An Adoption Story: Part 1
Posted by Shawn Buxton - Tuesday, January 31, 2012

So many of our Watershed families have taken the wonderful step to adopt, and each story has its own unique journey. Yet, no matter how different the paths may have been, what's central to all these stories is love, Christ, and faith. I asked Billy and Tracy Strickland to share their experience adopting, and I'll share the story in multiple posts as answers to questions. Below begins their tale:
How did you come to adopt?
Parker was about 16 months old, I think. I remember asking myself if we wanted another child? Ironically, my wife, Tracy and I had felt all along we'd be a one child family. Parker was awesome and sweet and our joy. The thought of another child was almost weird for us. I'm sure other parents go through this -- "Do I have enough love?" Seriously, we asked that.
We decided we did. We were going to have another child and we would try to get "preggers" in the fall of 2009. At the end of the conversation, Tracy asked me if we'd ever contemplate adoption. We had the adoption conversation in the past, but nothing was set in stone. Just wouldn't it be nice? or where would we adopt from? I answered Tracy's question with a pragmatic answer: "I don't know. I don't think so. The economy is bad. I have my own business and I think I'm too busy to go through that process." Tracy looked disappointed in my answer, which was odd to me, because not too long ago we had decided (I thought) that we were a one child family, so I added, "If God wants us to adopt, he will make it abundantly clear." No Joke!
Flash forward three days. A friend of mine who I worked with, and who attended Watershed occasionally, was recently separated from her husband. She had two teenage daughters, and while she was living in Charlotte, her family were living about 45 minutes away in a small town. She called with a unique request. That weekend she had found out that her younger daughter was pregnant. Her daughter had spent the weekend with her in Charlotte which included a visit to Watershed, and after the service her daughter decided that she wanted to go through with her pregnancy and find a family at Watershed who couldn't have a baby adopt her child. Her mom was calling me to ask me to spread the word and help her find this special family. "Yes, of course," I replied.
I asked her to call Tracy and tell her the same story and then I waited for Tracy to call me. The conversation with Tracy was weird, amazing, and tearful. I told Tracy to understand we were not going to adopt this baby. The teen mom was looking for someone who could not have children, and we had a beautiful little girl, but we would help. That plan lasted for about a day. We knew we had to share with them the conversation we had had just a few days earlier. It went something like this:
"We want you to know that Tracy and have considered adoption and we would be willing to adopt the baby if you can't find the family you are looking for."
"YES!" The birth mom responded. "I want my baby to have Parker as a big sister." The birth mom had babysat Parker in the past and they knew each other.
I think the question we asked each other, Tracy and I, was "What just happened?" God made it abundantly clear. It makes me smile to think of the road we traveled to find Riley.
Of course, that's not all to this story, and I hope you come back for the continuing passages of this miraculous narrative. Billy and Tracy's story is a fascinating illustration of the power of God's work in our lives -- He orchestrates such beautiful blessings when we let go of our need to control life. And sometimes, he even gently nudges us in the right direction, regardless of where we think we are going.
Written by Billy Strickland and Shawn Buxton.




