What if the love you need isn’t a feeling at all? We sat down with Rob and Stephanie to unpack a winding adoption journey that began on mission trips and led to a Thai orphanage, a handful of miracles, and a daily practice of surrender. The story starts with simple compassion for children overseas, grows through years of closed doors and waiting, and arrives at a moment in Haiti when a small hand and a sharper question from God changed everything.
You’ll hear how “anchor moments” confirmed their path—an agency email from Bangkok, their daughter serving nearby, and an orphanage only a mile and a half away—culminating in a yes on a little girl’s seventh birthday. Bringing Mali home didn’t match the warm picture they imagined. Cerebral palsy wasn’t the biggest hurdle; navigating grief, fear, and rejection was. Stephanie speaks candidly about the trenches, the day she wrote “God, I hate this,” and the shift that came when she asked God to love through her instead of chasing feelings. That prayer marked the start of a steady, durable love that held when nothing else did.
This conversation is a field guide to agape: letting go of expectations, practicing surrender when comfort collapses, and remembering the gospel when love isn’t returned. We talk about how journaling anchors your memory, why joy is different from happiness, and how adoption mirrors the heart of God—He loved us when we resisted Him. If you’re discerning adoption, wrestling with a hard yes, or simply trying to love better at home, these stories and takeaways offer clarity and courage.
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Intro music by Joey Blair
