An Adoption Story: The Rhoads Family

In late Spring of 2012, my husband, Marcus, and I decided that we were ready to start a family. We'd always liked the idea of adopting someday, but assumed we'd have biological kids first. Around the same time, Summit started a sermon series, Love In Deed, about caring for orphans and widows and that got my wheels turning about adopting. In the midst of the series, the Summit magazine arrived including several articles about adoption. John Parker wrote an article about his first steps with his wife, Brandy, into an orphanage to get their kids. In the article, John wrote, “The gates swung open of the Ethiopian orphanage and revealed the faces of about 30 kids, all eyes locked on us as I scanned each little face hoping to recognize our daughter.” As I read those words, my heart broke for orphans and I knew right then that God was calling us to adopt. I prayed God would give Marcus the same calling. Two weeks later, Marcus was praying about whether we should adopt and he heard God say to him, “Haven’t I already given you 100 reasons?”

The following Sunday, Summit showed an adoption video and God again used John and Brandy to speak directly to our hearts about God’s plan for our family. I knew that if we felt like God was calling us to adoption, we had to trust God and take the next step.

At the conclusion of the series, Summit hosted an expo where we met adoptive families and made connections with local adoption agencies. A few weeks later, we eagerly attended the Adoption Information Dinner and were able to talk to more adoptive families, hear from adoption professionals, and discuss our concerns.

We both really wanted a baby, so we decided to adopt domestically through a local agency. Over the next 7 months, we joined an adoption support group, applied and were accepted as a "waiting family," and were matched with a birth mother. For reasons out of our control, the match fell through right before the baby was born, leaving us heartbroken and confused about what God had planned for us. Three months later, we were matched again. Three weeks after that, we discovered we were pregnant and shortly afterward found out we were expecting twins!

We knew God had called us to adopt, so with the birth mom’s approval, we continued the adoption process. In November 2013, we brought home our beautiful baby girl, Amber, and five months later, welcomed her precious twin sisters.

We're in an open adoption and have frequent visits with our Amber’s birth family and when we met with her birth mom near our daughter’s first birthday, we learned she was pregnant again. We were unclear about what our role would be, but wanted Amber to have some kind of relationship with her half-sibling. Months later, we found out that the birth mom wanted to make an adoption plan, so we made a bold step and shared with the birth parents that while we didn’t know exactly what God wanted, we were open to the idea of adopting their baby. The next day, the birth parents asked us to adopt their baby and God quickly confirmed, through prayer and Bible study, His call for us to adopt again.

Amber is now 18.5 months old, Maggie and Janie are almost 14 months old and Amber’s little brother(!) is due in late July! While we (and the second adoption) are still a work in progress, we are trying to trust God each day, be obedient to His call, and take even the smallest next right step. Maybe the Lord has stirred your heart towards adoption. I would encourage you to pray about what your next step might be.

If you have questions, or if you just want to hear more adoption stories, join us for an Adoption Information Dinner.

Wednesday, June 10th at 6:30 p.m. Summit Herndon Campus 735 Herndon Avenue Click here to RSVP

Guest blogger, Katie Rhoads, is a stay at home mom who enjoys reading, baking, shopping, and going to the beach. She is also passionate about adoption and seeking justice for the oppressed.