On Tuesdays, we take time to focus on some of our families that have received grants from Katelyn's Fund. May you be blessed by their stories…..
We have four biological children, Grace, Lainey, Joah, and Asher, and we are eagerly waiting to travel to Taiwan to meet and bring home our son Zachary who will be two in October! We are so passionate about adoption and are so blessed to be on this journey! We have thought and prayed about adoption for a couple of years now and God stirred both of our hearts to say that now is the time. In March, we saw a picture of a little boy from Taiwan who was on a waiting child list. We had seen a number of these pictures before but this time I (Jaymi) was brought to tears when I looked at his face. We decided to inquire about him and soon we were applying to an agency! We found out in late April that this particular little boy had been adopted by another family so our agency encouraged us to look at their waiting child list. Our hearts were so soft to these children who were waiting to be adopted. The thought of a child growing up without a mom and dad because he or she was considered too old or too sick or "imperfect" in some way just breaks my heart into pieces. Justin and I, at different times, noticed a little guy in a birthday hat and I'll never forget when Justin said, "That's him." It was the same little boy I had already inquired about earlier that day! So we began the process to adopt this precious little boy. Our kids are thrilled to have Zachary as a brother and they have been a big part of this every step of the way. They have such compassionate hearts towards children without mommies and daddies. Currently our paperwork is working its way through the system in Taiwan and we hope to be able to travel by early spring!
Katelyn's Fund has played a huge role in our adoption journey. I remember when some families from my church adopted children from Guatemala and one of those families was the De Jongs, founders of Katelyn's Fund. I will never forget Katelyn's story and the impact it had on my heart. I believe this is really when God began the dream of adopting one day. I have had the joy of being a part of the Sioux Falls Katelyn's Fund support team and have heard numerous adoption stories, each one a miracle, and have been so encouraged by this group. For awhile I felt my role was to support adoptive families and help Katelyn's Fund Sioux Falls get started, but it wasn't long before it was our time and I smiled when we would tell people we decided to start the adoption process and they would say, "It's about time!" I am so thankful for Katelyn's Fund and believe that God began it and is using it in a mighty way to care for his precious children. When Justin and I met with the Katelyn's Fund board we got to see the heart of this ministry and it is rooted in prayer. We were beyond blessed by this group of people who long to obey the call to care for the orphans as they prayed over us and just loved us. Thank you so much to Katelyn's Fund for your priceless role in our journey to Zachary and also to opening our hearts to intercede for the millions of orphans who still wait.
