Welcome to Gateway Church's podcast. Wherever you're tuning in from,

we hope you're encouraged by today's message.

All right, so the message is titled Adopted to Adopt.

Now, Roe v Wade was overturned recently, but our initiatives in this area started before we had

any idea that that was about to happen. Adoption and foster care is something that's been heavy on

mine and Hannah's heart for a long time. There were many times when we were younger that we said

we would just love to adopt, but maybe we need to save up a little bit more money. Maybe we need

to wait for a time where we're a little bit less busy. Maybe we need to wait for just the right moment

to do this. And as the waiting went on and on, it delayed our progress in that we've always stayed

a little bit involved in different ministries and things like that. And Hannah, my wife,

works for a ministry called Embrace Grace that came out of Gateway and is an amazing ministry

for women who find themselves in unexpected pregnancies and don't have support around them.

This is something that is heavy on our hearts and something that we've desired to be a part of for

a really long time. We still may foster at some point. Hannah is convinced even as old as our kids

are that there is going to be a moment where we are going to find the child in need and that God's

going to orchestrate everything and that we're going to do that. And if I'm honest, that part of it

terrifies me a little bit. We have a 15 and a 12 year old and so they're pretty self-sufficient

and but I am so open for whatever God calls us to do. It's an area that's been really, really strong

on our hearts. And so not too long ago, maybe a little over a year ago, we got an email from

a lady named Kristen McCool. She goes here to Gateway and she also works for a ministry called

Lifeline Adoption Services. And when we met with Kristen, I was completely blown away by the

stories that she was telling us and the amazing work that Lifeline does. And Lifeline is new to

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