The Schwecke's Adoption Fund
Donation protected
For updates and more info, go to our blog !
ABBY:
Ever since I was little I couldn’t wait to be a mom. I grew up taking care of baby dolls, and when I was older, babysitting any chance that I got. I loved children and knew I wanted to work with kids for the rest of my life. I teach kindergarten now, and it is truly a gift from God to be able to do what I love each and every day. More than teaching and more than just working with children, that desire to be a mom has always been stronger. In my own prideful world, I just figured that Nathan and I would get married, get pregnant, and have lots of beautiful children. I expected that I would get to be a mom and watch Nathan be the best daddy in the world. It was supposed to be that easy. Just like I had planned, right? Well, this did not happen the way I envisioned...
This past year I found out that infertility was a factor in my story, which meant this would be a part of Nathan’s story as well. I was heartbroken—WE were heartbroken. I felt lost and deeply sad. The dream of being a mother and raising children seemed to be crushed and gone. During this journey, Nathan and I have tried a few different solutions to this devastating issue. We prayed, sought wisdom from mentors, and drew close to one another. I didn’t understand why. Why was this my story? This isn’t what I had planned. Then it hit me; my sinful self was blinding me from the truth that infertility is not who I am. I am not defined by being a wife, a teacher, or even a mom. I am who I am, and I am complete, solely because of Jesus in me, and the fact that He died for me. When I finally drew closer to Jesus, I realized my identity and worth is not synonymous with the ability to birth children; it’s only found in Christ Jesus. He makes me new and whole.
Nathan has taught me so much about what it means to trust the Lord’s faithfulness. I am so grateful I married a Godly man who leads us well, loves me well, and more importantly, seeks Jesus daily. One day when I was crying about this tough journey, he reminded me of something pretty cool: God is always with us. He loves us and desires that we lean on him in our times of need as well as in our times of abundance. This situation is difficult, but we get the chance every day to see our desperate need for Jesus in this trying circumstance. He reminded me that each day we get to wake up and decide what will consume our hearts and minds. I choose Jesus. He is where my identity is found.
NATHAN:
Marriage to me is one of the greatest displays of the Gospel that you could possibly come up with. It is being in a Covenant with another person—vowing to lay down everything for the sake of another, the same way that Jesus laid down his life for us. In that same manner, having a child and becoming a parent is a great display of Gods love and the Gospel as well. Abby is showing me this more and more as we go through this situation together.
Abby and I are different, and that’s what makes us such a good team. When we got married, having a kid was not even on my radar. I knew that Abby wanted kids, but I never really thought about a game plan of when that would happen. I just always thought, “That’s something you do when you get older.” When I was younger, I actually had that same idea about marriage. It’s almost like I’m in denial that me “getting older” is happening!
We have prayed and struggled with infertility for quite some time now and we've began to wonder what our plan to parenthood would look like. When the idea of adoption came up, just like any other milestone in our life (marriage, getting a house, having a child of our own), it scared me. It still scares me, but I am more prayerful than ever and let faith replace the fear. I am learning more and more every single day that the Lord put Abby and I together for a reason. I know without a doubt that Abby is going to make a fantastic mother and I cannot wait to be a dad. Becoming a parents is a HUGE deal, and it is scary, but if it is the Lord’s will, there is no reason to be scared. I have full confidence that He will guide us through any storms we face and that He will provide. Lord, we are just a vessel made for your great Love.
NATHAN AND ABBY:
This whole process has thrown us against the only One who can truly love us and make us whole. We are reminded of how cool it is that God trusted us enough for this to be our story. It is possible we may never know or understand fully why infertility was a chapter in our story, but God has given us the choice of how to react in this situation. We can react with continued trust and praise for Him, or we can be prideful and sulk as a result of our disappointment. We choose to rejoice. We choose to trust God. We choose to use this heartbreaking situation for HIS glory. We have prayed and sought the Lord about this entire circumstance, and we feel led to adopt. We are so thankful we are adopted into God’s kingdom!
In Galatians 4:7-9 it says: “Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?”
In Ephesians 1:5 we see that “he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” When we think of adopting a child, it brings us joy. Whether we are scared, excited, doubtful, or confused, we pray to have Jesus take all of our thoughts and feelings captive. We love to think about the beautiful display of the gospel in adoption- the way that Jesus came and died for us so that we could be in a relationship with Him. He made us sons and daughters of the High King! We desire to share all about our King Jesus with our precious child and teach them about the One who loved us first and adopted us into His kingdom through faith by grace. Our favorite book says we are ALL adopted, and we are beginning our adventure to find the baby that God has chosen for us!
Lastly, something that we have learned is that adoption is a very expensive process, so we are already planning some fundraising events. We would love for our friends and family to support us through sharing fundraising ideas or giving. There is even a link above to give if you feel led! Plus, we’ve already made some awesome t-shirts to kick off our fundraising process! So, please let us know if you would like to purchase one! Even though we never knew adoption would be our first path to parenthood we could not be more overjoyed. We feel a peace about adoption and know our Lord Jesus will provide! We love you all! We are going to be parents!!! Please pray over us, and share our story! Our desire is for God to use a hard situation for his glory. We will be updating our blog about our favorite adventure yet...Our adventure to parenthood!
