Episode 24

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Published on:

7th Feb 2024

What If It's About More Than the Baby? Living Out God's Heart for Adoption: Part 2

As Christians we are called to love sacrificially and without limit. Listen to part 2 of a radical testimony in which Jen and her husband Eric love without a guarantee of a return, obediently following God's prompting. The Sovereignty of God is undeniable in this powerful story.

Scriptures Mentioned:

1 John 4:18

Isaiah 61:3

Matthew 13

Daniel 3


Songs Referenced:

"Oxygen". "Loved", and "Mountains" by Fresh Life Worship

Transcript
Steph:

They're the joyful agains our children shout on the swings, the

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exhausting agains of cooking and laundry,

and the difficult agains of discipline.

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So much of what we do

as mothers is on repeat.

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So what if we woke up with clarity,

knowing which agains we were called

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to, and went to bed believing we

are faithful in what matters most?

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We believe God's word is

the key to untangle from the

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confusion and overwhelm we feel.

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Let's look up together to embrace a

motherhood full of freedom and joy.

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Thanks for joining us for this

episode of again, brought to

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you by interested ministries.

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I'm your host, Stephanie Hickox.

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And in today's episode, I'm joined

by Jen Frackman, as she shares an

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incredible testimony in which the

sovereignty of God is undeniable.

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It's absolutely one of

those goosebumps stories.

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Jen and her husband, Eric display love

in a most uncommon sacrificial way.

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As they were longing to bring

a child into their home.

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They chose to love women and

children in difficult situations.

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After I originally heard this story,

I pulled her aside and said, I

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want to be like you when I grew up.

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Jen is the type of person

that takes every blessing.

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The Lord gives her and she multiplies it.

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She serves a radically and

lovingly and tirelessly.

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And it's absolutely

evident in this testimony.

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If you haven't had a chance

to listen to part one.

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I'd encourage you to stop

now and go back to that.

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You'll hear Jen's raw

and authentic account.

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Of her struggle with infertility.

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And how the Lord called her and her

husband to serve him through it.

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But today we're bringing you part two

in which we dive even deeper into.

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What did it look like practically

for Jen to love a woman facing

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an unexpected pregnancy.

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We pray that this testimony of

God being in so many details.

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Inspires you to see him at

work and your life as well.

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And encourages you to have eyes

to see where you can be his hands

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and feet to the world around you.

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Jen: So fast forward the next day I

got a phone call and It was, would

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you believe, Easter Sunday morning.

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And I just am like, Oh

Lord, you redeem everything.

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And years prior on Easter Sunday

morning, I got a horrible phone call.

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And then this Easter Sunday

morning, I got the best phone call.

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And it was from a birth mom who, I was

looking to place her baby in adoption,

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but wanted to meet with us first.

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And so I said, absolutely.

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When do you want to meet?

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And she's I can meet now if you want.

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I was like, great.

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So I literally called our babysitter and

was like, can you come over like now?

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And she's like, absolutely,

she knew the story.

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And so she's like, I'm praying for

you as we drove out of the car and

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out of the driveway and downtown.

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And I just remember being

like, what do I bring?

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What do I say?

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I feel like I'm in an interview.

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And I don't know, I

don't know what to say.

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How, how do you go about

having this conversation?

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So I just brought some family photos and

like our photo album that we had and my

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Bible, and we just prayed and I just,

the whole drive down, I was like, God.

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You're going to have to do this

because I don't know what I'm doing.

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I am nervous.

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I am scared.

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How are we going to know who she is?

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I've never met her before.

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All the things, all the things you wonder.

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So we meet at a Starbucks in

the inner city of Chicago and

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it was a shady area, I will say.

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In fact, like the next week on

the news, a person was killed in

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a drive by shooting as they were.

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Walking out of that exact same Starbucks.

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So we were not in our

comfort zone by any means.

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And we we walked in and sat down

and we waited and sure enough,

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there was a pregnant lady who walked

in and we just motioned at her.

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Are you looking for someone?

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Cause we might be them.

