An Adoption Story | The Helm Family

We are so excited to share with you guys a little project we have been working on. As fun as A Beard For A Baby is, our hope is that it would be so much more about God's faithfulness, provision, and redemption than it is about silly beards. Yes, we have guys growing beards and yes it has been such a joy. But the heart of ABFAB is about adoption. And so, we have contacted several families and asked them to share their personal stories of how the Lord has used adoption to bless their families. 

Today it is our joy to share The Helm family's story with you! The Helms are friends of ours from church. DJ and Brian first met while working on some things in the Missions department together and have had an ongoing relationship ever since. They have adopted two of their children and their story has been such an encouragement to us. We pray the Lord uses their story mightily and hope it encourages you as much as it did us!

We are Brian and Shelby Helm and we are excited to share our story! We have been married 10 years and have 3 beautiful children: Lily (age 5), Jaxon (age 4), and Jordyn (2 months). Our first two children were adopted and I would love to share the beautiful story of adoption God wrote for our family!

We hadn't been married long before we started trying to get pregnant. Everyone in my family always got pregnant really fast and I assumed it would be the same for me. I was shocked and dismayed when it did not. Month after month went by and I started getting depressed. We went to the doctor right away and she started running tests and prescribing medications. The tests got more expensive and more painful and the medications made me even more depressed. Finally we tried IUI and after it failed God changed our hearts. Brian and I had always wanted to adopt, but we thought it would be our 3rd or 4th child. Literally, in one second, He changed our hearts toward pursuing adoption. This was in March 2008.

Our good friends had just gone through the adoption process with a small, but amazing agency in Wichita Falls, TX. We watched as they got a call out of the blue about a baby to adopt and then the birth mom changed her mind. This happened a couple more times until their beautiful Avery Grace was in their arms. The emotions that Brian and I had while watching and experiencing this with them were wonderful! We actually felt like it was happening to us too! We decided to go to an informational meeting at the agency and while there decided to sign a contract and get on the "waiting" list. A week later we were matched with a beautiful birth mom due a couple months later. Crazy right!? We started going to her sonogram appointments and fell in love with her and the baby boy inside her belly. We created a room in our home just for him and had decided on a name.

(Side Note: I was pumping and preparing my body to breastfeed our adopted child. I was working around the clock, even getting up at 3:00AM to pump to induce my milk! More on this in a bit...but if you'd like to read more about this, I wrote a separate blog entry on it here.)

Finally the day came and we were in the delivery room when he made his appearance! Brian even cut the umbilical cord!! A few moments later we could tell something wasn't right. He wasn't crying and the nurses rushed him out of the room. We were all panicked, but the doctor assured us he would be okay. He seemed to be doing a little better so Brian and I visited him in the NICU. He was needing oxygen so we couldn't hold him and I couldn't nurse him. We weren't aware that the birth mom was having second thoughts. Soon after this he was rushed to Cook's in Fort Worth because he had been having seizures and he had brain damage because he didn't take his first breath for 6 minutes. We were informed he might be in a vegetative state his whole life. After hearing all of this the birth mom just couldn't take it and decided to parent. We were crushed, shocked, and confused. We knew God had a plan and we decided to commit to be there for this young mother and her baby boy that would need a lot of care. I am happy to say we are still in contact with her and Jaden (the name Brian gave him!)

This was April 30, 2008, just 4 days after his birth and my 25th birthday, when we found out we would not be parents to this baby boy. We decided to put our name back on the "list" with the agency and waited, feeling very discouraged but trusting in God's plan. Thirteen days later we got a call out of the blue that a baby girl had been born and that we were her Mommy and Daddy!!!! Our Lilian Grace was here and she was beautiful and perfect!!!!! When we got to the hospital she hadn't eaten anything. She was a day and a half old and wouldn't take a bottle. After meeting my brand new daughter for a few minutes I told the nurses I wanted to try to breastfeed so I sat down and she latched the first try. Everyone around me was crying and one nurse said, "Well she was just waiting to eat until her Mommy got here!" I will never forget that moment and Brian and I were in love!

A few months later we got a call that the birth mom was pregnant again and wanted us to adopt this baby too. We said yes and began preparing for another baby! Just thirteen months after Lily was born we got a call that our Jaxon David was born and he was big! We got to meet Jax when he was one hour old. We stared into the big and curious eyes of our 21 inch long and 8lbs 13oz baby boy and fell in love again! And just like his big sister he nursed right away!!

God was so very gracious to not give us a biological child when we asked! We would never have our amazing children who bring us such joy every day! Adoption has also opened our eyes to the love that Jesus has for us. How deeply we feel His love now since we have experienced the adoption of our children. Our love for our children is ferocious and never-ending and how amazing is it to think that God loves us this much and more?!

