Growing up Brinker

I just want to start off by saying that if you have found your way here, thank you. I hope that you will join us in this journey & pray with us along the way. This journey that we are entering does not come with a firm deadline, or a one way ticket to easy street. It comes with loads of unknown, and with that we place our trust in God.






*****************************








We have chosen to only share our journey of infertility with our family and a few close friends. Therefore, that story will not be here, but if you are curious or looking for support in that area, we are open to talking with you! Here, you will find our journey to growing our family. Now, if you are my father-in-law, you hear "getting another dog" when we say growing our family. He loves our pack, but also loves to give me hell for it. I only bring up our sweet babies because you will hear about them here as they are just as much a part of our journey as we are. :-)






Ironically, our decision to close the chapter of fertility treatments came when we tragically lost our sweet Ferris.

















Ferris was my baby, as odd as it sounds, but I poured my heart & soul into this sweet rescue boy. He is the reason we will forever rescue and adopt with Houston Collie Rescue. (They have cute babies looking for furever homes....http://www.houstoncollierescue.org/index.html & be sure to check their Facebook page!)






Losing him was the reality that we needed to close the chapter we were in, and begin praying about what our next move would be. Life does not go on for forever & we can not be happy or content with how things are all the time. Sometimes its okay to begin to truly fight for what we want. While I know that he would have been the best puppy brother, he is running free of anxiety, catching all the squirrels & watching over us.



Several weeks after he passed, while laying in bed thinking about life and what would happen next for us, I randomly asked Jared what his thoughts were on adoption. He said that he had just been waiting for me to mention it. That was all we said about the topic, and we moved on. I was still mourning losing my sweet boy & dealing with Bella who no longer knew what to do without her brother. I was also mourning the chapter of life that we had just closed, trying to completely wrap my mind around the idea that any children we have, will more than likely never share our DNA, but instead be a child born in my heart.






My sweet Bella & I became attached at the side as I was walking down a path, trying to find my way & she was lost.






We had also been wrapped up in our jobs. I was falling in love with teaching again at my new school & loving every challenge that came my way; while also trying to make it the best year yet for my brave students. Jared, himself, was dealing with getting new management at his store & getting to know this new, wonderful family with whom he would be working with. To say the least, we were doing pretty good at filling the void in our lives & I was doing awesome at keeping myself busy!






Bella still struggled & our sweet vet gave us 2 options. We could either giver her anxiety meds every day (read as expensive) or we could rebuild her pack. So, when this dude came up on my news feed, I knew he was meant to be! I took a dear friend & the girls, off we went to meet Micky, already singing...Hey Micky, you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind. Hey Micky....


It was love at first sight. Shelby said hello & was off to run & investigate the acres of land, but Bella stuck close to me & Micky glued to her. We knew that it was a match made in heaven within a few minutes.














Can you see the love birds swirling around??













Micky's adoption day!






Two weeks later, Micky was home. Bella fell in love & was happy to have a brother in her life. I did not know how much I needed this sweet boy in my life until he arrived.






While in the past coming home from work was a quick greeting from all & then outside time & winding down for the evening. This kid was different. Teaching in and of itself is stressful, but being at a school that is just beginning adds a whole other level to being stressed, think about that everything that happens within a school year, but it is all new. While I was loving my time, I was stressed, and quite frankly depressed from what had happened in August. Every evening, since day 1 with this boy, he has crawled into my lap & nuzzles me until he is comfy & I am stroking him. Well, strokes turned into tears and sobs (that I had only ever cried in the arms of my husband, and while holding my Ferris). It was a great emotional release that I did not know I needed. This continued for weeks; some nights there were rivers of tears, while other maybe one or two, but this boy never swayed in his devotion to me. He knew what I needed, and did his best to provide comfort. Dogs are good that way.






Adoption did not come up in our house again until over Thanksgiving Break. It was then we had out come to Jesus discussion about it, and decided that if this was the path that was meant for us, we needed to begin walking. We began our journey of discernment, appropriately, with the season of Advent. We entered into this time of anticipation and waiting with the prayer that if adoption was the correct way to go, we would do it.






During this season, we spent an evening with wonderful friends who have been through adoption themselves. They patiently and lovingly answered all of our questions, concerns and gave us so much more to think and pray about. I was so glad to have them as go to-s with all of my questions as I dove deeper into the world of adoption, which is not a bad place to be, but one that can be very overwhelming when you are not sure what you are doing.







