A few months ago I completed a piece on adoption. I followed the Jochim family for five months to document their experience of bringing home their son Micah from the Democratic Republic of Congo. In January 2013, I joined them and about 25 of their closest friends and family at the Louisville International Airport.
When Emily was just fourteen, she knew adoption would be in her future. During Emily’s college career she visited Africa several times. After seeing the need, poverty and the sweetness of the babies, Emily knew in her heart she wanted to adopt from Africa.While Adam and Emily were dating, Emily shared her desire to adopt. When they got married, Adam wasn’t all for the adoption process but shortly after was convicted as to why he was holding up their adoption process. “God spoke to me in that season,” Adam said. The Jochim’s began their adoption process in March of 2011. “When we started the process, we were told we would have our child home within a year,” Emily said.After 12 months of waiting for a referral and being told it could be 12 more months, the Jochim’s decided to switch adoption agencies. “If adoption is the Gospel, the cross was bloody, we shouldn’t expect adoption to look any differently,” Emily said. On March 16, 2012, the Jochim’s were given a referral and they were able to see Micah’s face for the first time.
Emily remembers one particular morning early on in their adoption process when she woke up and couldn’t stop thinking about their child and where he/she might be and what they might be going through. After talking with the adoption agency and doing some math, Emily realized it was right around the time Micah’s biological mother became ill. “It was sweet that God prompted me to pray for him when his mama couldn’t care for him any longer,” Emily said.
Before Micah came home, Adam and Emily’s two-year-old daughter Bella quickly identified who Micah was and started calling him by name. Adam and Emily had talked about Micah enough that Bella never knew Micah to not be true. When Bella was asked ‘Where’s your brother?’ she would reply, “Africa!”Emily remembers the first morning Micah was home, he woke up happy and ran around the house like he knew it was home. “God has been good to us, for sure,” Emily said.
If you or someone you know is adopting, feel free to contact me for a complimentary session to honor your adoption story!