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She came over and sat by us and we

introduced each other and it was very It

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was very heavy and it was very hard and.

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I just remember being like,

I don't know what to say.

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I don't often have that.

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I can be pretty chatty, as you probably

know, I didn't know what to say.

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I just waited and , you know, Oh, my

name's Jen and this is Eric and here's

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some family photos, if that would help.

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I, what do you, how do you want to.

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Go about this.

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And do you have questions for us?

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That kind of thing.

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And finally I remember feeling

like the spirit was just so heavy

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in that place that I didn't know

how to move on apart from praying.

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And so I said to her, this

might be really weird.

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May we pray for you?

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I said, we are people of faith

and this just feels heavy and

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hard, and I don't know what to do.

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And I just wonder if you

would mind if we prayed.

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And she looked at us like.

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Okay.

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And so, I looked to Eric

and said, please start.

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And so I put my hand on her

and Eric prayed and then I

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prayed and I am not kidding.

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This stuff never happens to us.

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But there was a man who came over

as soon as we had finished praying.

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He was of Middle Eastern descent

and he looked her right in

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the eye and very strongly and

lovingly said, you can trust them.

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Their God is a good God.

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You may trust these people.

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And I just was like, Oh, my word.

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I got goosebumps.

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I started crying.

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Eric got goosebumps.

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He was like, and mind you,

this is Easter Sunday.

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And so Eric goes, he is risen.

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And I just remember, and he looked

and he smiled and he goes, absolutely.

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And I was like, Oh my

word, this is amazing.

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Like so crazy.

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And

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she.

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I did.

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Steph: know him before

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Jen: That's exactly what I said to her.

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I was like, I promise A,

I did not pay that man.

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B, I have never seen him before.

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And C, this stuff never happens to us.

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I don't, that is crazy.

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But she just said, she

was like, that was crazy.

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I was like, yeah, that was.

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And so then it really.

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The heaviness lifted and we

just spoke to one another and

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just got to know one another.

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And it was like, she had asked me a

couple of questions about how we would

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raise her, what, what we could provide

for her, why we wanted to adopt.

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Um, and then, and then I remember her

saying, I am all alone, like all alone.

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Would it be weird if you were

in the delivery room with me?

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Started bawling.

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I was like, you have no idea.

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And Eric couldn't, I couldn't even talk.

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And Eric just said, you have no idea.

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That's what she's been praying for.

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I had literally been praying, Lord.

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I want to catch the baby.

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just want to be in that room.

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I want to be a part of it.

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I want to be there for that mom.

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I don't want that mom to have

to go through this alone.

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And so in that moment, I

said to her, I promise you.

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No matter what, even if you choose

another family, if you think these

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people are whacked, I don't want them

to adopt this kid, but I will follow

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you through this pregnancy and I will

be in that room with you no matter what.

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And she was like, okay.

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And I'm like, I would love nothing more.

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So I, I just, I was so excited about

that and so excited to just care for her.

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Looking back.

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It's so weird that I didn't have fear, but

I didn't, I had no fear at all because I

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felt so, I was not certain that she was

going to choose us, but I was a thousand

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percent certain that we were supposed

to be in her life for this moment.

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And so I didn't know how it was

going to end, but I was like.

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Super excited that the Lord allowed

us to be able to see this beautiful

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soul walking through this really hard

time and to be somebody that could

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love her and to show her dignity

and honor and just be with her.

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Steph: That's what sets

your story apart so much.

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You so often hear of people who have

this God given love of a child, but

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it's really rare for people to have

such a love for the birth mom as well,

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and even though through those very

hard years of infertility, with all

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of that pain that they've The Lord was

giving you a burden for these women

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that needed to be seen and for you to

follow that through regardless of whether

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it was going to benefit you or not.

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It's just so Christ like and so inspiring.

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I love it.

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Jen: I just felt so excited.

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Like when do you get this opportunity?

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Like it just felt so exciting

to me and I was just so

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grateful to be able to do that.

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So we I started to go to every

single doctor's appointment with her.

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And that was fun and funny all

in the same, because the two of

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us walk in and so who are you?

