An ABFAB Halloween

Each year, Adcetera, a marketing agency based in Houston, hosts a pretty amazing pumpkin carving competition. It's always a big deal, with lots of time, effort and creativity going into the contest. They even put up a website, Batcetera.com, to show off the goods and provide online voting. It's pretty great stuff and you can and should visit the Pumpkin Gallery to view the past 13 years of creative pumpkining.

DJ's sister, Amanda, not only works for Adcetera, but also happens to be a huge fan and avid supporter of A Beard For A Baby. She has created business cards, post cards, ABFAB stickers and the like for our Beard Growers and even connected us with a vendor to print our t-shirts. Like I said, she's an avid supporter, and ABFAB is what it is in large part because of her. And so, for this year's Adcetera Pumpkin Carving Competition she created an ABFAB themed pumpkin and we would love to invite you into the fun! The pumpkin with the most votes wins cash money and Amanda has graciously offered to donate her winnings to our adoption fund should her pumpkin win. 

We love Amanda's pumpkin theme on so many levels. First and foremost, we love that she is using her creativity to help bring our little pumpkin home. This fundraiser has been full of people using their God given talents to pour into our baby's homecoming and that is such a sweet thing for us to sit back, watch and receive. Second, she is advertising our fundraiser, showing off our Beard Growers, and pointing people to our website. We could always use more sponsors and love her help in widening our audience. Above all, we love the sweet imagery of the baby pumpkin being brought from Korea to Texas in a little basket across the waters.....

Oh, did we not tell you? We have a name for baby Hofmann and as suggested above, his name is Moses! Moses John Hofmann to be exact. This little boy's name is one of the sweetest parts of our adoption story to date and is evidence of the Lord's very present hand in this journey. We would love to tell you more about how He gave us the name so be sure to ask about it some time as we are so, so eager to share it with you.

But back to the pumpkin competition... Want to vote? It's simple! Simply click on the image below and vote for her pumpkin, titled "Adopt-kin Baby Moses". Please vote now and help us get $150 more dollars towards bringing our son home.

Also, just a little warning that some of the pumpkins may or may not be a little racy.... I may have even gasped out loud at one or two :) Such is the world of pop culture and pumpkins. Have fun and thank you for voting!

Happy Halloween,
the hofs

Beards Of The Week | Gray Wilson, Jayme Andujar & JD Warren

Happy Wednesday, ya'll! We have three BOTW men to highlight again this week and we are more than happy to introduce you guys to {{drum toll, please....}}: Gray Wilson, Jayme Andujar, and JD Warren!

 

Gray is another one of our Beards that we have never met, though we love him and are excited to have him growing for us! He lives in Marion, VA and is a full time student and part time lifeguard. Gray's aunt and uncle have adopted four children and through them, Gray has learned a lot about the plight of orphans as well as international and domestic adoption. The Lord used this exposure to give Gray a heart for orphans and a desire to help them any way he can. In fact, through researching Eagle Scout Projects, Gray found out about a foundation that provides schools for orphans in Zimbabwe, Africa. Immediately wanting to help, he drafted up a project. However, it was denied due to a rule that requires that physical goods be sent rather than money. As we all know, being a college student has it's financial strains, and Gray was unable to afford the shipping costs associated with the project and therefore had to put his efforts on hold for the time being. However, he then heard about our fundraiser and wanted to help as much as he could. He said that it was easy to grow a beard and was eager to do so for us... and he's done a great job! Gray still needs more sponsors so if you would like to support his beard, you can do so here.

Our relationship with Jayme goes way back. We have worked with Jayme for the past 6 or so years, as he is one of the Custodians at our Flower Mound Campus. Jayme is great, ya'll. He is fun, hilarious, hard working, and quirky, loves his family, and has one of the greatest servant hearts I have ever seen. He works heartily as unto the Lord and always does it with a great attitude. Above all, he loves Jesus and people and I have seen him serve The Village Church in a number of capacities. He is a great blessing to this place.

Here is what Jayme said when we asked him why he would want to grow his beard for us:

I have a deep appreciation for The Hofmanns. Personally, having watched them grow through the miscarriages burdened my heart with a deeper joy in The Lord that is rooted in the hope of God's everlasting love for us. Believing they have ascertained the blessing of that love through His Holy Spirit, adding a child to their home would continue to refine them in God's Love for each other, the baby, and everyone they come in contact with. If my beard can help, then let's do this!

Jayme still needs sponsors so if you would like to support his beard, you can do so here.

