JohnsonFamilyAdopts

Our family is unique. Our Faith is strong. Our love is abounding.

We have known from the beginning that Love makes a Family not blood. We are a family made up of biological ties, marital connections, chosen children, and family all over the world. But we have known for a long time that it isn't complete yet. We had avoided adoption after a failed one years ago. It wasn't as involved as many but when the mother chose abortion over adoption it hurt us deep enough to want to stay away from adoption completely. The pain we felt from that situation left such a dreadful scar. After years of trying other routes to complete our family picture we saw over and over again one thing or another stood in the way. We had failure after failure, set-back after set-back, spending thousands, and getting nowhere. We lost a child and finally all ability to have a child in the same day. We mourned, we felt lost and we sought the Lord. We stepped back, we prayed, and in the end we were told by the small still voice to let go of the fear and we decided we would pursue adoption, this time with an agency.

As many of you know this can be a long process. Home studies take a lot of money and time, finding an agency and being approved take a lot of money and time, making a profile, waiting on an initial match, and then being chosen takes a long long time. This is what we prepared for. We are not without means. We knew we had time to save the funds needed and did not stress about getting those funds together. We are rather thrifty and were determined to grow our family even if it took years.

Apparently God had another plan. We found someone to do our homestudy and it took only weeks. We found an agency and were approved in a day. Our profile was made quickly and has been chosen multiple times giving us a lot of exposure! And so everything is moving very very fast. Anyone who has been touched by adoption in their lives can tell you that this is far from the norm. Even our case worker expressed that this was an incredibly unusual circumstance. But when a match comes along that is well made you just know that the Lord has his hand in it. We haven't had the time we were repeatedly told we would have. We have had no chance to fill out applications for grants, loans, or save up the funds. God willing we will be bringing home a baby rather soon. Preparation, deliver expenses, and legal fees are needing to be paid faster than we can earn them.

Until this public profile most of you will never have known our struggle. Being naturally private people we did not let many people know that we were trying to grow our family and having a difficult go with it. We also did not ask for funds for the steps we have taken already from any of our friends, determined that it was our hearts desire and our responsibility. We mourned the loss of our baby on our own in silence because we didn't share our struggle. We suffered that heartache alone. We have since been shown that the solitary path was not God's intention for his people. Humans were made to help, support, love on, and build up one another. We were made that way and have to allow people to show their love for our family in any way they can. Not just the way we are most comfortable with. Like many people, we did not ask for help when we needed it, and healing took all the longer for it. We now know to ask for help and support when it's needed. And as He so often does, He has put us in a position where we have no choice but to live out his intention if we are to obtain our heart's desire.

Steven and I both have multiple jobs, take extra work, and are selling anything not nailed down. We are doing all we know to make this happen but the fact is that nothing we can do will be fast enough on our own. We are asking for help. Our total cost of the adoption will be over $30,000. Adoption Bridge only allows families to raise 1/3 of the cost of the adoption on here. Much has been saved or paid already, but more than half of the total cost is due nearly immediately and all the rest must be raised by March. Many grant programs even require you fundraise just like this and will only match funds donated as thier way of gauging the community's and extended family's level of dedication and acceptance of the adoption, the adoptive family, and the child to be adopted.

We know after so many years of the brokeness of failure and loss that this is the Lord telling us "Don't doubt my grace, Don't doubt this path, Stop trying to do this alone"

This fundraising page is set up so that blood family, church family, military family, police family, friends, acquaintances, or strangers who feel led by the grace of God can help us financially and with words of support to be able to follow the path that has become so very obvious. The Lord has had a plan for us all along. We needed only to step aside, allow it to happen, follow his will and he has shown us the way. And the way is forcing us to humble ourselves, ask for help, and make room for this child to grow up in love.

Please prayerfully consider being a part of this endeavor. Offer words of encouragement, spread the word, or consider donating to our adoption fund. And please pray for our family and the mother as we go through this difficult and trying process.

Love makes a family, and we are learning that the Love comes from our community as well.

May the Lord bless you all, as he has blessed us immensely.

*********************************************Thank You**********************************************************

Several people have made donations on AdoptionBridge and directly to us. Brandy's Father, Brandy's Grandfather, Brandy's Brother, Stevens First Sergeant, and Top's family have been so generous and donated to our beautiful dream. I want to publicly thank you all for your tender hearts for our family. We are so blessed to have you as a part of our lives. Thank You.