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Steph: what it looks like?

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Jen: Exactly, exactly.

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Oh, we would laugh so hard sitting in the.

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Waiting room as people were walking

by and I'd be like, I would literally

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have my hand on her tummy and I'd

be like, oh, I can feel you baby.

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I could feel the baby moving.

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We were like, okay, this is a

different situation than I thought.

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So, I got to know her

doctor, which was so cool.

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He was just an amazing OB and

we, he was very much supportive

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of the whole situation.

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And so she was.

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Amazing.

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And she, she gave me the ability to be

in every doctor appointment, anything,

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any question I had, I could ask any

question that the doctor had to her.

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She never made me leave the room.

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She was like, you may stay

as long as you want to stay.

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And she just was absolutely amazing.

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And I learned my role was not

to fear and worry when I would

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hear things that maybe I.

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Wouldn't have done when I was pregnant,

I was, because I had miscarried, I was

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so careful on all of my pregnancies.

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And there were some things that

were just different that she

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had chose to do, which is fine.

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But instead of being fearful or

controlling or demanding of, well,

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maybe you should look this way, or

maybe you should do it this, this

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way, or have you thought about this?

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I didn't do any of that.

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I felt like my role is to love her.

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And to support her.

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And so I will pray for

the things that might.

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Confuse me but I'm going to love her.

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Steph: I know we talk frequently

about the kind of mother in

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law that we want to be someday.

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I think that was really,

really good training

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Jen: yes, that's exactly it.

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Yes, I fully agree.

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I remember saying that at one

point I feel like I'm learning

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how to be a mother in law.

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My role is to support and

to encourage back off,

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Steph: Wow.

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That's, I can't imagine

that that would be, yep.

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Hold your tongue.

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Jen: Yeah, there definitely

were things like that.

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And so I, I would, I would

just say, how are you?

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And, and we'd just talk things through.

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And so I loved that time of getting

to know her and just seeing her laugh

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about things she's amazing in math.

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And so whenever we would go out to lunch

afterward, she would be adding up the

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order in her head as to how much it was.

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And I was like.

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Girlfriend, you are like amazing

at math because I wasn't even

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probably close to what she was doing.

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So she's just like things like that

that I was like, Oh, that's cool.

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She's really good at this.

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And I like the way she smiles or

the way her eyes raise and her

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eyes twinkle when she would laugh.

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And so it was just so fun to get to know

this woman and to become friends with her.

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We would text.

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multiple times a day.

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Sometimes I would be like, Hey, what did

you do when you were a kid at this age?

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Or so what'd you do today?

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Did you go for a walk?

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Who'd you hang out with?

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What'd you do?

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And just had a friendship and

just loved her the best we could.

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And there were a couple

of different things.

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As time went on, we needed to

sign up with different agencies.

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In the state of Illinois,

you have to, as the adoptive

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family, have to have an agency.

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And then, as the birth mom,

she has to have an agency

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that represents her as well.

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And so, She had to sign on with an

agency and sadly, when she did that, the

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caseworker that she was assigned called

me and told me that I needed to back

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off, that I cared too much about this

woman and that I was doing way too much

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for her and I was being too involved

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At this point, I had known her for a

couple of weeks, maybe, maybe even a

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couple of months and had been doing

Everything I could to care for her and to

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within the legal realms of Illinois laws

on adoption, we did everything legally,

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everything as we were supposed to, but

the best we could, we saw her as a friend

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and as family and, and cared for her.

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And I remember telling that lady

I can get pretty feisty when,

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when I, when someone ticks me off

and, and I, I remember being like.

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Righteously angry for the birth mom.

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Just being like, who, who are you

to tell me that I have to back

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off caring for someone like this?

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This is a human being

made in the image of God.

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And I don't care.

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One iota, what you think about this,

but you are going to be backing off if

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you are thinking anyone is backing off.

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And so we, I, I definitely called

the agency and said, we need to get

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a different caseworker on this case.

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And we need somebody who sees her not as.

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paperwork and a file number.