JD Warren is one of our "Stranger Beards" though he is actually not too far away from us. He lives right down the road in Ft. Worth, TX and come to find out, we even have some mutual friends! Sadly, we do not know too much about JD, but we are grateful for him and thank the Lord for using him to help bring our little boy home. And, we always get a kick out of the fun pictures he sends in and are so glad to have him on our team. JD still needs sponsors so if you would like to support his beard, you can do so here.

We love our Beards and hope you do too!

Have a happy Wednesday ya'll. 

with love,

the hofs

An Adoption Story | The Payne Family

It is our pleasure to share with you the Payne's adoption story. Brad and Caprice are long time members of The Village Church, and Brad even serves as one of our church elders. Though we did not initially know them very well, we knew of them, crossed paths at church, and had several mutual friends. They have a beautiful family and because two of their children are adopted, we were eager to get to know them as we embarked on our own adoption journey. I recently began emailing with Caprice and had lunch with her and was so encouraged and blessed by their story. It is one that drips with evidence of God's faithfulness, sovereignty, provision and grace. Keep reading to meet and love Brad, Caprice, Darrin, Abby, Kailey and Holly Payne.

Soon after Brad and I floated down the aisle of holy matrimony, we began dreaming of exactly what kind of offspring we might produce. Would they look like dad or more mom? Would they be smart, athletic, outgoing, artistic or a quiet thinker? These and other exciting questions seemed endless, as were the moments that passed as we sat silently stunned in our doctor’s office nearly six years later.

After several years of doing virtually everything medically affordable, morally acceptable and physically possible, our dreams shattered around us. We would never see exactly what the combination of our love and genetics would produce. One of our deepest desires had been squashed. If it is true, as Proverbs 13:19 directly says, “A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul,” then a desire unaccomplished can produce severe bitterness. And on that day, bitterness was knocking loudly at the door of our souls. Fortunately, we never answered that knock.

As one chapter in our life came to a close, a new chapter of adoption began in January 1999. Our emotions were everywhere: exciting, intimidating, overwhelming, and scary were a few favorites. Starting the journey, we were faced with some major decisions. First, will we go domestic or international? Next, is an agency better for us than a private lawyer? From there, closed, semi-open or open adoption?

So we prayed, read books, and rested heavily on the providence of God. We decided on a semi-open, domestic adoption with an agency that ministers to the birth family pre and post placement of their child. We wanted the birth parents to be given the opportunity to receive counseling and support as they navigated knitting their hearts back together. We were hopeful of what the Lord might do.

The Lord saw fit for us to go another route in the adoption process with the dreaded words, “open adoption.” My worst fear was becoming a reality as I assumed co-parenting to be my destiny. I was not happy! God was about to teach a lesson on trust.

This all came about by us telling a friend about our desire to adopt. We were told the more people that knew you were adopting, the better... and we would heartily agree. Our friend Shelley had a family in her home group with a pregnant teenage daughter. This 14 year old initially wanted to parent, but decided to put her son up for adoption. Shelly mentioned us, and she seemed interested. But weeks passed and life moved that conversation to the back of my mind. We were still focused on the two agencies we had signed up with and finishing all the paper work.

Then it happened, Shelley called and asked if she could give more personal answers to this family asking questions. I replied, “o...k!?” I’m not quite sure what she said to them, but in no time I was talking directly to the birth grandmother. The next day, I met with the soon-to-be- mother and grandmother. I was not prepared. I did not have one of my scrapbooks with all the glowing letters from our friends and family that told this birth mother how fabulous we would be if she chose us as her child’s parents, so I brought a photo album so she could see our house and what Brad looked like, since he was out of town. This 14 year old was quiet and pretty, holding a sonogram picture of the son she was carrying inside her young womb. I was scared to death. This is why I wanted the safety of a semi-open adoption. I am ok with communication, but not face to face! Thankfully I didn’t scare them away and when Brad got home we met again.

We were put on the fast track of getting signed up with her agency, getting a home study done and all the necessary forms filled out. The baby was due in December. Four months to get to know more about open adoption, what it truly was designed to be, and learning to trust God with our hearts and those of the birth family. It was emotional, rewarding and incredibly terrifying throughout the process.

Darrin Paul Payne was born December 6, 1999 at 2:38 pm. I was in the delivery room and even cut the cord (open adoption at it’s best!). Brad was in the waiting room. Then, came the longest 48 hours of our lives: The amount of time we had to wait to see if our young mother would stay true to her plan for her son. She did, but God had another test of trust for me. She wanted to take him home first, so we gave her our car seat and said, "we will see you in a few hours." Gut wrenching! All went well, and Darrin ended up in our home that evening.

