Questions

Hi Friends,

We know a lot of you have questions regarding the decision we made, and how we are going to proceed. Although we feel we can't go into great detail on the blog, please know that first and foremost we want to honor God in all we do, including our decision. We want what is best for this baby, his mom, and our family. After the baby was born, some medical issues (and other potential medical issues) came up that we did not feel comfortable or equipped to handle. Along with this knowledge came a clear sense, one that we believe to be from the Lord, that we were not to proceed.

Some of you may be wondering what we are planning to do with the funds we raised for this birthmother. We are still in the process of working through what is best to do, and no action will be taken until we are able to meet with our adoption agency and discuss how to move forward. If you have any specific questions about this or our decision, please feel free to ask.

Please do keep praying for us. Although we have peace knowing we made the right decision and are following God's leading, walking though this particular trial has been much more difficult than we could have imagined. We are planning to take a "time out" from the adoption process to regroup and pray about how to move forward. We feel quite emotionally drained and in need of rest and refreshment. We so appreciate your kind, encouraging words and your prayers.

~Stephen and Jill

Difficult News

Hi Everyone,

We just wanted to let you all know that today we made the decision to not move forward with this adoption. We have several reasons for doing so, but it really comes down to us not having the faith to proceed. Although this was a really difficult decision to make, we did not do it lightly, and we have much peace as God continues to lead us. We are glad to talk with any of you who have questions. Please pray for us as we are dealing with sadness and disappointment, and also please pray that the birthmom will have wisdom as she contemplates what is best for her baby. Thank you all so much.

Stephen and Jill

Wednesday's News

Hi All,

I only have a few minutes, but just wanted to let you all know that Jackson is doing really well. He is totally off oxygen and is breathing wonderfully on his own. It is still looking like his difficulty breathing wasn't due to anything serious, but we will know tomorrow evening when his blood cultures come back. He is being given antibiotics as a precautionary measure until we find out about his cultures. We hope he will be out of the NICU by tomorrow evening, and maybe even released on Friday.

We are getting ready to go into a meeting with the birthmother and our Bethany social worker. This process has been more difficult for the mom than she thought it would be, and even though she is still quite sure she is going to go through with it she is having a hard time. Please pray for us as we go talk with her, that we will be gracious and loving, and show God's compassion no matter what the outcome. We hope to have a better feel for how things are looking after our meeting with her.

We are headed home after this meeting to spend tonight at home with Grant. He is still quite sick, and will be getting a dose of antibiotics since it seems he may be getting a secondary infection. Thank you all for your prayers. We'll keep you informed of any new developments.

~Stephen and Jill

More Info

We have had an unexpectedly full day today. Baby Jackson was born at 3:12 PM this afternoon, weighing 8 lbs, 3 oz. We first saw him through the windows of the nursery where the nurses were giving him some oxygen. His blood oxygen levels were not high enough, so he was then taken to the NICU for closer monitoring and more oxygen. This evening we were able to go see and hold him in the NICU. At present, he is doing well, though still on oxygen. The nurses and our pediatrician explained that sometimes babies born by Cesarean don't get the stimulation they would normally get coming through the birth canal, and they take awhile to start using oxygen like they should. We are hoping and praying that this is the case. However, Jackson is being kept in the NICU until at least Thursday night when test results come back to rule out any infection that could also cause low oxygen saturation.

In the meantime, one of the nurses at the NICU kindly offered to check on a room for us at a hospitality house within walking distance from the hospital. They did have a room available, so Jill and her mom are spending at least this first night there to be close by. This is an amazing blessing as it allows us to have quick access to Jack if we are needed, and also to visit the birthmom. Stephen is home with Grant, who is still not feeling well. We will regroup tomorrow and decide on how to plan our next few days.

Please keep us in your prayers. Even though the events of this day happened in an unexpected manner, we know that nothing surprises the Lord. We are so glad to be able to be such a part of Jackson's birth and subsequent care, and we trust in the Lord to let his little body function like it should. Please also pray that there is no infection, and also for Grant's quick recovery. We spoke with our pediatrician today, and she feels it would be safe to bring Jackson home after Grant hasn't had a fever for 24 hours, meaning he would no longer be contagious.