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And they did.

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They gave us another one

and she was wonderful.

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She was so sweet and so

loving and loved our story.

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Loved the relationship we were

having and guided us through

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it in such a beautiful way.

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And I remember the birth mom just saying

like that, that meant a lot to her.

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She's I, I loved that you

fought for me there and that.

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That meant a lot.

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Steph: It's so sad that someone

would oppose the support

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you're trying to give her.

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That's just mind blowing.

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Jen: yeah.

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Well, honestly, it wasn't abnormal.

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You would be sadly surprised how many of

our friends, people that we would tell

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or come into contact with, or we would

tell the story and they would be like,

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Oh, we'll see how that works out for you.

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Or just don't get hurt.

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Don't get so involved.

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You're just going to get hurt.

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And I'm sure in their hearts, they, it's.

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They were trying to protect us.

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They were fearful for us as well.

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Like we were involved and, and

my heart was definitely in that.

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And so I could see how, if you

were outside of the situation,

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it could seem, like maybe.

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We were going to get hurt someday.

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And I kept going back to even if she

doesn't choose us, even if I thrown

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to the curb after this and I am made

a fool for her not giving the baby to

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us, but she chooses life for this baby.

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Then who cares?

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I have the Lord.

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My relationship with the Lord, he will

heal my heart and he will bring me

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whatever baby he wants to bring us.

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But if I can walk this lady

through it and I have the Lord.

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I am strong enough to be able

to handle the heartache, but

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she doesn't have the Lord.

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At that point, she did not have the

Lord and she didn't have anyone.

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So I'd rather sacrifice for that

than to protect my heart because

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I didn't want to get hurt.

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How can you love someone if

you are living in fear of them?

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You can't.

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Perfect love casts out fear.

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Steph: That's exactly the verse

that's been going through my

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head as you're sharing this.

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I, I can see how your trust in

the Lord and your love for her

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left no room for you to fear.

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Jen: You couldn't, you couldn't.

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Humanly speaking, yes,

there were times that.

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If I thought too long by myself, I could

fear, but anytime that happened, I was

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like, no, Lord, I'm going to trust you.

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I'm literally setting my heart and

my mind and my emotions on you.

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And I am trusting you and

overarching over all of it.

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I truly did not fear.

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I felt a sense of this is where

the Lord has you and just.

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Trust me, and I did not ever pray

that she would give the baby to us.

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I remember very clearly saying,

I will only pray for her and for

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the baby to be placed wherever

the baby needs to be placed.

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But I do not want to manipulate

any situation or even pray.

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Selfishly, that we would get this baby.

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I wanted the baby that God had for us

and if this wasn't the baby, great.

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We will wait for the baby that the Lord

has for us, but right now I know my job

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is to love this woman well and to see

this baby through being, being born.

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So we loved her like Christ loved

the church the best we could and we

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tried everything we could to bring

dignity and honor to her and I would

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do things like, there's this song

by Fresh Life Worship that came out.

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In 2015 it was called Oxygen and

there's another one called Loved.

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And so I would play those in

my car over and over every time

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I'd go to a doctor appointment.

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And then whenever we would go to lunch

afterward or we would go somewhere,

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I would play it in the car for her.

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And I would say, these

are our theme songs.

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These are our theme songs.

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And so one of them, the The song

Oxygen says, I will fight for honor.

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You called me out, you washed me clean.

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I'll fight for honor.

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Though none go with me, I will follow.

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All for you, Lord.

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All for you.

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Where you lead me, I will follow.

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All for you.

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In your presence, I find shelter.

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All for you.

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All for you.

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I will give my life to you forever.

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And, and then it goes on to say, I will

fight for honor, not by my will, not by

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my might, but by your power, I will fight.

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And I just remember crying on the way

to the appointments and just being like.

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Yes!

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Yes!

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I will fight for her!

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That, that, that justice gene that

God gave me that I so often hate

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because it makes me angry when

things don't have justice in it,

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that, I'm putting that towards this.

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There's another song by Fresh

Life that was called Loved and it

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says, it's going to be all right.