Three years later we adopted a beautiful daughter whose birth mother found us on the agency’s website. Abigail Caprice became my 33rd birthday present, since we brought her home the day after my birthday.

Our family was complete... we thought. God felt not; he surprised me at my 35 year old well check with a 13 week pregnancy! What? A girl should know if she was pregnant, right? Kailey Jewel was born April 6, 2005, a true surprise gift. Now, our quiver was full. Well...another surprise came along when I was 37. Holly Rose came into the world on August 21, 2007!

  

God is awesome in His sovereign hand and often unusual timing.

Beards Of The Week | Anthony Cavallo, Brady Goodwin & Caleb Simpson

Hey guys! It's time for the Beard Of The Week post, and you're in for a treat because this week we are highlighting three of our men! With only 5 weeks left of our fundraiser, we need to start doubling up to make sure all of our men get showcased....lucky you!

This week it is our absolute joy to introduce to you Anthony Cavallo, Brady Goodwin, and Caleb Simpson.  Keep reading to meet these guys, see what they are up to, how they have blessed our adoption journey, and how you can help.

Anthony is one of our original "Stranger Beards".... We do not know him personally, but were delighted to have him sign up to be a Beard Grower when he found out about us from Bearded Gospel Men. He has been such an encouragement to us. His excitement over Beard Growing and participating in ABFAB has been evident from the start. Early on he made it clear that he was working hard to get people excited about and eager to sponsor him in this endeavor and that was a joy for us to witness.

Anthony lives in Berlin, NJ. He is a butcher by trade and has a heart for evangelical and youth ministry, both of which he is involved with at his church. When asked why he wanted to grow a beard for us, he expressed a personal compassion for and understanding of struggling through infertility and was eager to jump on board to support us in our adoption. And of course, as you can tell by his picture, he clearly has a love for beards!

Brady Goodwin is a fellow staff member at The Village Church, though we actually do not know him all that well due to working for different campuses. But.... that doesn't mean we don't love him! We are beyond grateful for the role he is playing in our adoption journey and cannot thank him enough for growing his beard to grow our family.

Brady works as the Recovery Groups Minister for our Dallas Campus and is married to Aimee. He has been awesome and has worked hard to get his sponsors in; He even won our August incentive! He raised so many funds that month that he won himself a fancy little Beard Comb. We are stoked to have Brady on board and love having him be a part of our story.

Caleb Simpson is an old acquaintance from college. Though we did not know each other super well, we had a lot of mutual friends and our paths often crossed. However, after college, we both moved to different cities and I hadn't seen him since. I actually am not too sure how he even found out about ABFAB, but it was so fun for me to see his registration form come through and felt like a blast from the past!

Based on his picture, Caleb is clearly fond of beards. He has even started his own business called Bearded Bros, which sells organic, mostly raw, gluten free, vegan friendly and delicious snack foods. As if that isn't awesome enough, Bearded Bros just launched a new campaign to expand their product line to include seasoned/sprouted nuts and seeds!  You can purchase Bearded Bro's snacks here or help fund their nut and seed endeavor here.

Each of these boys still needs sponsors, so consider supporting their beard today! Doing so will not only make them happy but will help give a precious little boy a home. You can sponsor a Beard here.

Stay bearded,
the hofs

Beauty For A Baby Recap

Two weeks ago we had our Beauty For A Baby Fundraiser and it was a blast! We cannot say enough how amazing it has been to see the body of Christ gather around us and offer their time, gifts and talents to help bring our baby boy home. We truly could not do this without the support of others and time and time again we are blown away by the efforts of our friends and community. The bride of Christ is a really beautiful thing.

This fundraiser in particular all started because my friend, Meghan Tabari, who is a hair dresser, had initially thrown out the idea to cut hair in exchange for adoption donations. One idea led to another and before I knew it, it was a full out fundraiser and a really fun and successful one at that! Meghan recruited a couple of girlfriends to help and it turned out into a full on salon day right there in here home! Meghan and Trina Holleman cut hair and Michelle Davis did manicures... all.day.long. They were amazing. I can't even believe it.

As if that wasn't enough, my friends Julie Stephens and Amber Dion also contributed in ways that are so unique to them. Julie is the most phenomenal cook I know so without thinking twice about it, she made Korean food for all the ladies. It was really great... lettuce wraps, kimchi, pot stickers, Korean pears, cinnamon punch and these really amazing Korean almond brittle cookies.... she did it all. Amber, who is super crafty and talented made bows and headbands and set up shop selling Bows For A Baby, which PS, are super cute. She was also our photographer for the day and took the pictures below so check them out!

