Q: Tell us a little about your family.
David and I have been married 17 years, we live in Georgia. We have two biological children and three that joined our family through adoption.
Q: What led you to adopt from China?
We had always wanted to adopt. It was never a matter of if but when. God just burdened our hearts for the fatherless early on in our lives and when we met and married it was just always a conversation we had through the years.
About five years ago we looked at each other and said, “Why are we not adopting?” God had shown us it was time over a series of months and we knew it was time.
Q: Which provinces are your child(ren) from?
Regis adopted in 2013 is from Chongqing, Momo adopted in 2014 is from Hubei, and Ridge adopted in 2015 is from Tianjin
Q: What special needs are represented in your family?
Both our boys from china have bilateral clubfoot. Our Momo has heart issues; she has had one heart surgery in China and will require one or two more. She also suffered a stroke during her heart surgery so she has numerous needs due to that: developmental delays, speech delays, vision issues, right side weakness and breathing issues.
Q: What is your favorite aspect of adoption? What has been the hardest?
Favorite part is the fact we as a family get a front row seat to a very special kind of redemption of our children. We get to see God’s grace in such a different way. Watching our biological kids develop a love for children deemed “disabled” by our world, and standing up for their brothers and sister is just the icing on the cake.
Adoption has also brought us some of the most unique, special, and most precious friendships.
Hardest part is the change your family goes through and the sacrifices that are made. Outside looking in, many would not realize the sacrifices and the hard that families go through when we adopt. There are times when you wonder, “How are we gong to make this work?”
Our children are not all of a sudden cured or healed from their past. There are issues and obstacles they will always struggle to overcome. It is a privilege to walk with them, we are still learning and growing together. Their stories break my heart, but their perseverance inspires me. These children are worth it all.
Q: In just a few sentences, share two tips applying to any part of the adoption process.
Be open to the Lord’s will. Have preferences, yes, but be flexible and know that sometimes what “we want” and what “God wants” can be totally different during an adoption process.
When we first started the China adoption program I was determined we would be matched with a baby girl. I even had a whole girly nursery and a pink crib. But when our agency called us about a little boy and I saw that face of the child I had been searching years for – well, it didn’t matter. He was our son. It also didn’t matter he had a special need we had never considered.
Q: How has adoption grown/stretched/changed you?
Adoption has totally re-written the story that is our family. Turning our will over for His was not easy. Having three children – with past trauma, with brokenness in their history, with multiple medical needs – is not easy. But we are not called to do the easy, we are not called to do the simple and the normal.
It has for sure tried our marriage, tested friendships and stretched us in ways I would have never imagined. But God is faithful, He continues to show up and weave a story we could have never dreamt of. He truly is for us, and He is for bringing these precious children home if we step aside and make room.
Q: Can you share a few of your favorite blog posts shared on NHBO? Some from your personal blog?
My very favorite NHBO post is from my sweet friend Rebecca, More Beautiful for Having Been Broken.
Q: What is your favorite book? Quote? Verse?
My favorite quote is from Katherine Hepburn…
“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.”
My favorite verse is Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Q: What is something most people don’t know about you?
I love to sing karaoke loud and I hate going to the movie theatre.
Q: Can you share a favorite “mom hack” that makes life easier for you?
I keep the three little kids toothbrushes in the kitchen because we are always in a rush to get out the door and it just makes life easier.
I always have mascara, deodorant, and an empty water bottle in the minivan console. The first two are because those are the two things I forget to put on. And the empty water bottle is because I have boys and there isn’t always time to find a restroom!
Q: If you could share one parting thought with someone considering special needs adoption, what would it be?
That no child is defined by their “medical needs”; they are more than the file and the pictures on a computer screen. They all have a hope and want a future with a family.
There are so many children that wait. Be open to the Lord’s will. He has a way of creating the way when we say yes.
Big fan of the Berry family! Glad she is a contributor here. Read her words and heed. This gal is livin’ it! #trueandundefiledreligion