New Adoption Update

Friends and Family,

I hope that each of you are doing well today. I come to you with hope today, and if I am honest with myself and each of you, I come with lots of fear and anxiety as well. Tomorrow is a very big day for our family. It seems like the day would never come before Thunder's birth parents would mutually agree to appear before a Williamson County Judge to release their rights as parents over to Brooke and I.

We have a court date tomorrow morning at 9:30 CST for the birth father and 9:45 CST for the birth mom. This is D day for them, and we can't imagine how hard this must be for them both, because we know that they love Thunder so much. Even if they both show up and sign the appropriate documents tomorrow, we are still not out of the woods. They both have 10 days to back out with no questions asked. You can't imagine how overwhelming this is for us.

God has had us on this journey with Thunder for over a month now where he has been living with us full time. We have fallen more and more in love with him, and it seems that he kinda loves us too! He has been doing amazing, and has been sleeping through the night for almost 2 weeks now (which was a much needed answer to prayer), He is becoming more confident in our home and with Brooke, Britain, Scout, and I. He has even grown attached to my Mom and Dad, who have been amazing to step in and help us with him. We can't imagine life without him!

Brooke and I have been praying and even verbalizing that all that we want for Christmas is Thunder to be a permanent part of the Byers family. Its amazing how God changes your priorities. He has been making leaps and bounds this past week with us. He is finally starting to understand the weight of what his name means (Thunder Walks First) and has begun to make his stand! I forgot how amazing it is to experience your child taking their first steps. It has been such a blessing. We know it won't be long before the pitter patter of 8 feet running around our home (if you are having trouble with the math, that would be Big Sis Brit leading the expedition, Thunder in Tow, and Big brother Scout following up the rear). What a Christmas miracle it would be for Thunder to be with us! Without knowing what day our Lawyer could schedule with the court for Thunder's birth parents to sign their paperwork, he let us know that Monday the 15th of December would be the day. We are hoping for a miracle this Christmas! A great friend shared with us a song a few weeks ago that is so fitting for us. It;s a new Christmas song by Faith Hill called, "A Baby Changes Everything." Obviously, the spiritual context of the song applies to all believers in Christ in that baby Jesus has changed our lives and our destiny forever! But for the Byers family, baby Thunder has changed us in more ways than one. Mostly, he has changed our hearts and our perspective. Life is not and should not be all about us. God is calling us and challenging us to live what we believe, practice what we preach, to live dangerously with our hands open wide open to the world around us. I will confess that it is way more natural for me to make a fist than it is to let go and trust the Lord with everything.

It should come as no surprise to us, or anyone who has been following our story that I just got a call from our Attorney as I sit and type this update to you. The birthparents are having some major second thoughts about giving Thunder up for adoption. He is a special little boy and I can't imagine what its like for them to make this decision. Please pray for us. Please pray that we would trust the Lord in this, and that He would work a miracle! It is so easy for us to fall into fear, and not trust Him. Please pray for strength for Brooke and I. We have been advised to give some kind of deadline to the birth parents that we are not able to continue like this. If they are to back out, it is quite possible that Thunder will leave us this week. That hurts so much to type. Please pray for them. Pray that the Lords will be done. Please pray that we will have the strength to trust God and trust His will. On a special note, please prat for Britain. She senses our pain at the moment, and it has been hard for us to explain to a 3 year old what is going on. Her faith has been amazing, and her love for her little brother has been so precious to us. She is a true gift from the Lord and has been so patient with us as we have walked through this season. We love you all, and thank you for your support in Prayer.

Feel free to pass this along to all that will pray!


WIth Hope,

Chris, Brooke, Britain, Thunder, and Scout