It was really sweet to have a bunch of girls come to hang out and just be together, all in the name of girliness and adoption. My closest friends were there as well as some ladies that I love, but just haven't seen in a while. The fact that they would give up their Saturday to come hang out and help bring our boy home was really sweet to me. And, several of the women who came have adopted themselves so it was encouraging to talk with them, hear their stories and glean wisdom. I really loved it.

Overall, the day brought in $863 which is incredible and we praise the Lord for His generous provision! Thank you, thank you to everyone who helped and everyone who came out. It was a great success and a ton of fun and it is all because of you.

The lovely ladies who made this day happen! Michelle Davis, Meghan Tabari, Trina Holleman, Julie Stephens and Amber Dion

Michelle, who does an AMAZING job with the gel nails, by the way.

Trina, cutting sweet Kenadi's hair

Yes, Meghan even busted out the wax. Ya'll, I'm not ashamed to post pictures like this online. She was legit and did a great job!

Me and Amy! She drove all the way from Wylie to be there.... and was not the only one who drove more than an hour to come. I feel beyond blessed by that.

Modeling Amber's bows with Meghan's son, Jack.

Jenni, showing off her blue nails.

Some more of the sweet faces who came, Jen and Isla. 

So much love,
the hofs

An Adoption Story | The Amen Family

We are so excited to share Darrel and Taralyn Amen's adoption story with you. The Amens are a family that we know from church. I first new them because their kids attend Kids' Village, which is the ministry I work for, and over time Darrel began serving with us as a substitute small group leader. I admit that I do not know them well, but I have observed their family from afar and watched as they brought Lydi into their family. I have briefly spoken with and been encouraged by Taralyn in conversation at church, so when I began dreaming up the idea of having guest bloggers, their family immediately came to mind. I so love the transparency and humility in her writing and to see the redemption and provision God brought forth for their family. Read their story and be encouraged! 

 

A good friend of mine told me at the beginning of our adoption journey, “adoption is like a roller coaster, fun, exciting, scary and exhilarating all at once.  As soon as the ride is over, you are relieved but you want to do it again!”  She could not have been more right!

Our story begins with my very sinful heart manifesting itself in relation to my husband…  Without really consulting the Lord, Darrel and I had decided from the beginning of our marriage that we wanted three children.  We wanted two boys and then one girl.  We tried to get pregnant and the Lord granted life very easily every time.  Unbelievably, we were blessed with exactly what we said we wanted…two boys and then one girl.   I was overwhelmed by three babies under the age of 4, and I decided my husband needed to “get fixed” (a vasectomy).   He had some misgivings about it, but I was the typical “dripping” wife and insisted.  He eventually relented and had a vasectomy.  We were done adding children to our family, and I gave all of our baby stuff away.  I got what I wanted, after all, we got pregnant easily and I certainly didn’t want tons of children!

When our youngest daughter was about three years old, the Lord began to change our hearts and minds regarding the blessing of children.  His word says, “Children are a heritage from the Lord.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.” (Psalm 127:3)  Darrel and I had both grown in our relationships with the Lord, in our marriage, and in our parenting, and we recognized the ironic way we had told the Lord we didn’t want any more of His blessings.  We began to repent and pray about if He might want to “add to our quiver.”  At about this same time, our church was hosting the “Heart Gallery,” a display of children in foster care awaiting adoption.  They were also doing a month-long focus on the ministry of adoption.  At first, we thought that maybe we were being called to foster care.  As we began our foster care training, we both had confirmation in our hearts that this is not what the Holy Spirit was calling us to do.   I knew that we were being called to adopt but my husband was not so sure. We had both grown in our Biblical roles of husband and wife, so I shared my heart, telling him what I believed the Holy Spirit was asking of us and then just prayed and let my husband go to the Lord and lead our family.  We certainly discussed where we were on the issue, but I didn’t nag him like I had done before.  We were not on the same page for at least a year.

As the Lord so often does, He spoke to my husband’s heart in a way that only Darrel could appreciate.  Darrel played college football and loves the sport.  One morning while watching College Game Day on ESPN, the coach of the Georgia football team was sharing his family’s adoption journey.  I walked into the room and my sweet, tenderhearted husband was crying.  He looked at me and asked through tears, “How many and where are they from?”  I cried too and told him I didn’t know!  For the first time we were on exactly the same page at the same time regarding adopting another child into our family!

