When God calls you to move, get ready to JUMP!

When God calls you to move, get ready to jump! For me the first step was the hardest! Though the last step took the most faith!

About one year ago: God started stirring and calling me to truly look at adoption! Though I "wasn't ready"- so I did what I do best-

 I read, researched and prayed!

10 months ago: finally told my husband that I wanted to adopt but more than that I thought we were called to adoption

A few months went by for my husband to do his own research, pray, and ask a lot of questions! 

Finally!! He said he was on board! 

7 months ago: we started telling our families we were thinking about adopting! 

6 months ago: We went public with our desire to adopt! And hit the ground to fundraise! 

6 months ago minus 1 day: we put our fundraising on hold to gladly help fundraise for friends who are our family to get through a very tough crisis! 

4 and a half months ago: we "official" started and hired our amazing Adoption Consultant from Christian Adoption Consultants

4 months ago: we bought a house with the intent to not move for a while so that our home study would count for a whole year because we knew adoption took time!

2 and a half months ago: started our adoption home study paper work! Little did we know our baby girl was been born and we had no idea! 

2 months and 1 week ago: we had no idea our baby girl spent her 1st week of life in the NICU

2 months ago: our best friends called to say they set up a Christmas Tree fundraiser for us because they knew we would need the money soon to adopt! So excited and blessed and having no clue that our baby was in private foster care within miles of us! I will always be so grateful for those Angels that loved our girl even when we didn't even know about her yet! 

1 and a half months ago: about 75  friends and family buying alittle over $1,000 of chickfila resulted in $200 towards our adoption fund! 

1 month ago: Pick up day!! For our Christmas Tree Sale that resulted in 30 Christmas Trees and 42 Wreaths sold!  totaling $2,500 towards our adoption fund!

2 weeks ago: our home study! And still had no clue our baby girl was 2 months old that same day!

1 week and 1 day ago: the call that changed our lives and told us about our daughter for the first time! 

1 week ago: All In! We as a coupled prayed hard! Trusting God with all of His affirmation over the earlier weeks! Trusting God to provide the significant funds need to make our adoption possible and for it to be in 24 hours because she was waiting! Told our 5 year old daughter that if God works it all out because He wants this for our family then she could be a big sister this weekend

6 days ago: lawyer talk and getting as much funds together as possible! Prepared our daughter to be a big sister the next day! God blow us away in how He already had all this worked out and how He had been pointing us to her for weeks! 

5 days ago: Gotcha Day! Meet and picked up our daughter and fell in love!! Our 5 year old daughter who has prayed and prayed became a big sister and is so happy! 

The last week has been a whirl wind of intense emotions- a stretch of our faith and trust in Jesus! 

The last few days have been beautiful becoming a family of 4!

Today: On Christmas Morning we get to announce our second daughter, who at 2 months old is beautiful, happy, and smiley! 

Zoey Gabriella Hardin

Zoey means Life

Gabriella means Strong Woman of God and is the name her birth mother gave her! 

Hardin is her forever family name

Every good and prefect gift is from above

                                            James 1:17

6 days from now: The Adoption Fees clear our account and we have no question or concern as to how God will provide! He has been so faithful!! Every small donation adds up to make a huge difference!

4-5 months from now: our daughter's adoption will be finalized! At about 7 months of age! 

20 plus years from now: our daughters will do great and mighty things that change this world for the better! So grateful God is allowing us to parent this amazing girls that are already His! 

Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, But later you will understand."                                 John 13:7

            MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 

             LOVE THE HARDINS

We have 6 days left to fundraise as much money as possible! Please pray and consider giving to our adoption fund! The donate button on the side makes it really easy! Or the donate button on the get involved page!

As a family we hope and pray to give back to adoptions and orphans as much as possible! Especial in the month of December in the years to come! To honor our daughter and the 2 months before she was home with her forever family!

I will not leave you as orphans I will  come to you.                                                         John 14:18

God uses struggle and friendship to be His hands and feet

God uses struggle and friendship to be His hands and feet!

Last night we celebrated with friends and family at our adoption Chick-fil-a fundraiser! We left feeling humbled, blessed, and so grateful!  Each person who was there has impacted our family in so many ways! Lots of prayers, encouragement, guidance, advice, and generosity! We truly have an amazing community of friends! 

But for you to really understand our community and how God is using community in a way that leaves us overwhelmed, loved, and pointing straight back to Jesus- we want to share a story with you! 

A story I struggled writing for weeks! Praying for God to guide my words- to show His glory, to give hope, to show community is worth more than our normal American lives want us to believe! But I have also struggled because not only is this story personal and some what private, it is very personal and private to dear friends of ours! Friends we call family! 

