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On June 13, 2018 a baby boy was born in Palm Springs, CA. The fact that this boy was born at all is a miracle! When his birth mother found out she was pregnant and the birth father did not want the baby, she went to have an abortion. They sent her home because her blood pressure was too high that day. She was going to go back the next week, but it was her birthday so she rescheduled for the following week. In the meantime, she tried to abort the baby with meth. Before the next abortion appointment, she shared some videos with her other three children, whom her mom was helping her to care for. One of the videos was an old Carmen song that had the lyrics about Satan winning because of all of the aborted babies. She knew then that she must carry the baby and find someone to adopt it. She asked a friend to take the baby after it was born and that friend was with her through the delivery of the baby.
On June 14th this summer, Tyler was supposed to be in all day meetings and had asked his receptionist to send all calls to voicemail. That morning, his meeting was pushed back from 8:00 to 8:30 and he was doing some work in his office when a call came through. He thought it was his receptionist. When he answered, to his surprise, it was a grandmother of some students that attended the school. Over two months earlier Tyler had helped this grandmother re-enroll her grandchildren for the next school year. He knew that her daughter was pregnant and was looking to give the child up for adoption. In that interaction, Tyler briefly mentioned to her that if she ever wanted to talk about adoption, he would be interested in discussing it. No correspondence between them took place from that meeting until the phone call on June 14. Since they had a family lined-up to adopt the baby, there was no more thought about it. The grandmother called to explain to him that her grandson was born the night before and he was completely healthy. She remembered Tyler mentioning something about adoption a few months earlier and thought she would call him since she just received news that the family that had planned on adopting him had called that morning to let them know that they were not going to be able to follow through with that. She shared this with Tyler and asked if he knew of someone that was available and willing to adopt him. Tyler shared that he and Missi had been praying about fostering and adoption for some time. (Tyler’s mom Jenny had a heart for fostering and his family fostered many babies as Tyler was growing up.) The grandmother quickly asked if they would be willing to take him. Tyler got a few more details about the situation and told her that he would have to call his wife and discuss it with her (wise husband ;).
Tyler called Missi who was attending The Gospel Coalition Women’s Conference in Indianapolis, IN with some women from their church. She had just arrived the night before and was getting ready to attend the first pre-conference session when she got the call. Tyler asked if she was “sitting down”, so she did. As he proceeded to share with her about the opportunity, she heard something different in his voice as he excitedly shared about a baby boy that was born on his birthday that needed a home. Missi instantly knew that this boy was not only supposed to come home with them, but sensed an unusual longing to be with her son that she had only just found out about. They agreed to pray about it. Missi then went downstairs with the other women and shared about the phone call and they prayed. When they entered the auditorium and sat down in the middle of a pre-conference talk, she listened in amazement as Tony Merida, author of “Orphanology”, was sharing from James 1:27 about the fatherless and taking care of the orphans and how he had adopted five children of his own. She felt some confirmation from the Lord about moving forward with bringing this baby home.
That night during the first session of the conference, Mary Willson, the daughter of Tyler and Missi’s former pastor in Memphis and Women’s Initiative Director for TGC opened the book of Deuteronomy for the women. As she taught through chapter one, recalling how Moses sent the spies out with only two of the twelve coming back unafraid of what they had seen, Missi made a note in her Bible. How beautiful, she thought, that Joshua and Caleb trusted the Lord. She underlined verse 36, “except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!” She shared with Tyler about the Tony Merida talk and he listened to the talk as well. While at the conference, Missi had many opportunities to share about this boy that might be her son with every woman that would listen! Many women were there praying for them and it was such an amazing picture of how the body of Christ is united! In the meantime, Tyler and Missi were texting back and forth as he received more news that it looked like he would get to pick up the baby from the hospital the next day.
