, Mrs. Melanie here’s the perfect place to live! Me and my mom can move here! And, yes, he got two of the apartment magazines just in case he should ever lose one. While my boys dream of becoming millionaires with a Ferrari one day, this dear boy is dreaming about going home to his mom. 

 


For me, it’s easy to move to despair. I want to cry my eyes out over the brokenness and mess of this world. I can easily wander down a road that takes me to dark places. But, the Father graciously reminds me of what a mess my own life has been. He is continually making things new. He is shining light in the dark places. He ALWAYS brings good to His people. So, in the mess of B’s story, I am trusting the Father is weaving a beautiful tapestry full of mercy and grace into this sweet boy’s life. He is not done with him. This is all part of B's story-- for HIS glory. There is always hope. He has B in the palm of His hand.  

So, when this sweet boy whispers at bedtime for me to pray for his real mom in the glow of the nightlight, I can do so with the hope of the gospel.




For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jer 29:11) 

If you or someone you know is interested in being a foster family, contact Traci Newell at Lifeline Children’s Services (traci.newell@lifelinechild.org) or visit Lifeline’s website (http://lifelinechild.org/foster-care/).