The Simpsons are these incredible Jesus loving family that keep teaching our family more about God's love and generosity! We know it was a God thing, when we moved from a 1 bedroom apartment with our 1 year old daughter and a dog to a 2 bedroom town home in a nice part of town at a price way below what we should have paid!  Little did we know that the wall that divided our home from our neighbors would be the wall that helped us truly experience community! We quickly became great friends, always helping each other! Ashley would make dinner all the time having us over often though she was working crazy hours as Brandon was searching for a job, they would watch our daughter so we could go on dates, and I may have found her a few times cleaning my bathroom (now that's true friendship!!) but the genuine generosity that poured out just from being around them started overflowing a little at a time into our lives! So as the guys helped each other work on all our cars, we shared multiple meals weekly, and lots of late nights playing cards!  God knew He was building relationships that would one day help change both our families! We have paid each other's rent when times were hard,  we have lived together in time of need, we have feed each other more times then we can count especially those time money was tight, we have loved and helped with each other's children, we have cried together but mostly laughed together, we have gone out of our way to just love each other like Jesus loves us! And it works! We have this reciprocal friendship that builds our families up and points us more to Jesus!

      Their daughter and our daughter!

So on July 2nd after lots and lots of prayer we decided to announce to everyone we had big plans to adopt and started the fundraising process! And of course Brandon and Ashley were right there getting the word out!

Then July 3rd I received a text message that rocked me to the core and changed our lives!

From Ashley: Laken, Brandon has a brain tumor

Nothing more, nothing less- it was pass 10 pm, I was out with some other awesome ladies I get to call my friends- just laughing, eating chocolate cake, drinking milk when my heart sank and I couldn't help but cry! I know they had been at the ER all day because something wasn't right the past week or 2 with Brandon but never did I imagine I would read those words! Never had a felt so helpless! Our 2 best friends would never be the same! David and I rushed to the hospital (so thankful for friends who would let our little one crash at 11 pm on a week night). Ashley was 5 months pregnant and now Brandon had a brain tumor the size of a tennis ball at age 25- they both were already exhausted from chasing a 18 month old around who was keeping them up most nights and struggling financially. Stressed is not even the word to describe the emotions- but never did you see them without a smile on their face and hope coming out of their mouth! So as they fought to keep it together they reflected Jesus to everyone they came in contact with- the nurses, staff, and doctors spoke so highly of them! 

July 4 bright and early Brandon underwent brain surgery to remove the tumor! Nothing in life prepares you for that! Just 12 hours after seeing the tumor on the scan he was under the knife. We prayed, kept their daughter occupied, made sure pregnant Ashley ate and had enough money, and just waited! We waited and waited! The doctor took the whole family and us back to hear the news that he was pretty sure, 90% sure it was cancer! And unfortunately, we would find out a week later that doctor was right- stage 4 brain cancer.  Ashley tried hard to hold it together especially for her family and daughter but I know her and she needed alone time to process and Brandon was still in recovery so we couldn't see him. I took her to another empty room and we both just cried, held hands and didnt say a word! A few minutes later my husband David walked in and we all prayed! There was no other option! God was the only one who really had any say- though it was not easy we completely gave Brandon back to God in prayers- still feeling helpless!

That day or the next we hit the ground running in raising money for their family!  Living paycheck to paycheck, with their sole income now gone, and their car literally broke on the way to the ER just the day before- God needed to provide and He did! 

God is still providing! The last few months of doctors appointments, scans, test, finding a natural treatment that would not leave him with brain damage and even sicker, an extreme diet change, a pregnant wife making ever single bite of food for herself, her healing husband, and growing child, on top of her budgeting a non-existing income was more than trying! It was hard, it was BS, but God shined though it all! God has provided for them but they know without any hesitation our home is always open!

I say all that not to pull on your heart strings but to paint you a picture of where we were when we got the call! Ashley and Brandon were on speaker phone and you could tell in their voice they were smiling! 

Ashley- "so we have some great news! We just finalized all the details for a fundraiser for yalls adoptions..."

Wait? What? Fundraising for us, we should be fundraising for you!! Was my first thought! 

"We are selling real Christmas Trees and hand made wreaths! Our goal is 300 trees!! Raising over $12,000!"

We were speechless, we may have cried, we were definitely humbled! I quickly said "$12,000 is what we should be raising for yall!! That's beyond amazing you would think of us but let's do it for yall!! We know God called us to adoption, so we have full faith He will provide the money!"

Ashley: "yep! Your right! God will provide the money and this is how! A few weeks ago God placed on our hearts to fundraiser for yalls adoption because we feel yall may be matched much quicker than you expected and we do not want finances to hold you back from the child God has made for your family!"