A year went by and I was ready to adopt again. Brian was not so ready... Our kiddos were going through their "Terrible Twos" at the same time and life was chaotic! I decided not to push my husband toward having another baby and just pray that God would make our hearts agree. So just last year (2012) Brian stated that he was ready for more kids and that he wanted to pursue fertility treatments again. I was pretty shocked to hear this because I was beginning to think we would never have any more children and I never in a million years thought we would go down the fertility treatment road again! We were given the name of an amazing fertility doctor and started working with him right away. After 3 IUI attempts and a surgery to remove my endometriosis, we decided to do IVF. I always felt negative toward IVF not because they take an egg and sperm and join them outside of your body, but because there are so many frozen embryos that never get a chance at life. After researching, praying, seeking counsel and praying some more, we decided to move forward with IVF knowing that we would attempt to get pregnant with each and every embryo that was created.

On our first IVF attempt we were amazed to hear we had 2 healthy embryos!!! We froze one and the other was placed inside me. We even got to see it happen through a sonogram. As the doctor guided the tiny embryo through a long tube and inside of me he said, "Okay here is the baby. You are now officially pregnant!" It was a miraculous moment! We waited a couple of weeks to make sure my body accepted the baby and were over the moon when we found out everything was going perfectly. 9 months later our sweet Jordyn Brook was born and fits into our family so well! We will attempt to get pregnant with the frozen embryo when Jordyn is done nursing.

We have three miracle babies that God has blessed us with and we are so thankful every single day for what He has done!  We can't even believe God has allowed us to be a part of it! He is so good and does amazing things. Each time I tell someone our story I am brought to worship. I hope you were too :)

We praise the Lord for the work He has done in the Helm's life and find so much hope and encouragement in their story. 

With love,
the Hofs

Beard Of The Week | Jordan McClinton

It's Wednesday, and ya'll know what that means! It's BOTW day! DJ and I are super excited to introduce you guys to this week's Beard...

JORDAN MCCLINTON!

Jordan lives in Katy, TX. He loves spending time with his family (more on them below!), playing music, traveling, and spending time outdoors. He is a project manager by day and a Worship Pastor for The Waters Church by calling.  

DJ has known Jordan for years. It's a pretty cool story actually. When DJ was sixteen, he had some friends that constantly invited him to go to Youth Group with them. DJ really wasn't interested, but was getting tired of turning his friends down week after week. Enter in DJ's friend, Trey. Not only did Trey invite him to go (again), but he was also in the worship band. Let's be honest: the biggest selling point for DJ had nothing to do with God, but moreso that he wanted to check out the band.  And so, he finally caved and went. That night, DJ heard the gospel for the first time. He believed in Jesus and has been walking with Him ever since. Like I said.... a pretty great story.

So how does Jordan fit in with all this? He was the lead singer/worship leader of the band that played that night. Several years later, he married Trey's sister and since DJ and Trey had remained friends, DJ and Jordan were able to casually keep in touch. Trey and Jordan's family go to the State Fair every year so we've met up with them a few times over the years and had a grand ole' time. For fun's sake, here are some old school pictures of the three boys at the fair in years past:

 

Guys, it has been awesome having Jordan growing for us. This guy has not only gone above and beyond, but he's had a blast doing it. He got his first ten sponsors pretty much immediately and hasn't slowed down. We even got a one time donation on his behalf just today! Four months in and still going strong. He won our June incentive and is now a proud owner of the Austin Street Apothecary Beard Tonic we gave out as a prize. And not only is he awesome, but his wife, Angela, is too. These two are a team who have a blast gaining ABFAB sponsors together. They post things like this on the internet and bring in lots of adoption funds because of it!

 

It's not just Jordan and Angela either, but the whole family is having fun with ABFAB! They are parents to three beautiful girls, Avery, Kate and Reese. Here are a few family photos of them having a little fun with the finger mustaches that we sent: 

Annnnd, in case you wanted to hear more about their greatness, we were pleasantly surprised this week when we got an ABFAB pen and magnet in the mail. These guys designed and purchased pens and magnets to send to their sponsors as a way to say thank you as well as to give them a tangible reminder to pray. Hello.... amazing, I tell ya!

It doesn't stop there, ya'll. It only gets better. Growing his beard out for us and winning the beard tonic opened Jordan's eyes to the world of bearding, so he and a buddy just started their own business called Grizzly Brand. Please go check it out, folks. They are selling beard tonic, mustache wax, t-shirts and beanies and it's pretty great stuff. Jordan has graciously offered to give 10% of their sales from ABFAB fans to our adoption fund. If you purchase an item from them, just be sure to make a note on the final sale that you are with ABFAB and 10% of the proceeds will come our way. You'll be helping to bring our boy home and getting some cool beard & mustache products all at the same time.  Talk about killing two beards with one stone... eh? Okay, bad joke, I know. I don't want any of our beards killed.

