CHRIS VESTER

Tell us about your background story. How did the Reeses’ become the Reeses?

JORDAN REESE

It all began when I was two years into college and Carolyn had just finished high school. I had traveled from Texas to Morehead City, North Carolina for the summer to work with Youth on Mission, which was based out of Rocky Mount, NC. We were both students serving on mission, and we spent the entire summer together serving different youth groups and people who would come through.

There was a lot of hurricane damage work those teams were doing. We led worship for those teams when they gathered for worship times at night. I taught a little bit. After that summer she was heading to Liberty University, so I transferred there from my school in East Texas and finished college there. We kept hanging out, eventually got engaged, and then got married. Now, here we are.

CAROLYN REESE

The Lord really brought us together. Jordan had come from Texas to North Carolina and I just happened to be serving in the same place, and we began leading worship together. It was so fun to develop our relationship with each other while doing stuff we loved: serving the Lord, leading worship, and serving others.

CHRIS VESTER

Walk me through your process of adoption.

CAROLYN REESE

We felt called for adoption early in our marriage. Even before we got married, we discussed adoption as an option for us. The Lord blessed us with three kiddos soon after we were married. Then, three years ago we began pursuing adoption. We went the domestic route first, but shortly after we began the process, the Lord began leading us to switch over to an international adoption program. A year and a half ago, we matched with a precious little boy who we plan to name Micah. Right now, we are still waiting to bring him home. It’s been a long process, but we know this is where the Lord wants us.

CHRIS VESTER

Has COVID had anything to do with waiting?

CAROLYN REESE

Yes, it’s had everything to do with it. We started this journey when we applied in January of 2020. The process is usually smooth and quick as far as adoptions go, but COVID has caused many delays. We knew entering into this process that adoption involves some waiting, but this prolonged wait has been unexpected. The Lord has used it to teach me a lot of lessons along the way that I wouldn’t have learned if we had not been in that situation.

JORDAN REESE

Adoption can be difficult and complicated, but this has been extra challenging. Especially at the beginning, everyone was trying to navigate the entire adoption process while dealing with everything COVID.

CAROLYN REESE

We have been so thankful to our agency and the support we have through them. There are still a lot of unknowns, but we know the One who is in control of it all. The faithfulness of God along the way has been obvious.

SUZANNE VESTER

What are some of the things you learned? What are some things that surfaced and have been eye-opening?

CAROLYN REESE

I don’t think anyone goes into a situation hoping to wait and learn patience, but through being placed in this situation, the Lord taught me He’s the One I'm waiting on. The Lord is the One I need to seek. He's my only hope. When I'm at the end of that checklist and I’m feeling like I’m out of things that I can do, that is where I ultimately have the correct posture before God. He should be the One I look to for hope and the One I trust for His perfect timing. Learning this truth can be challenging, especially when it is being learned through challenging circumstances, but it is so important. My hope is in Him.

JORDAN REESE

It’s important to remember that COVID is affecting different parts of the world at different times. When things would get better here, they would get worse somewhere else or vice versa. Two countries in different situations are trying to align things just right, so we can bring our son home. There have been a lot of questions about when and how that will happen, and we just don’t know right now.

We can allow thoughts to take over sometimes, whether they are good or bad. While we’ve been waiting, we’ve found ourselves thinking a lot of what-ifs. It’s been difficult to find peace during this time and not let the what-ifs be a discouragement.

CAROLYN REESE

There are some verses in Daniel 3:17-18 that have really stood out to me throughout this adoption journey. They take place when the king has told three men, who believe in God, to bow down and worship an idol. They refuse and are sent to be burned in a furnace. Before they are placed in the furnace, they tell the king they know that God is able to deliver them from death, but even if the Lord chooses not to, He is still good.

Any time I struggle with circumstances or frustration, I must go back to the character of God and remember He's always good. His ways are always good. Even if I don't see it or understand the circumstance or situation, He is still good. There have been a lot of things that have made us wonder why this isn’t working out or why our wait to bring home our son is so long, but I have to trust in the character of God and know who He is and that He is good.

CHRIS VESTER

You said you had a heart for adoption before you were blessed with children. Where did that come from?

CAROLYN REESE

We’ve always had a heart for the international community. After college, Jordan worked for an organization called World Help. Through his job, we had the opportunity to house children who came to America for the first time. It was such a blessing and an eye-opening experience for us.

