February 5th, 2024
Written by Gabi Pope
Many of you know the story of how we found out about our daughter, but this is a story I could tell over and over again. So today, I am going to tell our story…our Anaya Grace story!
My husband and I struggled for many years with infertility; we had a total of nine losses and we were both so ready to give up. We felt like we had nothing else to give. We were at the end of our road, or so we thought.
I was sitting in our Sunday school class when a couple of friends came in, and you know how sometimes you feel the heaviness in the room? Well, that was a time you could feel it! As we were sitting there, they began sharing about a mother who was nine months pregnant and did not want the baby. They both felt a burden for this child and did not know what else to do except pray and have the class join in prayer. The Holy Spirit kept saying, “Speak up,” but I was disobeying and refusing to interrupt them as they were talking. At the end of class, I approached them explaining that we were open to talking to the birth mother if they were willing to pass our phone number along.
I will never forget the first time I communicated with Anaya Grace’s birth mother. What was I doing, you ask? Rolling hot dogs with Danel Wallis in the FLC, preparing for Kids Camp. She texted me to let me know she wanted Dom and me to have her baby! We were just two strangers to her; she knew very little to nothing about us. All she knew was that we went to church, and we both knew the couple from my Sunday School class.
Later that day we continued to communicate, but I was on my way to Kids Camp and knew I would be losing service. Everyone knows you do not get any signal at Springville Camp. I remember calling my husband and telling him about the baby, and all he said was, “If it’s God’s will for us, the baby will be ours.”
Well, about six hours after arriving at camp, the mother was in labor and I was running to my car to go get our baby! We got to hear the birth mother tell us how she tried to have an abortion, not once, but twice. The first time it was canceled by man, the second time it was canceled by the command of the Lord telling her, “This is not your blessing, it is someone else’s”. I don’t know about you, but that still to this day sends chills down my spine.
Eleven days after our daughter's birth, Roe vs. Wade was officially overturned. Did you know there have been over sixty-three million abortions since 1973? We as Christians prayed and prayed that Roe vs. Wade would be overturned for years. But once it was overturned, we stopped. We stopped thinking about those innocent lives and we started rejoicing that they had finally overturned abortions. Did you know that the amount of children in foster care almost tripled after it was overturned? Lives were saved, but homes were scarce. There are over 400,000 children in foster care throughout the United States and more get added daily. In Psalms 68:5-6 we learn that our Heavenly Father places the lonely in families! ”Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.“
As Tabitha and I were searching for this year's BGMC project, we both felt heavily drawn towards foster care and orphan ministry. This pulls at my heart for more reasons than just Anaya Grace, but my mother opened her home to foster children before and after I was born, so this is a topic that matters deeply to me.
Thankfully, we have missionaries like Eric and Trisha Porter who are doing everything they can to equip churches and families to foster these kids. The need is far greater than we ever imagined. In Alabama alone there are 6,400 kids in the foster care system and the numbers grow daily. Would you partner with us in prayer, the same way we prayed for Roe vs. Wade to be overturned, to pray for each of these children and their families? Would you pray with us that more families within the church would say “yes” to being foster families? Would you pray with us that we will raise our BGMC goal and help 250 kids this year?
Obviously, every story is different! He knew we were tired, but He knew what our hearts’ desire was and still is. We had never considered adoption, until the Holy Spirit said, “Speak up.” We never would have met our precious girl if it were not for that moment. I could never imagine a life where she had to go from home to home, but unfortunately that is reality for so many children. ”Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you“ (James 1:27).
We have a God-sized goal for 2024, but we know our God and we know what only He can do! I pray that you will partner with us as we begin praying for each of these children and families.
Many of you know the story of how we found out about our daughter, but this is a story I could tell over and over again. So today, I am going to tell our story…our Anaya Grace story!
My husband and I struggled for many years with infertility; we had a total of nine losses and we were both so ready to give up. We felt like we had nothing else to give. We were at the end of our road, or so we thought.
I was sitting in our Sunday school class when a couple of friends came in, and you know how sometimes you feel the heaviness in the room? Well, that was a time you could feel it! As we were sitting there, they began sharing about a mother who was nine months pregnant and did not want the baby. They both felt a burden for this child and did not know what else to do except pray and have the class join in prayer. The Holy Spirit kept saying, “Speak up,” but I was disobeying and refusing to interrupt them as they were talking. At the end of class, I approached them explaining that we were open to talking to the birth mother if they were willing to pass our phone number along.
I will never forget the first time I communicated with Anaya Grace’s birth mother. What was I doing, you ask? Rolling hot dogs with Danel Wallis in the FLC, preparing for Kids Camp. She texted me to let me know she wanted Dom and me to have her baby! We were just two strangers to her; she knew very little to nothing about us. All she knew was that we went to church, and we both knew the couple from my Sunday School class.
Later that day we continued to communicate, but I was on my way to Kids Camp and knew I would be losing service. Everyone knows you do not get any signal at Springville Camp. I remember calling my husband and telling him about the baby, and all he said was, “If it’s God’s will for us, the baby will be ours.”
Well, about six hours after arriving at camp, the mother was in labor and I was running to my car to go get our baby! We got to hear the birth mother tell us how she tried to have an abortion, not once, but twice. The first time it was canceled by man, the second time it was canceled by the command of the Lord telling her, “This is not your blessing, it is someone else’s”. I don’t know about you, but that still to this day sends chills down my spine.
Eleven days after our daughter's birth, Roe vs. Wade was officially overturned. Did you know there have been over sixty-three million abortions since 1973? We as Christians prayed and prayed that Roe vs. Wade would be overturned for years. But once it was overturned, we stopped. We stopped thinking about those innocent lives and we started rejoicing that they had finally overturned abortions. Did you know that the amount of children in foster care almost tripled after it was overturned? Lives were saved, but homes were scarce. There are over 400,000 children in foster care throughout the United States and more get added daily. In Psalms 68:5-6 we learn that our Heavenly Father places the lonely in families! ”Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.“
As Tabitha and I were searching for this year's BGMC project, we both felt heavily drawn towards foster care and orphan ministry. This pulls at my heart for more reasons than just Anaya Grace, but my mother opened her home to foster children before and after I was born, so this is a topic that matters deeply to me.
Thankfully, we have missionaries like Eric and Trisha Porter who are doing everything they can to equip churches and families to foster these kids. The need is far greater than we ever imagined. In Alabama alone there are 6,400 kids in the foster care system and the numbers grow daily. Would you partner with us in prayer, the same way we prayed for Roe vs. Wade to be overturned, to pray for each of these children and their families? Would you pray with us that more families within the church would say “yes” to being foster families? Would you pray with us that we will raise our BGMC goal and help 250 kids this year?
Obviously, every story is different! He knew we were tired, but He knew what our hearts’ desire was and still is. We had never considered adoption, until the Holy Spirit said, “Speak up.” We never would have met our precious girl if it were not for that moment. I could never imagine a life where she had to go from home to home, but unfortunately that is reality for so many children. ”Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you“ (James 1:27).
We have a God-sized goal for 2024, but we know our God and we know what only He can do! I pray that you will partner with us as we begin praying for each of these children and families.
1 Comment
I will truly be praying my own testimony of just what children go through. Either after birth parents pass away or a decision to be made Thank you Jesus for never leaving me or Annya🙌🏻