The Henkel Family Story | An Adoption Story

on TP okay we're right back [Music] so we got married a little bit later in life we were in our mid to late 30s and um really we're hoping to have a really big family and kind of I don't know expecting that that would happen and um it turns out that we just didn't get pregnant so years went by and we weren't getting pregnant it wasn't just an immediate like let's adopt it was just like while we were trying you know let's keep trying let's do the surgeries let's do the hormonal you know things let's let's do napro technology let's keep trying and um it got to the place where I mean I was tired of it I was done I was done I had had the surgery I had done the hormones I was done you know we were just continuing to pray about it and I said well why don't we just start down the path of fostering to adopt we started going to the Foster classes which in the in the beginning I was very reluctant because it's just another thing to do but one thing was very eye-opening is here the statistics of those children in care that need parents and so once I heard that really the the switch flipped into not so much focus on me now the need is on the kids uh the need for a father and a mother I mean it was about two years before we got our first phone call and they called us about a baby boy and said that he was about to be born and were we willing to accept him so it was very exciting but at the same time it was a little scary because here we're bringing in a baby who might not stay with us and I had a lot of fears going into that thinking oh my gosh like I'm going to become a mother and then if he goes away like I'll no longer be a mother anymore and that was really hard but we just trusted that this was God's plan for our family so we said yes and we brought him home and it was such a joyful experience like we just allowed ourselves to just enjoy every moment of it you know we were bringing home a baby we called all of our friends and family and they all brought gifts and they threw me a baby shower and it was just like we had given birth you know I remember staying up and not wanting to sleep because I just wanted to rock him and look into his little face and I remember Greg coming in and saying honey you need to go to sleep and I'm like but I'm so happy and I just felt this sense that this was God's child you know instead of like clinging to him and feeling like this is my baby please don't take him um it was like this is we get to take care of God's child so when Anthony was about well when he was very young we ended up being able to adopt him which was just it's so such a surprise and such a joy when Anthony was about 14 months old uh Greg said to me one night I think it's time for us to adopt again and I thought oh my goodness like how is this going to happen right literally that very next day I was giving a talk at our church about how every child is a gift this woman came up to me that I had known uh an acquaintance and she said well I'm getting ready to get custody of my twin granddaughters and I need to find somebody to adopt them and I said we'll take them but notes to me Greg wasn't right there at the moment so I went to Greg and I was like guess what we're gonna get to adopt twins maybe after I had given my talk their grandmother came up to me and was like the girls belong with you so that's how that ended up and so we ended up getting the girls the next day that you uh brought the twins over and wanted to see how they interact with Anthony and oh my gosh we have the cutest video of him like playing with his little truck and then handing it to the girls and like them playing and then we have a video where he has this cup full of Cheerios and he takes one and then he feeds one of the girls and then he feeds the next girl and then the dog is sitting there and so then he gives one to the dog and then he's just going around in a circle feeding Cheerios it was so amazing because you know I had thought gosh we would love to have siblings you know for Anthony but we just didn't know how that was gonna work out so God just worked all that out right so we ended up with the twins and then um when the children were all four years old we were really praying for another child and really hoping for a little boy so that Anthony was not outnumbered so much by the girls and uh we got a phone call for another baby boy and this time I feel like our hearts were a little more free to um to accept whatever God's will was for this child so we ended up bringing JP home and it was such an exciting time you know the children were so excited and we told them you know this this child needs a home right now needs a family right now and we don't know if he's going to get to stay with us but we're going to be his family and we're going to take care of him and they were Overjoyed overjoyed and they kept saying you know I hope we get to keep him I hope we get to keep him and we're like I know but we want to just pray for you know we want to pray for his birth mother to get better so she can take care of him because that would be the best scenario is for his birth mother to be able to take care of him um but if she can't then you know we'll get to keep him you know being able to teach the children about God getting to teach them everything teaching them what it means to be in a family what it means to to um live as a Christian to take care of others to be aware of the needs of others it's been beautiful to see how loving our children are and How concerned they are with helping other people they have such beautiful hearts [Music] we have a neighbor who lost a husband recently and they immediately wanted to make her cards and gifts and our little son put some money in there like he had like a quarter and a couple of pennies and he put it in a card and put it in her mailbox and he said well she doesn't have a husband to take care of her anymore so I want to help take care of her it's just so sweet so just to see these children developing and growing up has been such a joy as has got you know he's always a surprise we he never can anticipate the uh the depths of Joy but then also you know you have sorrow just like with anything in life you experience that in family life as well but The Joy definitely outweighs the sorrow and even the sorrow you experience the joy and the happiness [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Springs of Love Catholic Foster &Adoption Stories

Views: 54,845

Keywords: Springs of Love, Springs of Love Stories, The Henkel Family, adoption, Catholic adoption, Catholic, adoption story, fostering, fostering story

Id: i8Ae0iLm3O4

Length: 8min 41sec (521 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 09 2023