There are so many children in need around the world who are waiting for families and the Lord really gave us a burden for them. We have space, we have room, and we wanted to be among the families who said, “You can be part of our family.”

JORDAN REESE

Many adoption stories start one-sided, which was true for us. It's not that I didn't have the desire for adoption, I just had a lot of fear. I had a lot of things that I was afraid of and a lot of what-ifs. I wanted to be sure we had enough to support the child and afford the adoption. Adoption is expensive. I wondered how much work it was going to be and how much heartache we would go through. Carolyn was the one who was ready to go.

Deep within, I loved the idea, but it took a long time for me to be ready to say yes. Our adoption story begins when we were housing children from different countries and through our church, which is very mission focused. We pray every week for a different group of people in the world to know Jesus. That's at the forefront and has been for a long time. Throughout the world, many children will grow into their teenage years never having a family. They grow into their adult years without a family. Learning that broke our hearts.

CAROLYN REESE

There was a lot of prayer on my part and trusting the Lord to work in our hearts individually and as a couple. He was so faithful to bring us to the point where we were both ready to begin the adoption process, confident that the Lord had clearly led us there.

JORDAN REESE

In the very early days, we would discuss the empty spot at our dinner table. Our table has six chairs, and we currently have five people in our family. There’s always that one empty spot. It clicked for me while I was eating dinner and looking at the empty spot. I thought that it would be no problem to have someone fill that empty spot. That’s when God started to work this idea into my heart and helped me get rid of my doubts. It settled in my heart that He would take care of those things.

There’s a child somewhere in the world who doesn’t have a place to sit at a table with a family, and we had an extra seat. That’s how the change began for me.

SUZANNE VESTER

Carolyn, we had talked about the patience in the waiting and the blessing in the waiting. You two have been waiting for quite a while. If you had to encapsulate the big blessings of this adoption process, what would you say they are?

CAROLYN REESE

Taking that leap of faith and walking forward knowing the Lord has called us to that has been a blessing and a learning experience for me. I have been guilty before of the Lord placing something on my heart, but not following through and taking the initial step of faith. If we do follow in obedience and take that step of faith, the Lord is so faithful to provide everything we need. We have seen the hand of the Lord so obviously in this journey, even in the little day-to-day things. The Lord has been kind to remind me in my Bible study or interactions with others, that He's still in control. He gives us hope. He is in control. He is providing.

Remembering He’s with us, even when it seems dark and quiet, brings peace and understanding. It sounds nice when we hear about it, but when we live it out it’s unique to have that peace from the Lord in the midst of discouraging news. Those are the things that stand out as blessings in our journey, and they are things I probably would have missed if we weren’t in this adoption process.

JORDAN REESE

Our church has provided a tremendous amount of support that I’m not sure we would have seen if we weren’t waiting. Every time we are in the church, someone comes up to us and asks about our adoption. They ask about Micah and they ask how they can pray. Adoption is not something that is easy to do, and I don’t know how we would have done it without the support of our community. The importance of the body of Christ as we come together has been one of the things that solidified for us. I'm just thankful for that. Our kids have been able to see that and recognize that.

CAROLYN REESE

Prayer is so important. My personal prayer life has grown a lot because I know the Lord is the One I must go to. Encouragement and having other people pray for us has also been important. When someone tells you they’ve been praying for you, that means so much more than any other words or any kind of gift. Knowing people are praying for us and our son is amazing. The Lord has used this situation to remind me of the importance of prayer and praying for others. We can push prayer to the side sometimes. When we’re busy, it can be easy to push it off, but it’s important to remember He's the one I must run to.

CHRIS VESTER

Sometimes people aren’t willing to ask for prayer. If they are sick and must go to the doctor, many of them will think the doctors can handle it today and they will ask for prayer tomorrow. It’s because they’ve never been in a situation like the one you experienced. When you know people are praying and you see things move it becomes real and makes a massive difference.

CAROLYN REESE

I tried to keep a journal of the different things that we prayed for throughout this journey because, looking back, I'll be able to see how God answered my prayers better than I could have imagined. That’s been an encouragement to me because we’ve already seen those answers to our prayers along the way and I know we’ll see more.