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It's going to be okay.

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It's a cold, dark night,

but we'll find the day.

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Know that you're loved and when the

world starts to blur and your soul gets

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heavy and when you're at your worst and

the ground is unsteady, know that you're

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loved, no matter what may come your way.

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You don't have to be afraid.

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No matter what you're fighting

through, he'll be there holding you.

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No matter the sorrow, no matter

how tough, today and tomorrow,

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know that you are loved.

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It's going to be all right.

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It's going to be okay.

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Know that you're loved.

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Know that you're loved.

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And so I would tell her all the

time, this is our theme song.

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So whenever she would say, I'm

having a hard day, or I don't

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feel well, or I'm just sad.

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I'm just sad about this situation.

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I'm sad about all of it.

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I'd be like, yeah, it is.

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It's hard,

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but we love you.

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I love you.

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Baby loves you.

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God loves you.

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And, and I'd tell her go listen

to the song and so she would.

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So, as we were doing this and the

new wonderful nice lady of the

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agency started to love her and the

lady at the maternity home, who

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was amazing, started to love her.

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You could see the countenance

of this birth mom.

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Just change.

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She, her situation did not

change, her countenance did.

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It was a lightning of her spirit.

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And she had said to me, I have

never had friends like what

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you've been a friend to me before.

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And I said, that is what

the body of Christ does.

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Like this is what believers experience.

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And God wants that for you.

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:

And.

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:

He wants to take this hard situation

and make beauty from ashes, and he

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:

wants to use this hard thing to draw

you into a right relationship he could

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:

use anything, but he's using this.

401

:

And this is what God has.

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:

This is what God does.

403

:

He is a God who redeems and he is a God

who loves and he is a God who protects.

404

:

And so you can trust him.

405

:

And she would start to read her Bible and

different things that I would say like,

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:

read this scripture and what about this?

407

:

Or let's talk about this

passage in the Bible.

408

:

And she would read it every

single time that I would send

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:

something over, she would read it.

410

:

Steph: You're loving her

well, made her good soil.

411

:

She was so receptive to it because she

had seen the love of Christ in you.

412

:

So then she was ready to

turn to the word of God.

413

:

Jen: Yeah.

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:

And she's, she's just awesome.

415

:

I love her so much.

416

:

But so we would talk together about how we

both were going to set our hearts on him.

417

:

I'm like, I am setting

my heart on the Lord.

418

:

My hope is not in how this ends.

419

:

My hope, in fact, I hope we're

friends for the rest of our life.

420

:

Whether you choose to place baby with us

or not, I hope we are friends for forever.

421

:

One, because I love you.

422

:

You are funny and you are smart

and I like to talk to you.

423

:

And and she was, she was just amazing.

424

:

So anyway, we would talk about setting

our heart on him and, and there was one

425

:

morning where I had a friend who one,

one dear friend, I had multiple friends.

426

:

I, when I said a while ago that, friends

were protective of us, I do think

427

:

that they, they were, but there were

friends that definitely stuck with us.

428

:

Don't get me wrong.

429

:

We have a wonderful body of believers

that stuck with us, but I think out of

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:

fear and protection for us, they were.

431

:

More leery to get excited for us.

432

:

But this one dear, dear friend of mine

sent me gave me mustard seeds in a

433

:

jar and said, if you have faith, like

a mustard seed, I can move mountains

434

:

and there's a song called mountains

on that fresh life worship album.

435

:

And so I was the morning of the delivery.

436

:

I 10 minute drive that I

had to do in the morning.

437

:

And We knew that she was being an induced

and that I was going to drive there.

438

:

And so that friend got up early

in the morning and called me

439

:

and prayed with me on the way.

440

:

As I drove and I felt so seen and so

loved because I had been caring so much

441

:

and I, it was my joy to care for her,

but to have someone see me in that,

442

:

Steph: Mm-Hmm.

443

:

Jen: it meant so much to me and she

just prayed with me for a good amount

444

:

of time and we laughed and I was like, I

don't know what's going to happen today.

