That word strengthened Ben and Melinda's
faith to continue standing. They believed
that their child was one of those about whom
Brother Copeland prophesied.
As their 20th anniversary approached,
the couple planned a 15-day trip to Europe
to celebrate. Melinda let their adoption
coordinator know the days, in May, that
they'd be out of the country.
On April 21, 2022, their coordinator
called with news. There was a 15-month-
old girl who had been living with a foster
family. Her mother had been a drug addict
and was granted supervised care of the
child at birth, but abandoned her at three
months of age.
If the court severed her parental rights, the
foster family would adopt
her. However, the foster
family felt like adoption
was not the right choice
for them, and they made
the di™cult decision that
the child would be better
oƒ with another family.
That family would be
Ben and Melinda Deckert.
When she was placed
in their home, it would be
as a full adoption match
and not a foster match,
they were told.
"On May 5, we had just
pulled up to the airport to
depart for our trip when
we got another call,"
Ben remembers. "They
wanted us to know that
because her parental
rights had already been
terminated, the state had
awarded her to us.
"We were beyond
excited. Three diƒerent
times we'd been close
to adopting, but each
time the child had gone
to someone else. They
told us that our daughter
would be placed in our
home on May 26. In the state of Texas, the
child has to be in your home for a minimum
of six months before the adoption can be
finalized. That meant our adoption would be
final Nov. 29, 2022.
"As excited as we were about the trip, we
were more excited about getting home to our
new life as parents."
The Fullness of Joy
On May 26, upon returning from their
trip, Ben and Melinda drove to the foster
home. The foster parents had packed all
of the child's clothes and toys. Melinda sat
in the back seat with the child they named
Olivia Grace Deckert. She held Olivia's hand
1 8 : B V O V
HOW TO
USE THEIR
FAITH.
JOIN US
IN TEACHING
BELIEVERS
Partner
with KCM.
KCM.ORG/PARTNERNOW