SUZANNE VESTER

How have the kids been involved in the adoption conversation? Are they talking about it throughout this process? What kinds of questions have they asked you two?

CAROLYN REESE

When we started this process, our kids were a lot younger, and we just shared with them that there are kids who don’t have parents and don’t have a family. They understood that we had room in our home to welcome another child and that he or she would be another fun playmate and sibling. Then as time went on, it became a blessing to see their faithfulness in this journey and together with them every night as a family to pray. They pray faithfully for Micah and our adoption process and for the Lord to work it all out. If we weren't for this process, I don't know if they would have learned the faithfulness to pray every single day for years for something they have not seen results for yet. Of course, we’ve had answers to prayer along the way, but the big result hasn’t happened yet. It’s incredible to see their faithfulness in prayer and how they’re trusting the Lord every day.

JORDAN REESE

We've seen them grow through it too. Our eldest son was nine when we started this journey. Now he’s 12. He’s becoming a little man. We saw him accept and really embrace this adoption news at nine. Now he’s praying through it and living through this moment as an almost-teenager. Seeing all of our children grow during this process has been a blessing.

CHRIS VESTER

Adoption can be difficult in the United States. Here, we have foster care, where the idea is the kid is fostered and then hopefully will get adopted. In other countries that’s not the case. There is a lot of red tape in America when it comes to adoption that other countries don’t have. By adopting a child from another country, you’re providing them with something they never even dreamed about.

CAROLYN REESE

There are needs everywhere. There are needs in foster care right now. There are needs for Christian families in foster care to open their homes and care for children in hopes of reuniting them with their family or providing a home for them if reunification is not an option. There are needs for families to adopt domestically as well. We are just struck with that picture of children waiting for families to say yes, whether through adoption or foster care. There are waiting children here in America and around the world.

JORDAN REESE

I think adoption can serve as a picture of the Gospel. It's how the Bible describes our salvation – as adoption as sons and daughters into the Kingdom of God. Adoption is a need. It is needed in our own country and around the world. We were struck by the thousands and thousands of children in other countries waiting to be adopted.

CAROLYN REESE

Many families might not be ready to adopt, but there are many ways to get involved in adoption and foster care without being an adoptive family. People can support a family who is fostering a child or adopting. People can become a respite home for a foster care family. People can get involved in ministering to birth moms, to single moms, to foster care families, to kids in foster care, and to adoptive kids. There are so many opportunities to help. Everyone who wants to get involved in adoption and foster care can find a place where they can serve.

JORDAN REESE

We adopt because we’re believers in Christ and we follow Jesus and what He teaches and commands. He gave us, as His church, a command to go and make disciples. Our primary job is to make our children disciples and point them to Jesus. They are children of God, and we point them to Him. That's no different in adoption. Our purpose in adoption is to adopt this child, and share the good news of Jesus, and teach him to follow the Lord.

CHRIS VESTER

Where can people go to learn more about adoption and the adoption process?

JORDAN REESE

Our agency is called Lifeline Children’s Services and here in

North Carolina there is another excellent domestic and international agency called Christian Adoption Services. Both of these are wonderful, gospel-centered Christian adoption agencies that are doing the Lord’s work by ministering to vulnerable children and bringing them into strong homes. Both of these agencies have many resources and information on ways to get involved on their websites. If you're a part of a church, that's a good way to get involved as well. If you know a family who's in this process, that's another good way to help. We've had a lot of support that way.

CAROLYN REESE

Show Hope is another great organization to support. They provide grants for adoptive families as well as medical grants for adoptive families to care for their kids at their home. As we think about caring for children and families, I would also encourage people to just reach out and support single moms or families who might be struggling. Look for those families who are fostering and adopting who need prayer and support. Be an encouragement and a support to those around you.

CHRIS VESTER

What is your superpower as a couple?

JORDAN REESE

Our power is not from us. It's from the Lord, of course. Through us, as a couple, we feel called to minister to families. We’re not experts in marriage, family, adoption, etc. We are just people who are trying to follow the Lord and learning things as we go. The Bible tells us that as parents, we should pass the truths of God’s Word to our children, so we love to help equip parents to do that.

CAROLYN REESE

We believe that the Lord put us in this situation so we can minister to others. We aren’t supposed to waste the situations we have been placed in. We are to use it for His glory and to maybe help and encourage people along the way.