445

:

Steph: All right.

446

:

Jen: I don't know.

447

:

I remember packing my bags the night

before I was going to the hospital.

448

:

And I took a baby bassinet and I took

a outfit for taking the baby home in.

449

:

I had a car seat, but was I going to

come home with that car seat empty?

450

:

I had no idea.

451

:

Steph: Wow.

452

:

Jen: And I remember being like, it's okay.

453

:

It truly is okay.

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:

Whatever she chooses is okay.

455

:

I will be fine.

456

:

But I definitely felt a little bit,

probably not all the way, but a little

457

:

bit how Abednego felt when they stepped

into that fire, they didn't know,

458

:

they didn't know that God was going to

make no hair on their head be singed.

459

:

They didn't know that.

460

:

They just knew they were

walking in the fire.

461

:

And so I was like, I'm walking in, I

don't know how this is going to work.

462

:

And I, I just felt okay.

463

:

Here we go.

464

:

And so I turned on that worship album

from Fresh Life Worship and I sang my

465

:

little heart out and prayed and cried

that whole hour and 10 minute drive.

466

:

And we got there in the morning

and I pulled up to the hospital

467

:

and I said, I'm here for labor.

468

:

I'm here for labor and delivery.

469

:

And she goes, Honey,

you don't look pregnant.

470

:

I was like, I know, but I'm actually think

my birth mom is giving birth to our baby

471

:

this morning and I just started bawling

and she goes, Oh, oh, that is so awesome.

472

:

I'll, I'll get you right in.

473

:

And so she, she walked me in

and I just remember being like,

474

:

all right, here we go, Lord.

475

:

And I walked into the room and just

gave her a hug and we just talked and

476

:

we laughed and we had conversation.

477

:

And I remember there was a lady in

the room next door who was giving

478

:

birth, who was having a really hard

delivery and was screaming and yelling.

479

:

And she, the birth mom just turns to me

and goes, that girl needs an epidural.

480

:

And I just remember laughing about that.

481

:

And sure enough, she had the baby.

482

:

And I got to be there for

every moment of it and cried

483

:

with her and laughed with her.

484

:

And when the nurse came in and said,

what formula do you want to give?

485

:

She said, ask her.

486

:

And so I was like, take Gerber

Good Start Organic, please.

487

:

And a probiotic, please.

488

:

And, and I got to feed her her

first bottle and it just was.

489

:

Amazing.

490

:

It was absolutely amazing.

491

:

I just, I saw her strength going

through that labor and just being

492

:

able to witness all of that.

493

:

It was just, just a gift from the Lord.

494

:

It just was so beautiful.

495

:

So the hospital had.

496

:

An extremely busy evening

and no rooms were open.

497

:

And so I w I had planned that I was

going to stay in the hospital and that

498

:

is what the birth mom had wanted as well.

499

:

So she's well, you need

to find her a room.

500

:

And I was like, well, gee, I, I

don't, I don't really know what to do.

501

:

Like I can sleep on the couch

in your room if you want.

502

:

I, I, what do you feel comfortable with?

503

:

I can go home.

504

:

I can get a hotel.

505

:

I can come back.

506

:

Like you tell me what you want.

507

:

And she's I want you here.

508

:

They need to find a place.

509

:

And so there was this like utility

closet that had the machinery and

510

:

different extra beds and things in,

it was literally a closet and they're

511

:

like, we can empty that out for you

there and put like a couch in there.

512

:

And I was like, I'll take it.

513

:

So

514

:

Steph: feels like there

was no room in the end

515

:

Jen: yes, it totally did.

516

:

It did.

517

:

It did.

518

:

So I took that room and we decided

that I would take baby at night.

519

:

And she would have baby during the day.

520

:

And so I fed baby at night,

did all the night feedings.

521

:

And then in the morning, whenever she

would call me or the nurse would come

522

:

and knock on my closet door and say,

the birth mom would like the baby, then

523

:

I would wheel the baby down and Often

I would hold the baby while she was

524

:

taking a shower or whatnot, but she

would hold her and care for her during

525

:

the day and I would often just ask,

Would you like me to leave the room?