ABBY:
Ever since I was little I couldn’t wait to be a mom. I grew up taking care of baby dolls, and when I was older, babysitting any chance that I got. I loved children and knew I wanted to work with kids for the rest of my life. I teach kindergarten now, and it is truly a gift from God to be able to do what I love each and every day. More than teaching and more than just working with children, that desire to be a mom has always been stronger. In my own prideful world, I just figured that Nathan and I would get married, get pregnant, and have lots of beautiful children. I expected that I would get to be a mom and watch Nathan be the best daddy in the world. It was supposed to be that easy. Just like I had planned, right? Well, this did not happen the way I envisioned...
This past year I found out that infertility was a factor in my story, which meant this would be a part of Nathan’s story as well. I was heartbroken—WE were heartbroken. I felt lost and deeply sad. The dream of being a mother and raising children seemed to be crushed and gone. During this journey, Nathan and I have tried a few different solutions to this devastating issue. We prayed, sought wisdom from mentors, and drew close to one another. I didn’t understand why. Why was this my story? This isn’t what I had planned. Then it hit me; my sinful self was blinding me from the truth that infertility is not who I am. I am not defined by being a wife, a teacher, or even a mom. I am who I am, and I am complete, solely because of Jesus in me, and the fact that He died for me. When I finally drew closer to Jesus, I realized my identity and worth is not synonymous with the ability to birth children; it’s only found in Christ Jesus. He makes me new and whole.
Nathan has taught me so much about what it means to trust the Lord’s faithfulness. I am so grateful I married a Godly man who leads us well, loves me well, and more importantly, seeks Jesus daily. One day when I was crying about this tough journey, he reminded me of something pretty cool: God is always with us. He loves us and desires that we lean on him in our times of need as well as in our times of abundance. This situation is difficult, but we get the chance every day to see our desperate need for Jesus in this trying circumstance. He reminded me that each day we get to wake up and decide what will consume our hearts and minds. I choose Jesus. He is where my identity is found.
NATHAN:
Marriage to me is one of the greatest displays of the Gospel that you could possibly come up with. It is being in a Covenant with another person—vowing to lay down everything for the sake of another, the same way that Jesus laid down his life for us. In that same manner, having a child and becoming a parent is a great display of Gods love and the Gospel as well. Abby is showing me this more and more as we go through this situation together.
Abby and I are different, and that’s what makes us such a good team. When we got married, having a kid was not even on my radar. I knew that Abby wanted kids, but I never really thought about a game plan of when that would happen. I just always thought, “That’s something you do when you get older.” When I was younger, I actually had that same idea about marriage. It’s almost like I’m in denial that me “getting older” is happening!
We have prayed and struggled with infertility for quite some time now and we've began to wonder what our plan to parenthood would look like. When the idea of adoption came up, just like any other milestone in our life (marriage, getting a house, having a child of our own), it scared me. It still scares me, but I am more prayerful than ever and let faith replace the fear. I am learning more and more every single day that the Lord put Abby and I together for a reason. I know without a doubt that Abby is going to make a fantastic mother and I cannot wait to be a dad. Becoming a parents is a HUGE deal, and it is scary, but if it is the Lord’s will, there is no reason to be scared. I have full confidence that He will guide us through any storms we face and that He will provide. Lord, we are just a vessel made for your great Love.
NATHAN AND ABBY:
This whole process has thrown us against the only One who can truly love us and make us whole. We are reminded of how cool it is that God trusted us enough for this to be our story. It is possible we may never know or understand fully why infertility was a chapter in our story, but God has given us the choice of how to react in this situation. We can react with continued trust and praise for Him, or we can be prideful and sulk as a result of our disappointment. We choose to rejoice. We choose to trust God. We choose to use this heartbreaking situation for HIS glory. We have prayed and sought the Lord about this entire circumstance, and we feel led to adopt. We are so thankful we are adopted into God’s kingdom!
In Galatians 4:7-9 it says: “Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?”
In Ephesians 1:5 we see that “he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” When we think of adopting a child, it brings us joy. Whether we are scared, excited, doubtful, or confused, we pray to have Jesus take all of our thoughts and feelings captive. We love to think about the beautiful display of the gospel in adoption- the way that Jesus came and died for us so that we could be in a relationship with Him. He made us sons and daughters of the High King! We desire to share all about our King Jesus with our precious child and teach them about the One who loved us first and adopted us into His kingdom through faith by grace. Our favorite book says we are ALL adopted, and we are beginning our adventure to find the baby that God has chosen for us!
Lastly, something that we have learned is that adoption is a very expensive process, so we are already planning some fundraising events. We would love for our friends and family to support us through sharing fundraising ideas or giving. There is even a link above to give if you feel led! Plus, we’ve already made some awesome t-shirts to kick off our fundraising process! So, please let us know if you would like to purchase one! Even though we never knew adoption would be our first path to parenthood we could not be more overjoyed. We feel a peace about adoption and know our Lord Jesus will provide! We love you all! We are going to be parents!!! Please pray over us, and share our story! Our desire is for God to use a hard situation for his glory. We will be updating our blog about our favorite adventure yet...Our adventure to parenthood!
Organizer
Nathan Schwecke
Organizer
Cincinnati, OH