And so for the last few weeks our friends have poured themselves into prompting our adoption and selling Christmas Trees and Wreaths! It's not about the trees, or the wreaths, or the money! It's about community! We would never be brave enough to face adoption and this real picture of the gospel that adoption paints, if it wasn't for the true community of friends, like Brandon and Ashley Simpson (and honestly many others!)- that's JESUS has placed in our life! 

There are exactly 6 days left to sale those 300 Christmas Trees! And We are all expecting God to show up BIG so all the Glory is His because without Jesus 300 is just a number! There are exactly 7 days to Ashley's due date! (She's having a boy!) Don't ever tell me God can't use you were you are! If you are willing and listening God will use you in ways you had no idea you had the strength for! It has been exactly 140 days Brandon has been cancer free! He is still healing and all the credit, praise and glory goes to God! 

If you want to hear more about the Christmas tree fundraiser in words from Brandon and Ashley visit:

www.treesforloveandhope.com

We decided on calling the fundraiser Trees for Love and Hope because God has really given us a long term vision for this fundraiser! Vision to continue and grow it every year to help other adoptions in the future in our community! God is so good, just look around, I promise if your really seeking He will show you great and mighty things! 

The Fort Mill Time, a local newspaper just wrote an article about our story! 

Here is the website to read:

http://www.fortmilltimes.com/2014/11/14/3861576_bffs-fort-mill-couple-set-up-sale.html?sp=%2F99%2F231%2F&rh=1

Beautiful Things Grow In Crap

2 years ago today my heart literally shattered into a million little pieces that I have yet to completely put back together

2 years ago I felt I could cry forever

2 years ago I forced myself to put a smile on my face 

2 years ago I wanted no one and so desperately needed Jesus, yet had so many questions and hurt feels, I did not admit it

2 years ago I could have gone for days without speaking or eating

2 years ago the room went still 

2 years ago no heart beat 

2 years ago miscarriage 

but life doesn't stop for our pain, does it? 

2 years ago when I felt alone, lost, scared, mad, sad, sick, bitter, resentful, and guilt...God had a plan to take all that emotion and plant a seed where I honestly did not want anything to grow... 

I have an incredibly strong and insanely beautiful friend who says:

"Beautiful things grow in crap" 

Let that sink in... Beautiful things grow in crap! Can something truly beautiful come from something awful? Can pain really be the ground for a seed that grows to produce a harvest? 

The past 2 years have not been easy, especially being in the stage of life where everyone is having babies, from my best friends to my step mom. No, the past 2 years have not been easy but man, have they been beautiful and fruitful! All those blessings called babies bring more joy than their mommas know! The past 2 years God has taught me that my children are not completely mine but fully His- in that freedom we as a family decided to fully trust God to shape our family! 

God took my deepest sadness and replaced it with a heart for adoption! So, Yes, today I am sad for our unborn baby we will never hold! But today, I am also joyful for our unborn baby we will hold right after a courageously amazing birth mom holds them first!

Beautiful things grow in crap.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time."                          Ecclesiastes 3:11

It's Offical! To Your Name Be The Glory!!

Sending off the first part of our paper work to offically start our adoption is the most exciting paperwork we have EVER filed out!!

This paper work- we talked months about, printed out weeks ago, discussed atleast 25 times- is now Offical!  I woke up this morning (exactly 2 weeks before we are scheduled to close on our house) with a clear mind and a heavy heart that without a doubt today starts our adoption paperwork process!   I have no idea why I felt we had to send the paper work off today instead of waiting until next week like we planned- trusting that God knows! So I rearranged some plans, packed up the little one in the car, and headed to see my husband at work!

Signed, dated, faxed and sealed with a kiss!  The questions daunting us before- today we answered with ease and clarity!

We are so grateful for those who have already given towards our adoption, your generous gifts helped us take this first step! God's provision amazes us! Not only providing the finances but the peace, wisdom, encouragment, clarity, love, and vision exactly when we need it! We want Psalm 115:1 evident in our adoption story and our lives!

"Not for us, O Lord, not for us but to Your name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness."         Psalm 115:1

Please continue to join us in prayer!

Hardin Adoption Fund

Beautiful things happen at night!

 Maybe it is the calm of the day, maybe it is the time to finally think, or maybe it is the time to just be still!   

It's 12:30 am- perfectly silent with bugs chriping outside, 2 beautiful people snoring beside me! Normally our 4 year old daughter doesn't sleep in our bed but tonight it just happened- it just happened because over the last month our family has been stretched, pulled, pushed, shoved, ripped, and glued back together! From the day we decided to finally make a move where God is calling us to adopt- to make that 3 snoring loves in my bed- we have been in a whirl wind! Those of you who know us know. One day I may share more.