The Lord led us to an agency run by YWAM (Youth With A Mission) that placed kids from birth moms and from foster care.  We were open to any and all that the Lord had for us.  We were open to siblings and kids with minor special needs.  After a year of waiting and praying, we got a call from our caseworker about a baby girl who was about a month old.  Her birth mother had two other children who were taken from her by CPS (Child Protective Services), and although she was working to earn them back, she could not parent this new baby.  The baby was in foster care with our agency, but they did not have much information on her health or her prenatal care.  We prayed about whether this was our daughter, and the Lord confirmed, “YES!”  By His grace, we got to meet the birth mother and birth father.  Such a bittersweet experience for us, as we saw the agony they were in and how much they loved their daughter.  They knew they could not parent her and placed her willingly into Darrel’s arms, trusting us to love her and raise her.  Although we do not keep in touch with them, we love them and pray for them to this day.

Lydi came home when she was eight weeks old, and the day we brought her home was so full of joy and praise to our God for our whole family.  Our older children had prayed with us for the past two years for their new sibling, and they were experiencing God’s gracious answer.  They have loved her from the moment they saw her and the transition has been seamless.   I cannot imagine our family without our sweet Lydi’s smile, laugh and incredible personality.  She is truly a blessing to us all!  The past two years have flown by, and it is like she has always been with us.  I am so thankful the Lord revealed my sinful, selfish heart and enabled us to repent!  He had Lydi planned for our family from the foundation of the earth!

So…like my friend said, once you get off the “ride,” like a good roller coaster, you want to do it again!  We are now in the process of adopting another precious child.  We do not know for sure where he, she or they (we are open to sibling groups) are from yet, but we have “thrown our hat in the ring” with the same agency and are taking the next steps to adopt from Africa as well.  We shall see what our Sovereign Lord has planned for the “Amen quiver!”

Beard Of The Week | Lee Bertram

Happy Wednesday, ya'll!

This week's Beard Of The Week guy is the one and only Lee Bertram! If you don't know him, you should be very sad because you are missing out. He's just plain fun. For example, every month when we collect our updated beard pictures he always proves himself to be a food & drink model. We are surprised every time and yet, I always know when Lee texts his picture to DJ because all I hear is my husband's belly laughter from across the house. And every month, I run in the room excited to see what crazy theme Lee has come up with next. See for yourself.... he's pretty awesome, right?

How can you not just laugh when seeing these?! They are too, too funny. 

One a more serious note, DJ has known Lee for eleven years. Lee is the Retreats Director at Frontier Camp in Grapeland, TX. When DJ started working there as a summer counselor in college, they hit it off and became good friends. After we got married, DJ and I would often drive to Grapeland to work weekend retreats at camp. Over time, I got to know Lee and his wife, Rebekah, and immediately loved them myself! This couple is amazing. If you want to learn about biblical manhood and womanhood, observe a beautiful marriage, or learn about raising your children in the ways of the Lord, this is your go-to couple. We often talk about Lee and Bekah, both in how fun they are, and also how wise and God-fearing. Lee is hardworking, loves God and his family and is totally a man's man.... he's can do and fix anything. And, he's loud and fun and laughs a lot. You can't stay in a bad mood when you are around Lee. And Bekah is a Proverbs 31 woman; she has the gentle and quiet spirit described in 1 Peter 3 and I could sit and glean wisdom from her for days on end. They have four beautiful children, Tommy, Hope, James and John. DJ and I have continued to be blown away by the Bertram's and only wish we lived nearby and could do life more closely with them. They love the Lord and it is evidenced in every part of their lives.

Lee worked hard to get all his ten sponsors in right away, but he didn't stop there. On top of that, he took initiative in collecting donations on our behalf... he created his own little piggy bank out of a napkin dispenser, popped our picture in it, and set it out at the General Store at camp so that people could give towards our adoption fund if they so felt led. We were so humbled and grateful when we heard about that... thanks so much, Lee!

As you can see, Lee is pretty rad. We are so thankful to have him on our team, sharing in our excitement, and helping to bring baby Hofmann home. We couldn't do it without our Beard Growers and are happy that Lee is a part of this journey with us. We thank the Lord for you, Lee!

Stay bearded, folks.
the hofs

An Adoption Story | The Daniel Family

Every time I receive an adoption story, it makes my heart swell with joy. Adoption is such a beautiful picture of the gospel. Through these stories we see such profound spiritual illustrations...pictures of brokenness to redemption, and beauty from ashes. The Daniel's story is no different. In reading about their adoption journey, I was humbled, encouraged, challenged and convicted all at the same time. In their story, you will read about the the selfless, bold, and difficult prayers they prayed for reunification. As much as they desired to adopt this little girl as their own, they humbly prayed for both reunification and healing for her and her birth family instead. Such beautiful hearts and selfless prayers. Keep reading to hear about all that the Lord has done in the life of this sweet family.