Let me just say, adoption is scary and daunting. There is nothing short and simple about it. The first hard task, finding an agency that we felt was right for our family. This was no easy feat. There are so many agencies out there, and if you are just beginning to look…pick something that is important to you and narrow down your choices from there. What did we use to narrow down the ocean to a lake? Faith. It was that simple. We knew that finding a faith based, Christian adoption agency was important to us as a family. Next, after reading about domestic adoptions, we found the process to be “easier” if it took place in the same state that you lived. SO, I Googled “Christian Adoption Agencies in Texas.” Well, that took me from an ocean to a lake…a big lake. Turns out that is a pretty popular way for agencies to be founded, upon faith. So, into research mode I went. Every spare minute was spent reading every single thing that the agencies had posted on their websites to be read, finding reviews on them, and taking serious consideration into looking what we wanted from an agency.






We knew once we entered this journey that we not only wanted to be well taken care of as adoptive parents, but we also wanted the birth families, especially the mom, to be cared for, even after the adoption was finalized. Taking these things into mind, I was quickly able to cross off agencies as I went along, and within a few weeks, I had it narrowed down to a mere 5. Jared and I sat down, and we scoured those sites again & again. We both kept coming back to one agency up in the Fort Worth area again and again. I would mention something about them to him that I knew I wanted with an agency, and he would answer back with a list as well. We took the name of this agency to Mass with us the rest of Advent & prayed & prayed over the name.






It was the last Sunday of Advent and someone was jabbing my side after Communion. I was about to be quite annoyed until I remembered that I was not with my students, but Jared. He could not wait to tell me that this was it. We needed to go with this agency. He was going with them, and that was that. I quietly told him okay, and went back into prayer. On our way home, we discussed his decision, and I read through their testimonies one last time, and that was it. We were both sold.













This was the beginning of the next chapter. We had an agency to go with, and we have not looked back since. We set up a phone call with the owner, and spoke with her for over 3 hours. She kept saying many times how happy she was that Jared and I "spoke Jesus." And, boy, was I glad that she "spoke Jesus" too!



From there, we were sent everything that we would need to pull together, along with an application....



Here are just a FEW of the items...


* 28 page application


* 24 page family report


* individual autobiographies


* house floor plans


* financials


* Vet records for the pups


* birth & wedding certificates


* photo albums about us


......and the list goes on.



It has taken us from December, until now to work full time jobs, then come home and work another while we pulled all of the pieces together.



We have chosen to share our story with the "world" at this time because we have already mailed in fliers that will be at local pregnancy centers in the Fort Worth/SouthLake area. We officially have skin in the game.



We could not be more excited, or frankly more scared as we embark upon this journey.



Right now, we are asking for prayers. Prayers for our family, as well as the birth family & our future child, whoever they may be.



If you would like to join us in prayer, on the 5th of every month, we have been beginning the St. Joseph Novena. Below you will find the prayer, with a link to the daily devotions.



Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for reading this far (haha) and embarking upon this journey with us!



Lovingly,


Jared & Shannyn


Shelby, Bella & Micky :-)



















Novena to


St. Joseph



*NOVENA PRAYER






*(prayer to be said at the end of each day's devotion)










Saint Joseph, I, your unworthy child, greet you. You are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you. You know that I have special confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary, I place all my hope of salvation in you, for you are especially powerful with God and will never abandon your faithful servants. Therefore I humbly invoke you and commend myself, with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession. I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life and to assist me at the hour of my death.










Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, obtain for me a pure, humble, charitable mind, and perfect resignation to the divine Will. Be my guide, my father, and my model through life that I may merit to die as you did in the arms of Jesus and Mary.













Loving Saint Joseph, faithful follower of Jesus Christ, I raise my heart to you to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the Divine Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary for my spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly the grace of a happy death, and the special grace I now implore:













(Mention your request).













Guardian of the Word Incarnate, I feel confident that your prayers in my behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God. Amen.





MEMORARERemember, most pure spouse of Mary, ever Virgin, my loving protector, Saint Joseph, that no one ever had recourse to your protection or asked for your aid without obtaining relief. Confiding, therefore, in your goodness, I come before you and humbly implore you. Despise not my petitions, foster-father of the Redeemer, but graciously receive them. Amen.















You can find the devotion for each day here: https://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/novena/joseph.htm