 The following account is how the adoption came to pass in the words of Bridget Lawyer
The Adoption Story
My husband and I began the discussion about adoption very early in our marriage. Both of us were youth leaders at New Hope Christian Church in Washington, Indiana, and there was a couple in our church who fostered children and had also adopted. We were inspired by the impact and love we could see this couple was having on the children in their life. We would have loved to have adopted one of their little guys, but the foster care system really wanted a biracial couple. I’m not sure why we didn’t pursue adoption any further at that time. Over the next
 20 years we had three children and had still just always talked about adopting through the foster care system. I sometimes wonder how many blessings we missed out on because we just talked for so many years.
In 2013 we had a wonderful small Bible Study Group and we were doing the David Platt Bible Study Radical and we highly recommend it. A dear friend asked all of us what is something you’ve always felt God calling you to do, but you just haven’t taken steps to do it. Clint said, adopt through the foster care system. We were encouraged to start tak- ing steps in that direction and were prayed for from that day forward by an awesome group that had no idea how they were going to be used by God in the months ahead. We discussed this with our 3 children and they were fully on board and excited.
We started classes and went every time we could find a class being offered. I believe we were certified foster parents in about 6 months. Our house was approved for 3 children; however, we were thinking of smaller with a sibling group of 2. We didn’t get a call right away and we really thought we would. After several months my husband received a call asking if we would consider a sibling group of four with ages 1, 5, 6, and 8. We all agreed including our kids. We called our parents and my husband’s sister; knowing we were going to need help and everyone was on board. At this point we totally felt confident God had a plan and was working all things out.
 Both sides of our family had planned a trip to Branson for Christ- mas that year leaving on December 21. The kids moved in on December
14, 2014. Our community came through like crazy. They brought over beds, clothes, and lots of Christmas gifts for the kids. The first few days were crazy; fits like we had never witnessed and smiles that were un- forgettable. We packed the 12-passenger van to the brim and took off for Branson to celebrate Christmas.
After only a couple days in Branson, I went into the hospital with appendicitis. I had my appendix removed on Dec. 23rd and had some complications and ended up in the hospital for a little over two weeks. Again, we saw God move. My Mom stayed with me in the hospital, while the rest of the family went home. Clint had to go back to work. Each morning the older kids and Clint had a routine to help the youn- ger kids get ready for school. Clint’s mom came every morning to watch Ashton and Tyler and stayed long hours to help after school. Dear friends brought the kids home from school every day. The older kids and Suzanne helped the younger kids with homework and evening rou- tines.
 Our community was wonderful and brought meals over every night. I ended up with a huge opening in my stomach and had a wound vac put in and finally came home, but wasn’t allowed to get up. My mom became my nurse doing all of the medical stuff that needed done, Clint’s family continued to come and help every day. Our friends brought the kids home for the remainder of the semester because the doctor wanted me off for an entire semester. There were a few people that would con- tinue to question us asking if we were going to tell the kids’ case worker that we just couldn’t do it, after all they would have to understand. To be absolutely honest I don’t think anyone in our house ever thought that was an option.
The days were hard, the fits were big (sometimes over an hour long
10 times a day); but watching God working this out was amazing! Our Bible study group, family, close friends, and our community prayed hard for us and filled in so many gaps. One friend even stepped up and taught one of the kids that Dept. Of Child Services said needed to be in school, but he was not ready. This was a huge blessing. The kids began to realize the love they had at our house and in the community and things began to get better.
 We were finally able to adopt on Sept. 19, 2016. We still have a few rough patches, but wow do they just fit right into our family. God has worked in each of us and had we not followed his lead we would have missed out on so many blessings! As excited as we are that they are part of our family, I do have to say this was not God’s first choice for these kids. His first choice was a loving home with their biological parents. I know their mother loved them and we are so glad she chose to have them as opposed to having an abortion.
Our charge for you is to find those women who made the choice of life and quickly became overwhelmed with no support. For our chil- dren’s sake I wish someone had come alongside their mother and intro- duced her to Jesus and helped her make better choices. We pray for her and pray she is able to see God work amazing wonders in her life and feel His love.
Past
Adoptive
Families
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