DJ and I know Jeremy and Staci through church. Jeremy is the Recovery Groups Pastor at our Denton Campus, but because we work for different campuses, we actually do not know him all that well. We were able to see glimpses of their adoption process from afar (via emails to the church staff and updates on social media) so I was so glad to read the full version below. Read it and be encouraged, friends. The Lord is good and his grace is evident in their story. 

We are the Daniels and are excited and honored to be guest bloggers! We enjoy opportunities to share with others how the Lord has worked and moved in our family through the beautiful gift of adoption.  Here is our story, from the beginning…

I always had a desire to adopt and my husband married me understanding this, although at the time his heart was not in the same place. Through years of prayer and the Lord faithfully working on both of our hearts we knew we were both ready to begin looking into adoption. I had always had the specific desire to adopt a child that was in CPS custody. As we learned more about the process we learned that in order to adopt a younger child from CPS you must be willing to foster. We were not exactly sure we were prepared to go this route but nonetheless felt the Lord moving us in this direction.  So, about 10 years into our marriage and 2 years after the birth of our second biological child we started the process to become a licensed foster home.

We received our first placement, Aniyah, 5 days after becoming licensed.  I will never forget that day when this beautiful, exhausted 8 month old baby girl was carried into our home wearing a ragged blue onesie. We held her and loved her instantly despite the fact I couldn’t even pronounce her name (yes, my oldest who was 4 at the time had to teach me a cleaver way to remember how to say her name).  Our boys, Kaydon and Layton, took to her right away and loved her as their baby sister, even though she was a complete stranger.  Our Father was so gracious to allow our hearts to be knitted together instantly and to be able to love her as our own while acknowledging that she was not ours and that we must be open handed with her.

While our intention of fostering was to adopt, I felt the Holy Spirit convict me early on that our role as her foster family was to work alongside with the system to obtain the goal of reunification with her biological mother. For me, that meant that my prayers were not prayers of asking for adoption but rather crying out to the Lord begging that He would save her and break her free of generational sin regardless of the home in which she was raised. I remember rocking her at night and confessing that I was not Aniyah’s savior and reminding myself that our God can move in mighty ways and He doesn’t have to use our family to do that, but we should be faithful with the time He has given us, however long that might be.

Another way our family was lead to work towards supporting reunification was by being open to a relationship with the biological mother.  Again, the Lord was so gracious by granting us favor with this young lady and through the years of fostering Aniyah we have developed a good relationship with her and she has opened up her heart to us and has shared some of her past with us.  On Aniyah’s first birthday we were able to have a CPS supervised birthday party with our family and the birth family. Two completely different cultures coming together to love on and celebrate the life of this precious baby was such a sweet testament of the Lord’s faithfulness. 


The process of fostering Aniyah lingered much longer than we had hoped. We came across many obstacles and it was two and a half years of a lot of back and forth of preparing for her to leave our home just to find out she is staying a little longer. It was over a year and half before her goal was changed from reunification to adoption. While this was an exciting day it was also a heavy day. Adoption comes with loss and the reality of that was vivid for us along this road.


After two years of court hearings, mediation, a trial and an appeals process, Aniyah was finally free for adoption and our court date was set. June 26, 2013 is a day our family will always celebrate. It was such a beautiful day. Aniyah had this sweet, excited spirit about her that day as if she knew what was going on even though she had no idea we were legally not her family. She was dressed in a beautiful white dress that morning and she runs down the stairs and yells, “Look daddy! I’m a Barbie!” as she is twirling around.  We made the all too familiar drive down highway 35 to the Cooke County courthouse like we had many times before, but this time it was different. We entered the courtroom surrounded by sweet family and friends and testified before the judge that we understood the weight of becoming this little girl’s parents. I took a moment to look around and see tears streaming down many faces. That day we were finally able to say that Aniyah was part of our family, forever!

 

Fostering and adoption is not an easy calling, but it is one of great reward. Through this journey, our family has had to learn to persevere and trust in our God’s sovereign hand in a way we never had to before. You never know where this road will lead you. During the two years of fostering Aniyah we also fostered her half biological brother for 8 months. Right before his first birthday he was reunified to his biological father and his wife. While this was difficult for our family, it is now amazing to see the Lord’s plans for this sweet boy’s life played out. He allowed us to be a safe, loving place for baby boy while preparing his forever home with his biological father. The Lord continues to pour His mercy on us by allowing his family to be so kind and loving to us. We have grown to know them well and are able allow Aniyah to continue to have a relationship with her brother.

