Watermark Blogs

Whenever the four families in this community group get together, it’s “controlled chaos.” There are 15 children in the group so far — seven biological and eight adopted children, to be exact. But there’s no need to make that distinction. “Whether we share DNA and bone structure or not, these children are ours when they come to our home,” said Brandy Butler.

Each family has a different story about how adoption became a part of their lives. Wes and Brandy Butler talked about adoption before they were married, but didn’t expect it would play such a large role. “After a year of marriage, infertility became part of our lives,” Wes said. “We quickly jumped into the adoption process.” Today, the Butlers have adopted Josiah (6) through a frozen embryo adoption program. Their daughter Selah (5), came to them via domestic adoption. In 2009, they traveled to Ethiopia and brought home Malachi (2), and plan to return soon to adopt a daughter from Ethiopia.

Beau and Natalie Fournet had two biological children, Caleb and Hannah, before adopting. After multiple miscarriages, conversations about adoption, which began before marriage, came to the forefront. They later brought twin siblings, Beck and Deshi, home from Ethiopia, in July 2009. They also recently began the process to become foster parents.

David and Missy Leventhal hadn’t thought that adoption would be a part of their lives. “We had two healthy children, Daniel and Caroline, and life was very manageable,” David said. “But through a series of events, we realized that God’s goal for our lives was not comfort. We’d created this little world in our Dallas bubble. We were serving, but it wasn’t costing us much.” David and Missy adopted their daughter, Abigail from China in 2007, and began the process to adopt a threeyear- old boy from China 7 months ago. They also have a two-year-old daughter named Lilly.

Cary and Sarah Tucker were also perfectly happy with two kids. “We were in community with the Fournets as they were processing adoption. We enjoyed talking about it, but adoption wasn’t something we wanted.” But after learning more about the needs of orphans on a trip to Africa, things changed. “Within a year, we went from a firm ‘no’ to a ‘maybe’ to a ‘yes.’ Our son, Wolasa, has been with us for about 9 months, and this month
we adopted our daughter, Rediet (9), from Ethiopia.”

The Tuckers had a lot of fear about adopting — fear that it would be hard or that they simply couldn’t do it. But God changed their hearts. “We went through Scriptures and learned to not sit back in our comfort and pass up opportunities because they might be hard,” said Cary. Sarah said God stretched her faith and helped assure her that she’d be able to nurture the hearts of her adopted children.

Despite the challenges, this community group agrees on one thing: Adoption was God’s ‘Plan A’ for their families, and caring for orphans is also God’s plan for the Church. “Adoption is not the only way – or even the best way – to advocate for orphans,” said David Leventhal. “If adoption isn’t where God is leading your family, there are many other ways to help. You can sponsor a child, like many families at Watermark do through Watermarkworldwide. com. That’s one of many options.”

Watermark also offers an adoption ministry, Tapestry, that encourages and supports those considering the adoption process. Monthly events promote a sense of community among those opening their homes to orphans both internationally and domestically.

While adoption has blessed each family in different ways, there’s one thing that’s consistently been an encouragement to each member of the group: the shared experience. “There probably aren’t many community groups that look like this, but there is a larger group of families at Watermark who are experiencing the journey of adoption together,” Cary says. “God has been immensely gracious in putting us with a very small community of folks to help us through this experience.”

David Leventhal agrees. “There are highs and lows in adoption. It’s been one of the best things we’ve ever done but also one of the most difficult. Our children are coming out of tough environments. They have needs that require us to ‘give’ a lot more than we’re comfortable giving. That’s part of the deal when you decide to adopt. And it’s also how the Lord has chosen to refine us through the process.” – Written by Michelle Devereaux

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.” – James 1:27