A Reason to Hope
The Beginning
Robyn and I met at Harding University in September of 2015. We found friendship, love, and a desire to become husband and wife shortly after. We took our vows on June 2, 2017 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and have been madly in love ever since.
Shortly after our marriage, we moved to Conway, Arkansas, which we would then call home for the next seven years. We found a new church, new and old friends, and a bright, new future for both of us. We were ready to begin the next step of our lives walking side-by-side with all of the other young couples in our life group — we were ready to grow our family.
A Time to Search
As it goes with so many plans that we made, God had other plans for us. We were blessed with watching the expanding lives and growing families of all of the other couples around us — one by one. Each couple of months, another one of our friends would announce a pregnancy, and our excitement for our chance to be next would blossom… and so it would go, month in and month out. But eventually, after several years, we started to wonder how much longer our time would be. The joy and hope was still there, but doubt began to take root. Slowly, over many more months and years of trying without success, our joy and hope began to fade. Watching now as our same friends announced their second children, and the last of the couples announced their firsts, we remained, now, the last to be a family of two. At this point, the pain began, and it slowly grew to be unbearable.
We needed to figure out what was going on. By this point, and by statistics alone, we should have had something happen… so we scheduled a doctors visit. What we found instead was more questions, confirmed by biopsies and numbers on pages we never expected. Without extreme medical intervention, Robyn and I would never have children of our own.
We were crushed. The biggest dream that Robyn ever had, since she was a little girl, was to be a mother. She went to Harding to major in Child Life and Development so she could be the greatest mother her future child could ever have. She was going to be the mother of a family and raise children of her own — and it came to a crashing halt. Group get-togethers became a game of smiling through the pain, watching the other moms experience what we were told would never be possible. The long nights of laughter, cards and coffee grew shorter and more infrequent so that the kids could be in bed at a reasonable time. Conversations would find themselves slowly wandering to the struggles of being new parents, to eventually being the focus — and we faded from the picture.
We were at an impasse. The options for healthcare where we were at in Arkansas were falling away, and doctors able to treat what stopped us from having success fell away shortly after. It had now been six years, and the length of our infertility now outlasted even our families. We were the only ones who didn’t have a child of our own. Pregnancy announcements now only brought deep sorrow and bitterness towards the ones that we loved, and we knew that it wasn’t fair to them. We knew something had to change, for the sake of our marriage, and for the sake of our faith. We were losing God. We stopped going to church so we could avoid the other couples. We stopped praying together, because it meant we had to acknowledge how bitter we were. We stopped seeking out all but the closest of our friends — and we withdrew.
Praise God that He never gave up on us.
A Renewed Faith
In November of 2023, I shared with Robyn that I had felt God calling me to do something I never could have imagined. After much prayer and reflection, we answered His call, and I put in a commissioning package for the United States Navy at 30 years old. This change meant selling our house, moving in with our in-laws, leaving our jobs, and putting almost everything that we owned into storage. What it offered us in return was security, a guarantee of income, and healthcare that was promising a chance of fertility without sending us deeply into debt. We stepped out in faith, and God provided in exactly what we needed — but not exactly as we had planned.
Shortly after earning my commission, we moved to Pensacola, Florida, where we would then find Gulf Coast Christian Church and the loving community within it. We got plugged into the church, and we began to contribute in whatever way we could. Robyn was able to find a job outside of town as a school counselor, and I was blessed with success through school — but we still were struggling with infertility. We sought out the doctors that our friends from Conway had suggested, but continued to hear even more clearly how nearly-impossible a conception, natural or otherwise, would feasibly be. The question started to surface again, even in the multitude of new beginnings that God had poured out to us. Were we ever going to have a child of our own?
The answer we thought we heard was “no”, but looking back now, we truly believe that it was a “not yet, and not how you expect.” The acceptance happened one night as Robyn and I stood in our kitchen — as I asked her the following question.