We have also continued to grow our relationship with her birth mother. We were given the opportunity to foster two more of her younger biological siblings but felt God closing those doors. Now I am able to see that He has had different plans for us. Plans for us to now walk with the biological mother not by fostering her children but by having the freedom to form a deeper relationship with her as we have entered into an open adoption.

We could have never anticipated how this would all play out. It hasn’t been an easy road but we would not have wanted it any other way. Our Father has been so faithful to use all the obstacles to grow our family and teach us in a tangible way how to approach all our children with open hands. We also could not have done this without the amazing love and support of our family and friends. It was our community that was able to speak truth to us when we were doubting and faithfully prayed over us and showed up to the courthouse to encourage us when we were scared and rejoiced with us when it was time to celebrate. Our family has been truly blessed and forever changed by the calling of adoption the Lord has placed us. 

 

An Adoption Story | The Northcutt Family

It is our absolute joy to introduce you guys to Craig, Angela, and Jaxon Northcutt. DJ and I know the Northcutts because Craig works on staff with us at The Village as our Facilities Director. Craig was a great resource for us when we were in the very beginning stages of considering adoption and Angela has been a sweet encouragement to me along the way. Their story is a sweet one that has opened our eyes and hearts to the beautiful redemption that can occur through Open Adoption. For those who don't know, Open Adoption is a form of adoption in which the biological and adoptive families have access to varying degrees of each others' personal information and have an option of contact. In Open Adoption, the adoptive parents hold all the rights as the legal parents, yet the individuals of the biological and adoptive families may exercise the option to open the contact in varying forms: from just sending mail and/or photos, to face-to-face visits between birth and adoptive families. DJ and I were once uneducated about and fearful of Open Adoption, but the Northcutt's story has opened our hearts to its great benefits and blessings. We pray their story encourages your hearts as much as it does ours. 

We are excited that DJ and Courtney have asked us to share our story. We love the awareness their blog has brought and how it’s given people a way to support adoption. Adoption is so dear to us because it’s how the Lord grew our family and how He brought our hearts closer to Him.

Even before we were married, we discussed the possibility of adoption; however, we always talked about adopting after we had biological children. After three years of marriage, we started trying for a baby. Months turned into a year and then we sought medical treatment. We went through three rounds of minor fertility treatments, each time praying and hoping it would end with a pregnancy.

When our third treatment was unsuccessful, we were left with a decision: pursue more invasive medical treatment or pursue adoption. We knew that financially, emotionally and physically, we could only pursue one wholeheartedly but at the time we didn’t know which one. Over the next three months, we prayed, asking the Lord to guide. After that time, we both felt He confirmed that adoption was to be our journey.

But, we didn’t know where to start. We were overwhelmed with the choices: different types of adoption and different agencies. We started with an agency that many friends had used in their foster-to-adopt program. We filled out paperwork, attended a great training but left feeling unsettled; this wasn’t for us. 

We then looked into an agency that offered a domestic infant adoption program – an open adoption program. We didn’t even know what open adoption meant. We thought it couldn’t hurt to learn more so we signed up for a training seminar with the agency. The training shed light on open adoption, addressed our concerns and fears and dispelled any myths we had heard. We drove home – both with tears in our eyes – knowing that this is what the Lord wanted for us.

Paperwork was filled out, and then we were left waiting. And waiting. It was much harder than we could have imagined. Our hearts felt like we were ready, but the Lord continued to say “not yet.” We were notified a few times of emergency placements that never went beyond an email or phone call.

Six months into our waiting, we got a joyous call: an expectant couple wanted to meet us. We met with the couple and all agreed to move forward as though the adoption was going through. A few days later, we met a beautiful baby girl in the hospital. We held her, fed her, sat with her and her mother, all the time hopeful that she was going to be ours. That night we received a phone call that the parents had decided they weren’t going to place the baby for adoption. A week that began with so much excitement ended in crushing sadness.

In the midst of the hurt and sadness, the Lord provided. He took a situation we didn’t think we were strong enough to handle, and He sustained. Even though our prayers for a child weren’t answered, He was faithful. Our hearts were sad, but we still felt hope.

