Johnson Adoption Fund - can you give $50?

Hi friends! Our family is GROWING!

Meet Alaina, a 9 year old girl who has been living with us since May 2023 - though our stories have been weaving together for a much longer time!

The Story:

Shelby (husband) and I (Ivy) have been together since 2014. We began working together in 2016, where we met a lady named *Sharon*. Shelby and I worked together for 2 years, and got to know this woman quite well. One day at work, I heard a little voice in the back of my mind, “widows and orphans, widows and orphans.” I am a Believer, so I had heard this phrase before. I flipped my Bible to James 1:27, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” Okay, what does that mean? I went back to work, and tucked it away in my mind.

Some time later, Sharon’s husband dies. I remember the day of the funeral. I hear the tugging “widows and orphans” chant in my mind again. Feeling the Lord was at work, I reached out to Sharon, and offered to take her a meal. We ended up becoming great friends, and I would often visit her house for a meal and to garden with her.

Shelby and I got married in 2019, and our friendship with Sharon continued. In 2021, while 7 months pregnant with our firstborn, I was at Sharon’s house one day for a visit, and I met Alaina. I didn’t know her story at the time, only that she was related to Sharon’s grandson. We talked and played and gardened together, and I left thinking what a sweet child Alaina was. A few months later, I had our first baby, and Sharon and I lost touch while Shelby and I got accustomed to parenthood.

One day on maternity leave, holding my newborn in our backyard, I gave Sharon a call to catch up. We chatted about everything, and in this call, I learned a bit of Alaina’s story: the little girl I met that spring had recently lost her mother, her father was no where to be found, and she was now living with extended family who couldn’t care for her. The conversation picked up on other topics here and there, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Alaina. What was going to happen to her? Where was she? Is she safe? Does she have everything she needs? I got off the phone with Sharon with this overwhelming feeling - that little girl is ours. I called Shelby at work, hoping to catch him on a break. “I know we just had a baby, but what do you think about adoption?” I could feel him rubbing his head like, “what are you talking about?!” He hadn’t met Alaina yet, and agreed to meet her sometime in the future, once we’d gotten out of our newborn stage. We spent the next year praying that God would soften our hearts to adoption so soon into our marriage. We had always talked about adoption as something we would do after our biological children moved out of the house, not raise them all together!

In 2022, Shelby began a Bible and discipleship class called Downline. We also got pregnant with our second. Though we had met with Sharon and Alaina several times, the adoption conversation had died down with the announcement of our baby on the way. By January 2023, we knew we had to make a decision. Would we adopt this child in the midst of our crazy lives? Or do we stay “comfortable” and let someone else take her in? I had been 100% in since that phone call on maternity leave. That January, Shelby became my partner in our decision.

2023 has been quite the year for us. We began weekly visits and sleepovers with Alaina in spring. She began living with us in May. We had our second baby in July. In August, we were quickly learning how to balance school pick ups and drop offs, extracurriculars, extra snacks and more clothes for our always-growing girl. Alaina calls our littles her brother and sister. She occasionally calls us her mom and dad. It has been a hard 7 months, but we’re finally all starting to mesh together.

Even though Alaina has been living with us for a while, we are just now beginning to file paperwork for her adoption. (We wanted to get through postpartum first) We have started our home study, and if everything goes smoothly, Alaina could be a Johnson as early as next summer!

The Price:

We have been estimating our adoption costs to be anywhere from $15k-$20k. We are trying to sell our house to come up with some of it, but WE NEED HELP! Can you give $50 this holiday season? Can you give $10? Any amount would be so helpful, and you would be helping to give this little girl a permanent home where she belongs.

Please join us in prayer for transitions, funding, and healing. We need every support we can find! And THANK YOU for your generosity!