“How long are we going to let the one thing God has withheld from us rob us of the Joy we’ve been given today?”
The Patchwork Promise – A Reason to Hope
It was at this point Robyn and I decided that adoption was where God had led us. We were faithful once in trusting Him moving out of Arkansas, and we had no reason to doubt Him that He would work another miracle again. We reached out to an adoption agency shortly after the decision, partnering with Sunshine State Adoption to begin the process of preparing our home and lives for what God had in store next. We also knew that with the recency of our life changes, our funds were minimal. There was no way that we would be able to raise the funds necessary for an adoption without extreme financial burden… so we began to pray, and pray fervently, intentionally, vulnerably. We came up with the idea of a campaign with a noticeable deliverable — a quilt that would bear the names and messages of everyone who came behind us and beside us in bringing this miracle to fruition in our lives — and the life of the child that God brought us here to bless.
The Patchwork Promise was born.
48 Patches, 50 Threads, and a Tapestry to Last a Lifetime.
We need your help, and we aren’t about to pretend that this will be easy. There’s so much that goes into an adoption — from legal feels to placements to adoption books to selection and matching, any single step could take unknown amounts of time. Or, sometimes, it may take no time at all. Ever since opening up to prospective cases, we have consistently been confronted with the monetary reality of just how steep the entry for adoptions can be. I’ll put it bluntly — to even be considered for a case, almost all agencies expect $20,000 up front. Total costs for an adoption can go beyond $60,000 when all is said and done, and the adopted child can’t leave the hospital until the funds are paid and the checks clear. That’s a daunting task for anyone, let alone a couple like us in the ever-shifting landscape of a military life.
But we didn’t come into this challenge expecting to face it alone. We trust that God has a joyous new beginning to the struggles and pain that we have endured. We believe in a God that can work miracles, and a God that empowers miracle workers.
That’s where you come in.
Our ask is measurable, but certainly not simple — $53,000, made good in a fund set aside and untouchable by us, stewarded by a church that has no debt and stands with us as we face this daunting task together. Our goal is lasting — bring a child in need and their mother who brought them into this world the miracle of Jesus and His Grace, wrapped in the arms of the Church and its congregation, making them both into disciples. Our dream is tangible — bring our child home from the hospital, wrapped in a quilt of many colors, bearing the names of the individuals, families, and congregations that proved there is no situation too dire for God.
48 Patches – $1000
The Patchwork Promise isn’t just a fundraising campaign, it’s the foundation for a child to know how deeply they are loved and valued. Partner with us as we aim for a seemingly impossible goal of $53,000 by claiming a patch. Each patch is customizable with multiple colors and fonts, allowing your donation to leave a prominent mark. Leave a scripture, prayer, heartfelt message, or simply your name within the patch, and it will be added to the quilt — exactly as you have chosen.
Please know, you don’t have to contribute the funds all at once to claim a patch space — we are happy to work with you to help you reach your individual goal, even if it means that it takes more time. Every cent is worth it.
50 Threads – $100
“50 Threads” is our smaller fund goal of individual $100 donations. For those who want to give but don’t have the means for a larger donation, this is the fund for you! Even the smallest of donations can help in the big picture as the Patchwork Promise’s success is dependent completely on charitable donations. Each $100 goal met will fill one of the “Thread” slots, and your name will be added to the border that surrounds the larger quilt, if you so choose.
Every Donation Matters
Any donation, of any size, always matters. If you’re in a position where you can contribute above and beyond a patch or thread, or your position is as small as $1, your impact matters. Any donations beyond the $53,000 goal will go directly to an education fund maturing at their 18th birthday, earmarked directly for tuition.
If you would like to donate diapers, furniture, clothes, or household amenities, we have an open registry and wish list through Amazon and other companies.
Walk with Us
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As we go through this adoption journey, we want to be as open as possible with the progress we’ve made. Come with us as we walk this path together.