526

:

Do you want to be alone?

527

:

And sometimes she would want

to be alone, but most of the

528

:

time she's No, you can stay.

529

:

You're fine.

530

:

So we just bonded the three of us and

and just, Really, it was just a beautiful

531

:

time and just getting to know her and love

her and feed the baby and care for the

532

:

baby, but also care for the birth mom.

533

:

I remember helping her get out of the

shower at one point and just knowing Oh,

534

:

I've been there giving birth and you're in

pain and your body and just all of that.

535

:

So trying my best to love her well and.

536

:

Also care for baby, but also oh my

heart every time I'd hold this baby

537

:

I'm like, how am I gonna do this?

538

:

And the fear started to creep in of

like I'm in this I am in the fire And

539

:

I am in and my heart is it's deep.

540

:

It's involved and I stayed there for

the two full days that they had us and

541

:

Eric, the plan was that I was going to

take the baby home after interstate had

542

:

cleared if the baby was signed over to us.

543

:

But Eric had noticed that my strength

was waning and I was exhausted.

544

:

I wasn't sleeping at night

cause I was feeding the baby.

545

:

And then all day I was helping with the

mom and just the emotional toil of it all.

546

:

And I fully believe there was

spiritual warfare, just the

547

:

devil trying to do his thing.

548

:

And so I was pretty weary.

549

:

And so Eric left early.

550

:

Brought the kids with my parents and he

came down to be with me in the hospital

551

:

and he walked into the room and he

stayed there for about five minutes

552

:

and was like, let's go in the hallway.

553

:

And he came out and he goes, I don't

know how you've done this for 48 hours.

554

:

The weight in that room is so thick.

555

:

You need a break.

556

:

I'm going to get you some food.

557

:

We're going to leave and we're going

to take a breath and we're just going

558

:

to let ourselves just have a moment.

559

:

So he took me to a restaurant and

ordered for me as I just stared and he

560

:

was like, So, what are you thinking?

561

:

What do you feel?

562

:

And I was like, I don't know.

563

:

It was going great.

564

:

And then it didn't like my

heart is just I'm scared.

565

:

I'm scared.

566

:

My heart's in this and she's gonna sign

soon or maybe not and not what do I do?

567

:

And how do I handle this?

568

:

And So we just prayed that the Lord would

just help us to not fear and to not, not

569

:

worry and to not care about ourselves,

but to lay down our life for our friend.

570

:

And so I just, we just prayed, Lord,

just fill us with your Holy Spirit and

571

:

give us the strength and whatever is

the best for this baby, let that happen.

572

:

We don't care what that is.

573

:

Honestly, take our desire out of

this, not our will, but yours be done.

574

:

Whatever is the best for this baby.

575

:

And we just prayed and prayed that.

576

:

And we came back to the hospital and.

577

:

In my room at this, Oh, and at this

point, the hospital had found a room.

578

:

Some mom had left.

579

:

And so they gave me an actual bedroom.

580

:

And so I had worship

music playing on repeat.

581

:

So when I would walk in, I was just filled

with the Holy Spirit and would pray.

582

:

And in my room, when we came back

from that lunch was the mom at that

583

:

maternity home who had signed us.

584

:

Up to, or who had gotten my postcard.

585

:

She came to be with us and to

just pray and to, she's I don't

586

:

know what's going to happen, but

I just want to support you too.

587

:

And so she sat with her for

the birth mom for a while.

588

:

She sat with us and she just

sat, I just will never forget.

589

:

She sat in a rocking chair

in my room and just prayed.

590

:

And she just prayed over

us, prayed out loud.

591

:

She'd pray quietly.

592

:

She would write prayers down in her

notebook and she just prayed and Eric

593

:

and I would be talking and she just

was quietly in the corner praying.

594

:

And

595

:

Steph: That's incredible.

596

:

Jen: was incredible.

597

:

I just, I feel like, oh, to be able

to be that person that thinks through

598

:

enough that this need, they only have a

need to be prayed over and I'm going to

599

:

go there and physically pray over them.