On Friday, June 15th, Tyler went to Palm Springs and picked up their new son from the hospital. Not knowing all of the details about the adoption process, they agreed to trust the Lord and welcome him into their family. By the time Tyler got home, some women in their church had already pulled together every item necessary for them to add a newborn baby to their family. From a bed to diapers to even donated breast milk (since then many women have pumped extra milk so that Caleb could have the healthiest start possible!), all of the immediate needs were provided for. That evening Tyler and their three girls were talking about what they should name him. They came up with some serious names and then started to share some silly biblical names (Shalemalech :-0). Then Tyler asked what they thought about the name Caleb James? James is Tyler’s middle name, after his grandfather Jim Powell. All of the girls loved it instantly and so he shared it with Missi. She texted back “Did I tell you about Caleb in Deuteronomy?” He replied no. She texted again, “Seriously, I didn’t tell you that when we learned about Caleb and Joshua (the spies that trusted God), I thought how neat about the name Caleb?” He replied no again. She responded that she prayed the Lord would give us a name for this boy and sent him a picture of the notes she had made in her Bible the night before. He replied, “A-men! Caleb James Jacobus”.
Missi flew home the next day and met their new son. They were overwhelmed by the provisions from their church, Redeeming Grace, and individuals that stepped in to help in so many tangible ways! One of the greatest provisions has come from Caleb’s great-grandparents (who are the most precious people) who have paid most of the private adoption fees up until this point. We are so grateful for this specific provision as we would not have been able to pay these expenses on our own. Not only have we gained a son, but have had the privilege to be a part of his biological families life! We speak with and visit with his mom, grandmother and siblings often and love them dearly! We are also grateful for the Christian adoption attorney that was referred to us and is diligently and thoroughly making sure every detail is covered. Because of the nature of Caleb’s birth father and the current husband of his mother and their choice to not sign off their rights, our attorney is having to petition the courts for their rights to be revoked. This will take six months longer for the adoption process, per the state of California, to be completed. Due to these situations, this is costing us several thousands of dollars more in attorney fees along with some additional state fees.
We have been encouraged by several friends to let others know of our specific needs as so many have been praying for us through this process and want to continue to support Caleb’s journey to becoming a Jacobus. We have personally paid thousands out of pocket, but are not able to cover the remaining costs at this point. It is pride that has kept us from asking you sooner, but humbly ask you to pray about being a part of Caleb’s story and helping us pay the remaining adoption fees. We are happy to answer any specific questions you may have. Thank you for journeying with us as we continue to trust God for every provision.
The Jacobus Family
On June 14th this summer, Tyler was supposed to be in all day meetings and had asked his receptionist to send all calls to voicemail. That morning, his meeting was pushed back from 8:00 to 8:30 and he was doing some work in his office when a call came through. He thought it was his receptionist. When he answered, to his surprise, it was a grandmother of some students that attended the school. Over two months earlier Tyler had helped this grandmother re-enroll her grandchildren for the next school year. He knew that her daughter was pregnant and was looking to give the child up for adoption. In that interaction, Tyler briefly mentioned to her that if she ever wanted to talk about adoption, he would be interested in discussing it. No correspondence between them took place from that meeting until the phone call on June 14. Since they had a family lined-up to adopt the baby, there was no more thought about it. The grandmother called to explain to him that her grandson was born the night before and he was completely healthy. She remembered Tyler mentioning something about adoption a few months earlier and thought she would call him since she just received news that the family that had planned on adopting him had called that morning to let them know that they were not going to be able to follow through with that. She shared this with Tyler and asked if he knew of someone that was available and willing to adopt him. Tyler shared that he and Missi had been praying about fostering and adoption for some time. (Tyler’s mom Jenny had a heart for fostering and his family fostered many babies as Tyler was growing up.) The grandmother quickly asked if they would be willing to take him. Tyler got a few more details about the situation and told her that he would have to call his wife and discuss it with her (wise husband ;).
