Storyline Fall 2020

parents knew without many words being
spoken. A lot was left unsaid with those
around us, and looking back I know it was
emotionally and spiritually unhealthy (for
me at least), but it just felt like something we
didn’t want to broadcast to the world.
And yet, Carter and I came to a place
where we both felt God was calling us to
be content in our circumstances; to be
content with being a family of 2. Neither
of us felt adoption or exploring fertility
options was right for us. (Sidebar: if
you’re facing infertility, the ability to have
children through means such as adoption,
surrogacy, or fertility treatments is Godgiven
and wonderful. It just wasn’t our
journey.) And you know what? God gifted
us with contentment. Period. There was no
desperation or angst; just peace. We had
each other, but more importantly, Christ was
(and is!) enough for us.
Then something clicked into place for both
of us: if it was just going to be the 2 of us, if
having kids wasn’t going to be “the next step”
for us, what did God want us to say “yes” to?
What was God calling us to do and be as a
family of 2? We entered a season of prayer
and a posture of open hands, open hearts
to whatever God wanted for us. We began
thinking about missions, but weren’t sure
what that should look like. Then, when we
were asked if we wanted to go on the 2018
short-term mission trip to Thailand with
FAC, we knew God had our “yes.” I had never
been overseas before, and we had never
experienced a mission trip together before.
It was one big unknown, but our hearts and
hands were open! It turned out to be an
amazing eye-opening experience, teaching
8