Our Story

Our adoption journey began with a seed planted in our hearts 9 years ago before Jennings and I were married. We graduated highschool in 2014 and went straight to a Discipleship Training School with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Kona, Hawaii. While we had dated for 3 years at that time, this was a significant season where we put everything aside to grow in our relationship with God and each other. Much of where we find ourselves today as a family is the result of what God did during YWAM and the years to follow.

 

Our hearts were marked by God and our lives completely changed forever. On Thursday nights we would attend Ohana court which consisted of the entire campus coming together for worship & teaching. On a particular night, something was deposited in our hearts and we would never leave the same. A ministry called "Chosen and Dearly Loved" came to speak and the woman of God shared about the adoption crisis and she gave light to the responsibility of the church and the reflection of the gospel that adoption is.

 

You see, prior to this teaching I viewed adoption as something a family with infertility might do. What I didn't realize is the call we all have in doing something regarding taking care of orphans. Whether that be physically fostering, adopting, or taking steps to assist in the help of those fostering/adopting or partnering in prayer, we all have a role to play. Adoption isn't just about couples who want children or even those who want more children.

 

The most significant thing for me that evening was the revelation that adoption is a beautiful reflection of the love of God. As Christians, we were adopted into the family of our Heavenly Father. Though we were orphans, without hope or a future, God had mercy on us and made us heirs of the King. He invited us into His family and chose us to be His children. He adopted us as sons and daughters. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship in Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the Ones he loves" (Ephesians 1:3-6)

 

Having recently given my life again to the Lord prior to YWAM, this immense gratitude of being adopted into His family for me was so passionate and real. And just as God adopted me as one of His children, I wanted to welcome a child into my home and call them a son or daughter. The Bible tells us that human families are reflective of an eternal fatherhood (Ephesians 3:14-15).

 

At that time, Jennings and I were only dating and were 17 & 18 years old. At the end of the evening, there was an altar call for those who wanted to respond. Jennings and I went to the front separately to receive prayer. That night, I made a promise to the Lord that I would pursue adoption and make a seat in my family for a child who is being put up for adoption. It was a powerful evening as I knew it was something that would mark my life forever. 

 

As our relationship went on, we got engaged in 2015 and later married that same year. We both came into marriage with the same passion and drive to pursue adoption in our family. Along the way, we built our family fairly easily as positive pregnancy tests showed up and now we have 3 beautiful children. Adelaide (5), Isaiah (3) and Lucille (1 1/2) are our light and joy.  We looked into adoption between having our children but it was never the right timing. We knew that the right time would come and here we are 9 years later and finally pursuing the dream the Lord set on our hearts years ago. Our children have grown up knowing we will one day adopt a baby. Now that it is just around the corner, we are all getting very excited!

 

In light of this redemption truth, we choose to imitate the love of the Father by opening a seat at our table and adopting a child into our home. In the Bible David sings about God as "father of the fatherless” and “protector of widows" who "settles the solitary in a home", tying this truth to God marching before his chosen people through the wilderness toward Canaan (Psalm 68:5-6). God shows us this is the kind of God he is. The prophet Hosea says, “In you the orphan finds mercy".(Hosea 14:3)

 

So therefore, we make room. We make space for an extra seat at our table. We are confident in preparing to love a child that doesn't come from us because we have received the love of the Father and his adoption. We too, were once orphans. We invite you into our journey as we complete the home study process as well as in our fundraising journey. We are thrilled to be working with Amazing Grace Adoptions but also have a desire to seek out our birthmom as well. We would love to invite you in on our family's journey through prayer, giving and sharing our story in hopes of finding our possible birth mom.

 

May Jesus receive all the glory!

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Blessings,

The Burchfield Family