We hope to post some pictures soon--Jack is such a cutie!

Thanks, friends!

~Stephen and Jill

Baby is Here!

Hi All,

We are at the hospital because they decided to do the c-section today rather than tomorrow. We have been able to see Jackson through the nursery window, and we will hopefully get to hold him soon. He was 8 lbs, 3 oz, but we don't know his exact birth time yet--sometime between 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM. We will update more later...

Please Pray

Hi Friends,

We are nearing the date of baby Jackson's arrival, and we find ourselves in need of much prayer. Saturday night, after our silent auction fundraiser, Grant developed a fever and bad cold symptoms. This would not normally be a big deal, but it can be very serious for a newborn to catch even a small cold, usually requiring hospitalization. As of today, Grant is still sick. We hope he is well and not contagious by the end of the week when Jackson is released from the hospital, but if not, the baby will not be able to come to our home immediately as we don't want to risk exposing him. Please pray for Grant's quick healing and recovery. We know that God is in control of all things, even illness, and that he has the power to heal. Thank you, friends!

_Stephen and Jill

Silent Auction Outcome

We had a wonderful evening at our silent auction fundraiser tonight. Thank you all for coming and for participating. We just tallied up the amount we made, and it appears that we have made at least $2,806. This is far beyond what we hoped or imagined. We feel overwhelmed by your generosity and grateful for all the help we received to pull this evening off. At this point we have more than enough to give to the bithmother for living assistance, and possibly what we will need for the legal fees as well. Thank you all again--God has been so good to us!

~Stephen and Jill

His name will be...

Jackson Daniel. (We'll call him Jack). We had a wonderful meeting with the birthmother today, and everything is in place for next week's delivery on Wednesday, January 13 at 8:00 AM. We are growing in our faith for this adoption every day. It has been difficult in some ways moving forward and trusting that we are hearing the Lord after what happened with Carver. I think this time we've had a lot more questions, and our social workers have been great about walking us through it all. When it comes down to it, though, we know that God's plans are perfect and he has something better in store. Last Sunday's message (thanks, Vince!) was so encouraging. Looking back at the time we had with Carver, it is tempting to ask "why?" when everything seemed so good, so perfect. And even though we prayed fervently for him to stay, God said "no, this is not my best for you, it will not bring you good." We know that he has heard our prayers, and will not give us a snake or a stone. And even if we never understand why things happen (or will happen) the way they do, we continue to trust that he is good and will work all things for his glory and our good, as he has promised. This fills us with so much hope and joy.

On a different note, we are holding a silent auction fundraiser this Saturday evening to benefit the birthmother as she needs some additional assistance in her recovery period after the baby is born. We think that we have invited all you who live in the area and are keeping up with what's happening in our adoption. However, if we missed you and you didn't get an invitation, please contact Jill. Some email addresses were incorrect, and some of the Evites we sent look like they haven't been received. We would love to have all of you join us for a fun evening of snacks and silent bidding. As mentioned, the proceeds will go to help the birthmom, and any additional amount we make will go toward our legal finalization fees and other baby expenses.

Thanks again, friends, for all of your love and care.

~Stephen and Jill

Birthdate News

Hi All,

We're sorry for the lack of posts over the holiday season. Honestly we haven't had any new information to report up until now. We have received news that a c-section has been scheduled for the birthmom on January 13 in the morning. This is not unexpected, but we weren't sure of the date until today. If she goes into labor before that, however, the baby could be born earlier. We will be meeting with the her one more time tomorrow afternoon to go over some planning items, and then we will continue waiting...

After we speak with her tomorrow we will let you all know the name we've chosen.

On another note, please keep two of our pastors and their families in your prayers. We found out on New Year's Eve that their father, Justin Hinders, passed away. Justin's wife of many years died earlier last year. It had been Justin's constant prayer that God would take her home first so he could continue to care for her. God answered this earnest prayer, and even though we are sad and will miss him, we are grateful that he is now in the presence of his savior and reunited with his beautiful wife.

Thank you, friends, for your care and support. We will update when we have more news.

~Stephen and Jill