I could hardly believe it! DID YOU SEE THE EMAIL!? The precious baby girl who was just born...her mom chose you and Jason! Get ready to go and meet your daughter!
I have felt so incredibly grateful to walk alongside Jeul and Jason in their adoption journey. Little did we know when they said yes, just five weeks after their home study was completed, that they would meet their daughter and be back home as a family of three. As a planner myself, I saw how this amazing couple, lead by faith, pushed all their timelines aside and truly leaned into the unknown. I watched how they came alongside their daughter's birth mom to love her so well. Caring deeply for her knowing this was just the beginning to their relationship. Sometimes the best things in life come when we let go of our own timelines. Jeul and Jason's story is such a testimony to that very thing. I couldn't be happier for you both and all that is ahead for your precious family.
In Jeul and Jason's Words:
So full disclosure: I’m a planner. I can’t help it. I’ve always been that way as long as I can remember. And part of planning is carefully thinking through all the what-ifs and possibilities, making contingency plans and almost always having the answer. But God is so good, and in His totally perfect plan, He took all our plans and threw them out the window.
I had always wanted to adopt, and my husband, Jason, was equally excited by the idea. We have been married eight years, and for the first six, traveled extensively for work; followed by a year and a half of opening a new business. We had starter conversations about adoption many times over the years but never felt like the timing was “right” to start the process, and for better or worse, we stuck to our (in our opinion) logical plans.
Along with being a planner, I am a perpetual questioner, which results in needing to understand all the options and going down every Google rabbit hole I can possibly find. So when I heard about CAC, the idea of someone coming alongside us and helping us navigate the complex world of adoption, seemed too good to be true. Then we talked to Fallon on the phone and knew it was a no brainer.
Armed with a to-do list a mile long, we set to work at the beginning of October. The plan was simple: gather all the paperwork in October, have the final home study papers by the end of November, create the profile and go live with agencies by the end of December. Then we would wait. And honestly, I was ok with that. It would give us time to make more plans - gather items, put together a nursery, go on a babymoon. When we told our close circle of friends about our decision, we said, “It will probably be about 9 months to a year if not longer.” And that was good. Our plan made sense.
October, November and December went just as we hoped, and we were live with four agencies by the end of the year. Fallon told us that around the holidays things are usually quiet, and again, we were good with that.
Then the night before we left on a trip to California in mid-January, we received our first situation. A beautiful baby girl, born December 30, 2019, was in Florida waiting for a forever home. As I read through the information I kept thinking, “This is not the plan. This is not what we talked about.” And that is when God began reminding me that faith in Him does not rely on our plans, and that His plan is perfect EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
What followed was a whirlwind of anxious trust, surrendered timelines and unexpected blessings. Within a few days we had sent in our application; a week later we got an email saying we had been chosen; the next day we talked to her amazing mom; the day after we signed papers; a few days later we met our baby girl; two weeks later we were waiting out our ICPC; and a week after that we were back home. All in all, a total of five weeks since we had gotten our first situation from Fallon.
Thinking back on it now, everything about it was not how I would have imagined our journey to be. We had left on what was a postponed holiday trip to visit Jason’s parents and returned four weeks late with a daughter. We hadn’t even told most people we were adopting. We had absolutely nothing - actually, I take that back, we had some baby wipes and an Atlanta United onesie. We hadn’t had a shower. I hadn’t done research on my prefered formula ingredients. We didn’t have any names picked out. The nursery wasn’t done. I was still working full time with unfinished freelance projects. We didn’t have a pediatrician lined up. Or a clue as to what we were doing.
And yet, through it all, God’s fingerprints were all over our adoption story, and it has been so obvious that His timing is perfect. As a planner and a constant worrier (I’m a solid 6 on the Enneagram), being forced to scrap all my well-made plans and rely solely on the provision and timing of the Lord has been incredibly and surprisingly freeing. There are so many “coincidences”, so many perfect scenarios that have occured over the past few months of starting our family of three - there is no doubt in either of our minds that our daughter was meant for us.
I had always heard that the adoption journey can be difficult and that through all the waiting, the lessons, the highs and the lows, God prepares the expectant parents for their child. For us, it took Him throwing away our timeline, disregarding logical steps and leaving us with absolutely no option other than to put our complete trust in His grace, love and provision. They are lessons we didn’t think we needed, and they are lessons I’m sure we will need again. But for now, we are resting in His perfect plan and thanking Him every day for not letting us stick with ours.
***If you are interested in learning more about adoption and services we provide at Christian Adoption Consultants, I would love to chat! Feel free to email me, Fallon Palacios, at Fallon@christianadoptionconsultant.com and check out www.christianadoptionconsultants.com for more information!! ***
