Meet Jacob

This is Jacob.

After 733 days in foster care, he found a forever family. In mine.

My brother and his wife, Tim and Meg, became foster parents just over two years ago. Days after getting their license, they got a call. A little boy, just three months old, needed a safe place to land. Within hours Tim and Meg were holding a little guy under their Christmas tree. Within days he had a stocking knit for him hanging at Papa and Nonny's house.

Over the next several months, that spilled over into years, Tim and Meg did all they could to care for Jacob. The days were filled with court hearings and visits. With doctors appointments and sleepless nights. With bottles and books and bedtime prayers. They built a beautiful relationship with Jacob's birth family. And earlier this year, his biological mother decided that adoption was the best choice for her son. But she didn't just consent to an adoption. She would only consent to a specific adoption: naming Tim and Meg as his forever family.

Last week, we traveled to celebrate Jacob's adoption finalization. I was greeted in front of the courthouse by Jacob's biological grandma, who knew me by name. She knew everyone who arrived, having heard about us from Tim and Meg and taking genuine interest in Jacob and his adoptive family. We packed the courtroom (so much that the attorney said he had never seen such a crowd for an adoption) and I'm sure we interrupted all of the hearings on that floor with our cheering.

Admittedly, I cry at every adoption finalization I attend. There's something more than an Adoption Decree being signed and new birth certificate being issued. A child has a new name. A family is created. Nothing mirrors the gospel like adoption.

But this time it was my brother. And my sister. And my nephew. I've watched them love Jacob from the beginning. And they have loved without reservation or hesitation or strings attached. Without knowing the end of the story, they committed to love him with all they had from the start. They knew that as long as Jacob was entrusted to their care, they would be his parents. And they've been amazing.

I was done even before they were sworn in; the tears had already started. While we were waiting for the hearing to start I pulled my brother aside and told him how proud I was of him; that he's an amazing daddy. And then the judge proclaimed Jacob every much a son to Tim and Meg as if he had been born to them, gave Jake the gavel to close the case, and my brother held his son, the one who finally shared his name, and cried. I joined the rest of the gallery as we wept at the goodness and faithfulness of God who can turn something so broken into something so beautiful. A child who once entered the foster care system through hurts a three month old should never know now chosen, wanted, and given a new name; adopted.

 

It's funny how one day, one moment of a gavel hitting the bench, can change everything and nothing at the same time. Jacob now shares our family name. But he's been a part of our family since the moment he was held under that Christmas tree. He has been loved from the beginning.

Welcome to the family, Jacob Weston. You've been a part of us since the moment we laid eyes on you.