Every Family’s Story Deserves to Be Told

Recently, I had the privilege of spending the evening with Alexandra, Stefan, and their four precious boys at Prophetstown State Park for their summer family photo session and I’m still swooning over the gorgeous moments we captured!

Now don’t get me wrong, it was probably one of the most chaotic and crazy hours spent chasing 4 little boys around WAY past their bedtimes, but gosh, so much goodness here my friends!

For me though, family photos are soo much more than just objects to hang on the wall.

Photos Tell YOUR Family’s Story!

Alexandra and Stefan’s beautiful story is so special and they were incredibly gracious in allowing me to share a bit of it with you here!

So…grab a coffee, pull up a comfy chair, and be totally encouraged by this sweet family’s story!

The Start of Their Adoption Journey

Alexandra and Stefan had their first two little boys in 2016 and 2017 and knew their family wasn’t yet complete. In September 2017, they started the adoption process and their home study was finally live in December 2018!

They were matched with an expecting mother on May 6th, 2019 and began eagerly awaiting the birth of this precious child who would become part of their family. Baby boy wasn’t due until mid-August, so they had 4.5 months to prepare their hearts and await the arrival of this new little one who would hopefully join their family!

The Waiting Game

For most families, adoption is a LONG SEASON of WAITING. Waiting for paperwork, a home study, to be matched, for the baby to be born, for the baby (or older child) to finally be placed in their arms, for attachment, for the legal paperwork to be finalized and on and on.

Waiting is totally exhausting.

Alexandra shared on her blog that she knew God was calling them to pause…to wait…because he was preparing their hearts through this entire process. During this time, scriptures were the greatest source of comfort and peace as she was reminded to continually replace worry with gratitude.

A failed Adoption

On August 20th, 2019, the wait was over and baby boy was finally born, but the expectant mother notified them that she decided to parent the child herself. Alexandra and Stefan respected that the decision was rightfully hers to make, and they were thankful to God for the opportunity to support this expectant mom emotionally and otherwise during an unplanned pregnancy.

All the same, they were left with sadness, grief, and so many unanswered questions. Why did this not work out the way they had hoped or anticipated? What would the future hold for this little boy? Who else was God preparing for their family instead?

While there was no clear closure to this painful time, they trusted God’s goodness knowing that while their adoption failed, God had not failed them. They would continue to prayerfully wait.

The phone Call That Changed everything

After their failed adoption, Alexandra shared that they began to feel a little hopeless about their journey. They felt God leading them to be open to His will, but they didn’t quite yet understand what that meant yet.

Alexandra and Stefan received a phone call at the beginning of November 2019 about an urgent adoption need for 14 month old TWIN BOYS! They had an immediate sense of clarity knowing that this is what God was preparing them for, and they were overjoyed to know that these little guys needed a home immediately and their prayers had been answered.

10 days after that first call, they signed the paperwork, and these two precious little ones were in their arms!

Four Boys Under Four

At the time the twins were adopted last fall, they had four boys under four with 3 in diapers and one set of twins! Life has continued to be crazy and chaotic, and while their hands are full, their hearts are all the more full.

Alexandra and Stefan shared that they are the blessed ones to be called Mama and Papa by these precious boys. To God be all the glory as he continues to redeem what has been broken and to make all things new.

  

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