5 minute read
adoption Story
Our adoption story began in 2019. My husband, Joey, and I had prayed for a child since 2012. After several doctors’ visits and tests, we learned I had some physical issues hindering our ability to get pregnant. My doctor treated the problem, but said it might take longer and be more difficult to conceive. If this procedure failed, the next step would be in vitro fertilization.
As a woman, I was upset. It made me angry to see my friends get pregnant, and angry as I watched the mothers who already had children. I had wanted a child for so long. During this time I prayed, asking God, “Why is this happening to me?” Selfishly, I made the situation all about me, and it took a while to get out of that mindset. Soon I started praying, “Lord, if it’s your will, please bless Joey and me with a child, either naturally or through adoption.” I prayed this every day.
And one day, the Lord began to answer when I was approached by Allana, a close friend and church member, and our local elementary school principal. She knew about a little girl in foster care who was new to our community and enrolled in four-year-old kindergarten. She asked if we might be interested in adoption, not knowing that was precisely what we had
been praying for some time. We experienced God’s sense of humor when we learned the four-year-old had a little sister. Was He saying, “Okay, you want a child so badly; how about two?”
A few weeks later, we set the date to meet the girls for the first time. April 1, 2019— known to most people as April Fool’s Day, has much more importance to me. My dad died in 2017; April 1 was his birthday. When the foster mom suggested that date, I thought, “Okay, God, I hear You!” We fell in love with the girls the instant we met them. Kimberly was four, and Khloe was 15 months. They had no idea why we came by to see them, but as soon as Joey and I left, we were convinced they were meant to be part of our family.
Now came the "red tape." When we contacted the girls’ caseworker with DSS (Department of Social Services), we explained our desire to be Kimberly and Khloe’s foster parents with a fostering-to-adopt plan. At that point, a long and, sometimes stressful, journey began. There always seemed to be something else to do, like driving 100 miles each way for Saturday morning DSS classes, home studies, fire inspections, and mountains of paperwork. Throughout the process, we were regularly babysitting the girls in our home. Each time it felt tougher to let them go. Finally, on November 22, 2019, after nearly eight months of preparation, Kimberly and Khloe moved in with us—six days before Thanksgiving. We were thankful for SO much!
Those first few months were eventful. Shortly after moving in, both girls contracted a stomach virus. A few weeks later, we were in the emergency room with Kimberly, who cut her head while playing at church. Not too long after that, we were back at the ER after Khloe, as the song says, “fell off the bed and bumped her head.”
Before the adoption could be finalized, the biological parents’ rights had to be terminated. There was no issue with this, but it was still a day of mixed
emotions when we learned their rights had officially ended. While we were glad and excited for us, it still made us sad and even angry that their parents didn’t care enough to fight for their two precious little girls. This rejection will have to be explained to Kimberly and Khloe one day. But “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
On February 24, 2021, our prayers were finally and completely answered— adoption day! To make that day as special as possible, when the girls got up that morning, Joey gave them flowers, and each received a letter explaining why this day was so special for all of us. I also wrote the words from Proverbs 22:1: “A good name is more desirable than great riches.” Kimberly and Khloe were finally Postlewaites, something they had been excited about for some time. Hearing the judge grant our adoption that day was one of the happiest and most emotional moments of my life. Happy because they were finally ours—no more DSS appointments or caseworker visits. Emotional because this was the culmination of a nearly two-year process that often felt longer. Throughout this entire experience with its many ups and downs, I can say with absolute certainty, “God has been faithful!”
About the writer:
Katie Postlewaite lives in Johnsonville, South Carolina, with her husband, Joey, and daughters, Kimberly and Khloe. She is a very active pastor's wife at Westside FWB Church and works as a secretary at Johnsonville Elementary School.
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