Lydia found out she was pregnant in September of 2014. She already had two children, a 4-year-old and a baby. The father of her unborn child was a drug abuser and an unsafe person to be around. On top of it all, Lydia had just become homeless because of some poor decision making. Pregnant and homeless with two young children, she says she was absolutely lost.
“I very quickly realized that I couldn’t support three children under the age of five at this time of my life. I needed help,” said Lydia.
Lydia contacted New Life in December of 2014. “I was welcomed with open, understanding arms. My social worker became more than just a social worker. She became my friend. She was there for me whenever I needed to talk and helped me come up with a plan for me to get back on my feet,” said Lydia.
With the help of a New Life Social Worker, she applied for housing at Naomi Family Residence, a safe transitional housing program for single mothers and their children. She believes beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was working in her life at this moment.
“This is exactly where he wanted me to be. When I got the call that I had been accepted into their program, I dropped to my knees and rededicated my life to Christ. Since that day, God has been showing Himself to me again and again. From my pregnancy, providing food, shelter and clothing for me and my kids, to the rent we needed for our new place,” said Lydia.
Lydia moved into Naomi on December 22, 2014. And had faith that with God on her side, anything was possible, even going through with her pregnancy.
“I started thinking about adoption knowing in my heart that the best thing I wanted for my unborn child was something I couldn’t give her at this time in my life. I wanted her to have a loving mother and father, I didn’t want her to need for anything,” said Lydia.
Choosing the Right Family
Lydia grew up in an adoptive family and wanted her child to experience the love of two parents, so she worked with a social worker at New Life to start the adoption process. She started looking at adoptive family profiles, and Eric and Hillary stuck out.
“When we had our first meeting with Lydia, it was awkward at first. However, about half way through our birth mom started laughing with a little tear in her eye. Her social worker checked to make sure she was ok, and said yes. She then shared that every time we would speak, little baby girl would jump and kick,” said Eric. “She kicked as if to tell me that he was her forever daddy. That was it. I knew that this baby belonged to them,” said Lydia. “I wanted my child to be a blessing to them.”
“I know Ella will grow up with the best possible future because she has the best parents anyone could ask for. I hope she will know that I didn’t place her for adoption because I didn’t want her, but because I wanted her to have the best possible future,” said Lydia.
“Since I placed Ella for adoption, my life took off. My hopes and my goals are for my children to have a better life than the one I had, to go to college, and to learn from my mistakes,” said Lydia.
“This whole process has been God working through me, through her (Ella). The most rewarding parts of this adoption process, has been three things: Growing closer to my children, a new friendship with my case worker at New Life who I know will not judge me, and that my kids and I gained a new family through Eric and Hillary.”
