The Unlikely “Yes” | An Adoption Story You Have to See to Believe

Tommy and Heather only planned to adopt one child.

They had three biological kids already, and they believed their family was nearly complete. Never in a million years could they have predicted what the future held. In Tommy’s words—

“What God had planned was adding five more kids to our family in a story He’s now writing with a family of ten.”

This is a story about saying yes to adoption and seeing what God will do.

“It’s an adoption story only God could write.”

Heather and Tommy were always open to adopting, but while Heather felt the call to move forward, Tommy needed more time. Everything changed when Tommy attended a conference where the speaker talked about adoption, and Tommy felt a shift in his heart. He knew at that moment, God was leading him to say yes to adoption.

“But I still didn’t have the courage for a month or so to tell Heather.”

The reason for his hesitancy?—Tommy and Heather had just quit their jobs to start a new ministry. Tommy explains—

“We took a 100% pay cut and were raising our own support. How were we going to take care of the three kids we already had? It’s not that I didn’t want to adopt; I just couldn’t financially make it make sense.”

But, as Tommy and Heather would soon find out, adoption is an investment far bigger than dollars and cents. It’s about stepping out in faith into a story bigger and better than anything we can write for ourselves.

Adoption makes eternal sense.

“We knew right away.”

Once Tommy told Heather he was ready to say yes to adopting, they knew they would adopt two girls from an orphanage in the Dominican Republic whom they had known for several years through trips overseas.

But as can sometimes happen with an adoption story, what Tommy and Heather thought would be a year-long process turned into a three-and-a-half-year process with multiple court appearances, many trips, living in the DR for months at a time, and taking their whole family back and forth.

“Many times we felt like it was not going to happen, even though we said yes.” 

In the end, they brought home two wonderful daughters—Jada and Izzy—and began a journey that hasn’t been easy but was absolutely worth the wait.

“And then, God allowed our path to cross with a single mother who needed help.”

Even before Jada and Izzy’s adoption was complete, God allowed Heather to meet a single mother in their local community who was in need of help and support. Believing strongly that God ordained their meeting, Heather did whatever she could to offer her love and support.

“And within a month of our connection, she asked me to care for her ten-month-old baby girl.”

Surely God wasn’t asking Tommy and Heather to say yes to another child, was He?

“I can remember the first night I went to Tommy and told him Aubree’s mom asked for us to watch Aubree overnight.”

They had no idea what God was doing, but they decided to trust that He was leading, even if they couldn’t see the full picture yet.

And so began the journey of bringing Aubree into their family. 

But God wasn’t done.

“One day, our oldest son came home and said, ‘Dad, there’s a new kid at school.'”

And this new student, Noah, wanted to learn to play basketball.

Tommy started his career as the head basketball coach at the kids’ school before surrendering to the call of full-time ministry. Their new ministry’s mission was to equip college basketball coaches and athletes to leave a legacy on and off the court for the glory of God.  

So Tommy agreed to meet Noah. And that meeting began a year-long investment into Noah’s life.

And then, at the end of the year, a situation occurred where—for Noah to be able to finish school—he needed to find a new place to live.

So Tommy and Heather welcomed Noah into their home and family to finish school.

When Noah was 22 years old, he asked Tommy and Heather to officially adopt him.

Though it was an adoption story they never anticipated, they again said yes.

“God had one more child for our family.”

Giancarlo’s parents are missionaries in the Dominican, good friends of Tommy and Heather’s. They reached out to see if Giancarlo could live with them to finish high school and pursue playing basketball in college.

Tommy explains—

“Giancarlo has great parents that love the Lord and serve Him. He came to live with us when he was 15. He went to high school and just finished college. And we love him as a son.”

And in the remarkable way that God weaves stories together, Giancarlo grew up serving the orphanage where Jada and Izzy lived before Tommy and Heather adopted them. So they’ve known each other their whole lives.

Giancarlo makes 8 kids, and now the family is a party of 10.

“We started by saying yes to one.”

But God said, “five more.” 

When God calls us to step out in faith—especially when it comes to adoption—the word “yes” is loaded. It’s not just a simple, three-letter word. It’s a personal declaration, a holy rebellion against fear. It’s looking at all the unknowns and saying, “We trust You, God, more than we trust our own understanding.”

It’s the audacious belief that God’s plans are infinitely better than our carefully laid-out ones. It’s knowing that when we say “yes,” we’re not just changing a child’s life—we’re letting God radically transform our own.

Thankfully, Tommy and Heather didn’t have to do it alone.

“Lifesong became one of our biggest advocates.”

In Tommy’s words, “We would not be here today if a lot of people, including Lifesong, did not give.”

Here at Lifesong, we believe money should never be the reason a child doesn’t have a family. So through adoption financial assistance, like matching grants, interest-free loans, and adoption crowdfunding pages, we help families like Tommy and Heather’s bridge the gap in adoption fundraising.

Tommy shares—

“People think we’re superhuman, but we’re not. It’s just totally God’s story. We opened up our home and brought in God’s children and literally watched Him change us.”

“You may not be called to adopt today, but we’re all called to do something. And when you invest in adopting or in adoption, you’re making an eternal return on investment that I can guarantee you is going to change a life. My advice?—Ask God what He wants you to invest.”

We agree, Tommy. And we’re thankful for the way you and Heather are showing us how to do it.