Tyler called Missi who was attending The Gospel Coalition Women’s Conference in Indianapolis, IN with some women from their church. She had just arrived the night before and was getting ready to attend the first pre-conference session when she got the call. Tyler asked if she was “sitting down”, so she did. As he proceeded to share with her about the opportunity, she heard something different in his voice as he excitedly shared about a baby boy that was born on his birthday that needed a home. Missi instantly knew that this boy was not only supposed to come home with them, but sensed an unusual longing to be with her son that she had only just found out about. They agreed to pray about it. Missi then went downstairs with the other women and shared about the phone call and they prayed. When they entered the auditorium and sat down in the middle of a pre-conference talk, she listened in amazement as Tony Merida, author of “Orphanology”, was sharing from James 1:27 about the fatherless and taking care of the orphans and how he had adopted five children of his own. She felt some confirmation from the Lord about moving forward with bringing this baby home.
That night during the first session of the conference, Mary Willson, the daughter of Tyler and Missi’s former pastor in Memphis and Women’s Initiative Director for TGC opened the book of Deuteronomy for the women. As she taught through chapter one, recalling how Moses sent the spies out with only two of the twelve coming back unafraid of what they had seen, Missi made a note in her Bible. How beautiful, she thought, that Joshua and Caleb trusted the Lord. She underlined verse 36, “except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!” She shared with Tyler about the Tony Merida talk and he listened to the talk as well. While at the conference, Missi had many opportunities to share about this boy that might be her son with every woman that would listen! Many women were there praying for them and it was such an amazing picture of how the body of Christ is united! In the meantime, Tyler and Missi were texting back and forth as he received more news that it looked like he would get to pick up the baby from the hospital the next day.
On Friday, June 15th, Tyler went to Palm Springs and picked up their new son from the hospital. Not knowing all of the details about the adoption process, they agreed to trust the Lord and welcome him into their family. By the time Tyler got home, some women in their church had already pulled together every item necessary for them to add a newborn baby to their family. From a bed to diapers to even donated breast milk (since then many women have pumped extra milk so that Caleb could have the healthiest start possible!), all of the immediate needs were provided for. That evening Tyler and their three girls were talking about what they should name him. They came up with some serious names and then started to share some silly biblical names (Shalemalech :-0). Then Tyler asked what they thought about the name Caleb James? James is Tyler’s middle name, after his grandfather Jim Powell. All of the girls loved it instantly and so he shared it with Missi. She texted back “Did I tell you about Caleb in Deuteronomy?” He replied no. She texted again, “Seriously, I didn’t tell you that when we learned about Caleb and Joshua (the spies that trusted God), I thought how neat about the name Caleb?” He replied no again. She responded that she prayed the Lord would give us a name for this boy and sent him a picture of the notes she had made in her Bible the night before. He replied, “A-men! Caleb James Jacobus”.
Missi flew home the next day and met their new son. They were overwhelmed by the provisions from their church, Redeeming Grace, and individuals that stepped in to help in so many tangible ways! One of the greatest provisions has come from Caleb’s great-grandparents (who are the most precious people) who have paid most of the private adoption fees up until this point. We are so grateful for this specific provision as we would not have been able to pay these expenses on our own. Not only have we gained a son, but have had the privilege to be a part of his biological families life! We speak with and visit with his mom, grandmother and siblings often and love them dearly! We are also grateful for the Christian adoption attorney that was referred to us and is diligently and thoroughly making sure every detail is covered. Because of the nature of Caleb’s birth father and the current husband of his mother and their choice to not sign off their rights, our attorney is having to petition the courts for their rights to be revoked. This will take six months longer for the adoption process, per the state of California, to be completed. Due to these situations, this is costing us several thousands of dollars more in attorney fees along with some additional state fees.
We have been encouraged by several friends to let others know of our specific needs as so many have been praying for us through this process and want to continue to support Caleb’s journey to becoming a Jacobus. We have personally paid thousands out of pocket, but are not able to cover the remaining costs at this point. It is pride that has kept us from asking you sooner, but humbly ask you to pray about being a part of Caleb’s story and helping us pay the remaining adoption fees. We are happy to answer any specific questions you may have. Thank you for journeying with us as we continue to trust God for every provision.
The Jacobus Family
Organizer
Tyler Jacobus
Organizer
La Quinta, CA