We took time to grieve this loss, and then three months later we got a call about an expectant mom across the state wanting to meet us. We had a great meeting with the mom and grandmother, which led to dinner and then a doctor’s appointment the next week. We were blessed to be able to build a relationship with this birth family even before the baby was born.

A day before the baby was due, we made the trip once again hoping that when we drove home, we would be a family of three. The next day, our sweet Jaxon Craig was born. His birth mom was gracious to make us a part of the time in the hospital, and we have many sweet memories of that time with Jaxon and her. Three days after Jaxon was born, the placement was final, and we were able to bring our son home.

The Lord has been faithful to grow our family, not just with a son but with a relationship with his birth family as well. He has also allowed us to see how adoption is much more than receiving the gift of a child… Experiencing the feeling of longing, seeing the pain that comes with sacrifice and the love and joy that come when a child becomes yours. He took something that we wanted, longed for, waited for and then gave us so much more.

 

Spirit lead where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever you would call me

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In presence of my Savior
(Oceans by Hillsong United)

Beard Of The Week | Daniel Dehnel

Today is Wednesday which means it's Beard  Of The Week Day! It is also October 2nd... which is also Beard Grower Daniel Dehnel's 25th birthday. And so, we are celebrating him by making him be our Beard Of The Week guy! Hoorah!

Guys, I know I say this about every Beard, but Daniel really is awesome.  He and his wife, Kira, are volunteers for our Children's Ministry and they probably have the greatest servant's hearts that I have ever seen. They are super eager to serve, are happy to lead at multiple services (which I have to ask them to do.... often) and are two of the most dependable people I know. They love Jesus. And, they love to teach kids about Jesus. Plus, they are super fun and one of a kind and are really a perfect fit for one another. Not to mention, they swing dance. Which, hello, is pretty dang cool. On top of all that, they have a heart for orphan care and are seeking to do foster to adopt ministry themselves. What's not to love about the Dehnels?! They are great.

I am also happy to announce that Daniel has graduated from Beard Growing and has become our Token Mustache Guy! That's right, everyone.... this guys face has become it's very own Stache for Cash party. Check it out; he is totally and unashamedly sporting the Wild West mustache. I can only imagine what his boss is thinking.

 

Daniel still needs sponsors and here are three fantastic reasons why you should consider sponsoring him:

1. It's his birthday. To sponsor him would be to give him a present, which would make his heart (and mine) oh so happy.
2. He's our Token Mustache Guy! And if I understand correctly, it's pretty awkward to walk around with just a mustache. So show him some sponsor lovin'. It will help make it all worth it,  I promise.
3. He only needs three more sponsors, and let's face it.... that's a pretty easy thing to accomplish. Would you consider sponsoring him today? You will be forever loved!

You rock, Daniel! Thanks for using your face to advocate for adoption and help bring our baby home. We are forever indebted to you for sporting the stache. Happy, happy birthday!!

Beard on,
the hofs

September Recap

Yo, yo, yo!!

We just closed out the month of September and are oh so excited to have looked back on all that the Lord did this past month. You can read more in our September Newsletter, but we've listed out a brief update below:

• The Beard Bank continues to grow! Praise the Lord for raising over $19,000 so far! We have just over $7,000 left to go.

• Things got interesting this month when we encountered our first Beard Buy Out. Thanks to a very generous donation, Sean Bryant's beard is no more. Love seeing our Beard Growers and Sponsors having fun and taking initiative to keep things moving along.

• Sean Bryant and Asher Pirtle won the September prize.... these amazing Beard Pillows by Freshly Picked. Way to go fellas!

• Beard Grower and Puppeteer, Philip Hatter, started his own shop called Lil' Beards. He made this snazzy finger puppet of DJ (which I LOVE by the way) and went above and beyond when he offered to have this be October's incentive for our fundraiser. The guy who brings in the most funds in October will win his very own personalized Finger Puppet!

• Beard Grower, Jordan McClinton, also started his own little beard business on the side. Grizzly Brand sells handmade beard and mustache products as well as men's apparel. Check it out! If you see something you like, just indicate on your sale that you support ABFAB and 10% of your sale will go towards our adoption fund. 

• We are doing another fundraiser this Saturday called Beauty For A Baby. In exchange for your donation, you can get your hair and nails done. 100% of the proceeds will go towards our adoption and we'll have shirts, beard combs and bows on sale too, not to mention yummy Korean food to eat. Sign up here, or simply stop by to hang out, eat good food, and hear about our adoption journey.

September was a great month and we are excited about all that October has in store. Thank you guys all so much for being a part of this journey and loving us and our sweet baby boy.

Stay bearded,
the hofs