Mary Fields Photography Blog

I am SO excited about today’s post! When I did the Aston family session I was just so moved and thankful that my work allows me to not only capture life but to tell a story. A story of faithfulness. I was thinking about how to write this post because it’s such a special story and I just didn’t think I could do it justice. So, I asked Courtney if she would be willing to guest blog since she would do a much better job of telling the story in a way that adequately expresses how special it is. So, enjoy some inside perspective of ‘A Faithfulness Told.’

“Mary and I go back to our college days and when I found out she was doing photography in my neck of the woods, I knew I wanted her to take our first real photos as a family of three. I also jumped at the opportunity of doing a guest post about the wonderful ways God worked to lead us to our son. 

We began our adoption process in May 2010. God had placed a desire in our hearts to adopt our first child after being members of a very adoption friendly church in Oklahoma. We got to see firsthand the ways that earthly adoption portrays our relationship with God and wanted to be a part of it.

When we started the process with All God’s Children International’s Ethiopia Program, the wait times were estimated at one year. We completed mounds of paperwork and then were placed on a waitlist at #73 for a boy and #94 for a girl, from 0-4.5 years of age in November of 2010. We assumed a referral was within a year’s time frame.

However, God had different plans. We waited on the referral for our child for almost two years. To say the waiting process was sanctifying was an understatement. We learned through these trials what it really meant to trust God with everything. Hebrews 10:23 was a verse that we clung to, “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” We knew God would be faithful to us and that His timing would be perfect.

On July 9, 2012 we got the call that we had longed for. We had a two-year-old son, “A”! God had answered our prayers for a child and we were so grateful. We traveled to Ethiopia for court less than a month later and met him for the very first time. 

We also learned during this time that A had a large bladder stone and needed immediate surgery. While visiting him was fun, it was very hard to watch him in so much excruciating pain. When adopting from Ethiopia, you must travel two times before you bring home your child. We were not looking forward to having to leave our son in so much pain not knowing when we would return.

However, the day before we were supposed to leave to return home, our agency’s director asked us to stay in Ethiopia indefinitely to help speed along the process of our son’s case. We were thrilled as it normally takes up to two months after the first trip before a family is able to bring home their child. What could have taken two months, God accomplished in just one short week.

Just two weeks after arriving in Ethiopia, we were on a plane headed home with A in our arms. On September 5^th, A had surgery to remove his bladder stone and he is now a healthy, happy little boy. When we look back at our process and specifically our time in Ethiopia, we can’t help but see God’s faithful hand in it all. He took what looked impossible and made it possible. He stretched us in ways we couldn’t have imagined and He blessed us with a precious son. He is indeed faithful.

If you would like to read more about our adoption and what we are up to these days, head on over to my blog at www.afaithfulnesstold.blogspot.com. Would love to have you!”

Enjoy some of my favorites from their session! Does that sweet smile not just melt your heart?!!? What a cutie!

Happy Monday!

Seriously…be still my heart.