Though the days were long, the month was short and I know I put more miles on my Tahoe than the rest of the year combined- the heart of our family was exposed! Exposed really only to us, a time where we were given the chance to be the family we are always aiming to be- to truly love others in a way that surpassed our own wants! 

For the first few years of our marriage and start as a family we were broke to put it nicely- thankfully The Lord always provided, we always had what we needed- though wants were another story! So it was so easy to give when we had so little because there was never anything left to really give! As God continued to bless us- we learned to be more faithful in our giving to Him! Can I be honest, it was always easier to give when we had little because that wasn't a sacrifice that going to break our already broken bank! Usually others were giving to us and we could not be more thankful! 

But God does something in you that's amazing when you give beyond what He has called- even in the mist of needing more for what He has called you to do! Jesus is so faithful and I am learning to trust the promise of His faithfulness before I see the blessing! The blessings of genuine friendships, true community, an amazing marriage, and a family love that keeps growing, but the biggest blessing of all is getting to the point where we want Jesus above all else! 

In this past month I have wrestled it out with Jesus with tears in my eyes wanting Him to make it clear to me what He was doing!  (Most of this was in the many hours I spent driving!)

And though I have quoted this scripture to friends and family- watched a best friend fight like hell with this scripture pressed on her heart and now on the other side tattooed on her wrist-  it hit me like a ton of bricks! This is where I find my rest! In this over used scripture, this "band-aid" scripture, this scripture that when  it became real, stopped me dead in my tracks! 

"The Lord will fight for you, you need only to be still" Exd 14:14

So at 12:30 with my husband and 4 year old dead to the world in sleep next to me- I am learning to be still! 

That Day We Realized...

This is starting as our adoption story but it is so much more than that! Our story is nothing special- but it's our story- our real story of heartache, struggles, and a whole lot of healing, love, and grace from Jesus! We invite you to walk beside us! We hope we convey who we are, how we got here and how our amazing God still worked all that out for His good! Our story is best understood once you know where we come from. So please check out our individual stories once they hit the page.

Though we talked and prayed and prayed and prayed about adoption for almost a year now, in one text conversation between us The Lord pushed us from hopes and dreams to a broken heart for babies and their birthmothers. He broke my heart and healed it all in the same hard cry! The kind of cry that comes from your gut, rips you to pieces and you're still crying when you wake up! I saw pieces of myself in those beautiful birthmother stories!

This is the exact text sent between my husband and me with tears streaming down my face:

Me: Last night I read birthmother stories... They were so beautiful and sad all at once but what hit me most was my overwhelming love and gratitude for you! Most of these girls were just like me, in college, no job, family telling them one thing, society telling them another, nothing to their actual name but unlike them God gave me, you! You who without realizing fiercely loved me and our baby! You who would never say this but you have been the spiritual leader of our family way before it ever was official! You honestly are the only one who has ever shown me Jesus' relenting love and redeeming grace! You who loves our family with a love most people will never know! 5 years ago when I had no idea how beautiful our life together as a family would turn out! I am beyond grateful God gave you to me! That you held me close and just loved me! And you still do that to this day!  And it hit me last night why a private open adoption of our beautiful newborn baby is what He is calling our family to, that though you and I need to talk about it more, God is calling us to an open adoption! That its not just His child that He is giving us to parent that we get to show His unfailing love to but also our sweet baby's birthmother! The overwhelming feeling I have for you and our life together is beyond my words! But most girls don't have that, and the selfless choice she will make for us is well worth the money, time, and tears!  But if I learn nothing else through this process is nothing in this world can compare to how Jesus used you to love me, just love me even at my darkest over the past 8 years! I would be lost without you because you are the leader God gave me! Thank you for this beautifully amazing life we get live together! I am so in love with you! And love you more and more everyday! Okay, I got it all out... Maybe I can stop crying now! I am so proud of you! You are a better man than I usually give you credit for! 

My husband: Whew...you trying to make me cry at work? Haha...you are my heart and I love our story and even more I love our family and even it's chaos! Babe I just want you to keep your head up and help me to make you stronger. Our baby story hurts when we look at the past but God does all things for HIS good not our wants! I love how you love me and Avery and I know we will figure out the craziness of adopting! I love you woman more than you may ever know but you and Avery are my heart!

That day we realized adoption was less about us- more about babies and their birthmother- even more about Our Creator and Lord, Jesus Christ who has always relentlessly loved us with this incomparable redeeming grace!
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you”  John 14:18

We invite you to join us in this journey! Especially join us in prayer!

Our Adoption Fund

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