600

:

Like she could have done it from

her home and texted me, but having

601

:

her presence there, it was like,

oh, that just meant so much.

602

:

It was, it was beautiful.

603

:

So, Eric and I laid on the hospital bed

together and I remember taking a selfie

604

:

and being like, well, is she ours?

605

:

I don't know.

606

:

And we smiled and took a picture.

607

:

I know it's a complete cliffhanger,

but we're going to leave you there

608

:

so that we can continue to tell this

story in the detail that it deserves.

609

:

I'm sure you've been incredibly inspired.

610

:

Oh, by the way, Jen and Eric

and others loved this birth mom.

611

:

Through a difficult time.

612

:

And how the Lord did.

613

:

Bring beauty from ashes.

614

:

We can't wait for you to hear.

615

:

Part three next week.

616

:

I want to remind you to leave a

review if you've been blessed by this

617

:

podcast and to share it with others.

618

:

Steph: We know you're busy, Mama,

so we are truly grateful you joined

619

:

us for this episode of Again.

620

:

If you're looking for more information

about building your home on the

621

:

foundation of Jesus Christ, head to www.

622

:

EntrustedMinistries.

623

:

com to learn more about our study for

moms, Entrusted with a Child's Heart.

624

:

This scripture saturated study

has blessed families around the

625

:

world, and we want it for you, too.

626

:

Before you go, I want to pray

this benediction over you

627

:

from 2 Thessalonians 1, 11 12.

628

:

We're rooting for you.

629

:

To this end, we always pray for you,

that our God may make you worthy of His

630

:

calling, and may fulfill every resolve

for good, and every work of faith by

631

:

His power, so that the name of our Lord

Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in

632

:

Him, according to the grace of our God.

633

:

And the Lord Jesus Christ.

634

:

Amen.

635

:

Until we meet again.

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About the Podcast

Again
Biblical Motherhood Untangled
So much of what we do as mothers is on repeat. Join us to redeem this repetition and untangle from the confusion and overwhelm of parenting. We'll follow the Agains in the Bible to focus on the things that matter most. Let's look up together to embrace a motherhood full of freedom and joy! This podcast is sponsored by Entrusted Ministries.

About your host

Profile picture for Stephanie Hickox

Stephanie Hickox

Stephanie has always delighted in God’s Word and in sharing it with others. Whether it is equipping mothers and leaders through Entrusted with a Child’s Heart, inspiring students when teaching at homeschool co-ops or children’s ministry, or homeschooling her own children, Stephanie’s life mission is to encourage others to follow faithfully and joyfully after Jesus—especially if they hold her favorite job title: mom.

Betsy Corning wrote Entrusted with a Child’s Heart in 1999 in response to the needs she saw in families as she and David counseled young parents just a few years behind them. Entrusted has been taught in hundreds of churches nationwide, been translated into several foreign languages, and has made its way around the world. More recently, Betsy received her Masters in Biblical Studies from The Master’s University and is developing a new Bible Study program called Get the Word Out. Her passion for God’s Word, discipleship, and teaching biblical principles as they apply to family life has remained strong to this day. One of the greatest blessings in Betsy’s life are her three grown children, their spouses, and ten grandchildren that keep her constantly in touch with every age and stage.

Jen Freckman Is an incredible wealth of wisdom. She will tell you a natural remedy for just about anything! She is also a voracious reader and she is just overflowing with quotes and guidance that she's encountered through reading and being faithful. She delights in her children and is a devoted mother. She is also an amazingly creative problem solver! Her solutions to manage her home and guide her children are inspiring.

Emily Deyo is such a treasure. She is an incredible encourager and servant-hearted woman. When she has the mic in front of her, so much value comes out! She is a wordsmith and her heart consistently beats for how she can encourage and serve others. She is a truly loving and attentive mother.

Join Betsy, Emily, Jen, and Stephanie as they share the wisdom only Scripture and on-the-job training can provide to help untangle the joyful calling of motherhood.