“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
The PacMoore value of Faith has a special and personal resonance for me. Having faith in the plan ahead is not always easy. Have you ever doubted God’s plan for you? Through tears of anger, and heavy despair, I remember this very type of doubt. I was holding a baseball glove, staring at my initials “A.W.R.” written on the inside thumb, as I sat in a garage going through boxes of memorabilia from my childhood. I had packed these away for my future son. You see, after two years of trying to have children, my wife & I were told this was not going to be possible for us. My doubting began.
As would be expected, my wife was especially heartbroken. Hearing that her chance to be “mommy” was likely gone broke her heart. Trying to comfort her, my heartbreak was concealed until that day in my garage. Gratefully, we had strong support from our family, friends, and church. As we began to accept this outcome, and after many discussions to investigate our next move, we decided to become foster parents. We knew there was always a possibility to adopt children through this means. The licensing process was long and meticulous, but eventually we began to have children placed in our home.
As a bilingual Plant Manager at PacMoore’s Mooresville location, the department of child services was happy to expand our license into multiple counties, given the shortage of Spanish-speaking foster parents. Our life of foster parenting had begun, and soon we would be home to children from various life circumstances. That life-crashing moment in my garage was now a distant memory. As time passed, I planned to donate my childhood articles, including my baseball glove to Goodwill or one of my employees, uncertain if adoption would ever happen. God had a different plan in mind.
In December of 2013, Brooklyn (then 5) and Austin (then 6) came to our home, having been placed in 5 homes over 2 years, experiencing various levels of abuse & neglect. The state quickly began to discuss with us that parental rights of these 2 children would likely be terminated and we would be facing the decision for adoption if we were interested. Our decision did not take long. Our prayer of thanks to our Lord was emotional. It was more than I had ever felt before. But more was in store, as our Lord had a special surprise for me.
Given the ages of the kids at the time of adoption in November, 2014, we chose to maintain their birth names, changing only their last name. After the adoption, we planned to move our family closer to the PacMoore plant I manage in Mooresville, IN. As I began pulling down the totes stored high in my garage, I came face to face with same ball glove that caused my tears and pain years earlier. Staring at the familiar initials, the hair on my neck stood on end, and I felt like the lead character at the end of a heart-tugging movie as I realized that my God had the plan all along…not only had my God provided us with the children we never thought we would see, but He provided me with a son, whose name after the adoption had become Austin Wayne Rawlins.
Listen to Adam’s personal telling of the story below, along with a slideshow of him and his family through the years of fostering and finally adoption.
