The Ellis' Adoption Story [introducing the Isaac Collection]

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So a couple of years ago we met Ben and Naomi Ellis.

This couple was definitely not ordinary in the BEST and most awesome kind of way! ;)  I realized this quickly, and OH my goodness how they have blessed/inspired/motivated/encouraged me in the short time that we have known them.  Not only did Naomi and I click with our mutual love for creating, decorating, and style but most of all we all have a love for our Savior, Jesus Christ.  They are following where the Lord leads them and this journey they are on now is so exciting: ADOPTION. A beautiful picture here on earth of what the Lord did for us. I'll let Naomi tell you in her own words!

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“Hey y’all – Naomi here! I am so blessed and humbled by my friend Nat and her willingness to use a piece of her talent to support our adoption. We thought it might be a good idea to let y’all know more about our adoption story.

It has never been a question as to whether or not we would adopt, but rather, when we would adopt. My husband, Benjamin, and I were married November 30, 2008 in Huntsville, AL at the ages of 19 and 20. (High-five young newlyweds!) Both of us had been students of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and felt God’s calling to move to campus. So, we packed up and headed south January 1, 2011. During our time in New Orleans, our church family became Edgewater Baptist Church. While at Edgewater we joined a life group whose primary ministry focus was orphancare. Now, if you do not know about Orphan Sunday, you should look it up! On the first Sunday of November, Christians across the globe host orphan awareness events in the hopes of rousing their church, community and friends to God’s call to care for the orphan. Our life group of course chose to take advantage of this opportunity, and November 4, 2012 became the day that forever altered our call to adopt.

I had one job in our presentation and that was to hold up my poster board when its coordinating statistic was on the screen. As I lifted my poster board and looked up to look into the eyes of our congregation, I was suddenly not looking at the inside of our sanctuary. Instead, I was looking at the most precious African baby boy in my arms. All at once I was overcome with joy, responsibility, and the strangest sense of motherhood. I pretty much lost my junk, that is to say, I started ugly crying all over the place. Our presentation ended, I found my seat, and I continued to weep over all that had just happened. Now you might be asking, where was Benjamin during this time? He was at the drum set that morning and was unable to participate in our presentation or offer me any immediate comfort. (Shame on him. :D) As soon as he took his seat next to me, he of course noticed that I was visibly upset, and he cautiously asked me, “What’s wrong?” Well, we’re in the middle of church people, so it’s not exactly like I could just blab it all out. So I resolved to just write him a note on a bulletin that said, “I just think adoption will be sooner rather than later for us.” He says “Hmm…” and then we sat through a service that I honestly have no recollection of because I couldn’t stop crying. #itwasaproblem Service ended and as we piled into the car I started to open my mouth to word vomit all over the place when Benjamin just as calmly as he could said, “Naomi, I saw him too.” I’m sorry, WHAT?!? Benjamin then proceeded to describe the vision I had received in matching detail. The Lord had shown us our son at the same time y’all! How cool is He?!

Now, just because we saw our son did not mean we were provided with much detail. The last three years have been filled with prayers and confirmation concerning specifics - the method of adoption (domestic, international, foster care), the agency by which we should use, the country he would come from, the finances, etc. Through prayer and confirmation we have concluded that our son, now known to us as Isaac Benjamin, will be 9 months – 1 year old when God brings him to us and will be from the nation of Uganda. The Lord even allowed us the privilege of meeting his people through a mission/vision trip earlier this year, where we proceeded to fall in love with his people of origin. Since our trip, and through God-given restless spirits, we have begun our pursuit of an agency, but first, fundraising!

We are so thrilled and honored that the Lord would call us to adopt our son, but please recognize that we are adopting because God first adopted us (“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” – Ephesians 1:5 NLT). Our hope, above all else, is that many will be affirmed in their salvation or find their salvation in Christ through the witness of Isaac’s adoption process. We covet your prayers and thank you so much for your willingness to financially and spiritually support our adoption and obedience! Love, the Ellis family”

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Half of the proceeds from these art prints will go to the Ellis' Adoption fundraiser! For the first WEEK in December, this applies to anything you buy in the shop! So go knock their socks off and shop this link: 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TwoSisterShop

Custom Family Art Print:

Which also comes on this paper: 

THANK YOU for reading this.  I know it would mean so much to Ben and Naomi if you would help out with this adoption fundraiser.  If you would like to donate directly go HERE. 

But most of all, they need your prayers!! I'm so excited that I got to share their story and I hope it blessed you all reading this. I can't WAIT to update with pictures of their sweet baby Isaac Benjamin. Until then, keep them, Isaac, and everyone involved in Isaac's life before they adopt him in your prayers. 

The Ellis' beautiful pictures were done by Thousand Words Photography.