 

Jordan, know that we are so grateful for you! Thank you for all you have done to help bring our baby boy home and for having fun in the process. Your joy in this makes it all the more fun for us and we thank God for how he is using you and the rest of our Beards in this little adoption journey of ours. 

Stay bearded,

the hofs

Beard Of The Week | Matt Elkins

Happy Wednesday, ya'll! It's Beard Of The Week day and we are honored to introduce you all to this week's Beard. Drum roll, please......

MATT elkins

DJ and I have known Matt and his family for nearly seven years now. He is married to Katharine and they have three beautiful kids (Hannah, Abigail and Josiah).  Can I just stop for one second to say that Katharine is pretty awesome for not minding that The Beard is in their most recent family pictures?! Hello... that's amazing. Behind each of our married Beards is a wife who supports his facial hair. Trust me, it's no small thing that these women don't mind having hairy husbands and I am just as grateful for their support as I am for their husbands facial hair. So, shout out to Katharine, because she's gonna look at these pictures for forever and that beard will be staring right back at her....

 
We first met the Elkins when Matt and I worked on staff together at The Village. Matt was one of our Missions Pastors at the church. A year later, DJ interviewed to come on staff with the Missions Department and he and Matt would work closely together for the next 5 years. One of my favorite memories of the Elkins' is the way the rejoiced with us when DJ first got hired. When we found out that DJ got the job, they immediately invited us over to celebrate. We walked in their house and they had put out some cookies and a sign that said, "Congrats, DJ! You're a star!". Such a small little thing, but I have never forgotten it and am grateful for the ways they loved DJ that night. It only set the tone for how they would continue to love DJ in the years to come. Though they are such good friends, these two men could not be more different...(they even score on complete opposite sides of the Myers-Briggs test!). But despite their differences, they are great friends and brothers. I have watched them support, encourage, challenge, love and sanctify one another in the past several years and Matt's role in DJ's life is one that I am beyond grateful for.

Matt is passionate about Jesus and missions. He has traveled all over the world sharing Jesus with the nations and the Lord has used him mightily to stir evangelism within the hearts of the people at The Village Church..... Which, by the way, is a perfect segway into our next point: the bittersweetness of this post. It's bitter in that Matt is needing to step down from the ABFAB team, but sweet because it is for great reason! Matt and his family are preparing to be missionaries in Nagoya, Japan and are set to leave next summer. Japan has a Christian population of .25%---yea, you read that right, a quarter of one percent--- and Matt and Katharine have a heart to go and take the good news of Jesus to the people of Japan. One of the things they need to do in preparation to leave is gain a support team and one of the best ways to do that is to not look shady. And so, the beard has to go, guys. BUT.....we 100% support it's departure because we know that with the shaving of the beard comes the opportunity for a nation to hear about Jesus and let's face it.... that is worth it.

We love Matt and are so thankful for the time he spent on our team. He did a great job of getting his sponsors in and raising money to help bring our son home and we are so thankful. We continue to be humbled by those who help us raise money in the midst of their own support raising... there are just no words to describe what a sweet thing that is. And so, we want to do the same for them. Please, please take a moment to learn about what the Elkins are doing and ask the Lord if He would have you participate in any way. Read their blog, learn about God's heart for Japan, and help send them there!
To read their blog, click here. And to support them in their fundraising efforts, click here. 

We love you, Matt! Thanks for helping bring our little guy home. We are praying for you guys as you prepare to take the gospel to Japan. And not even kidding, I'm trying to convince DJ that we should come with you.... #justsayin

Happy bearding,
the hofs

A Beard For A Baby.... Ladies Style!

Ladies (and gents, too)....

We have something great in store for you! We have had several women approach us with a desire to do more for our fundraiser, only to be frustrated that they couldn't jump in on the beard growing festivities. Many of you ladies have even offered to not shave your legs for 6 months in exchange for some cash. Well, girls, put your disgusting offers aside because we have something even better to offer!

Introducing... Beauty For A Baby! My wonderful friend, Meghan Tabari, has graciously offered to host a spa day fundraiser to help raise money for our adoption. Join us from 10:00-4:00 on Saturday, October 5th where in exchange for your donation you can get your hair cut and/or nails done! We are proud to have Meghan Tabari, Trina Holleman, and Michelle Davis lending their expertise for this awesome fundraiser. These ladies are totes legit.... They have a combined 60 years of experience, have worked and owned their own businesses, and their experience includes but is not limited to Vidal Sassoon, Bumble & Bumble, Aveda, CND & OPI. So come on, gals! Sign up here to get pretty for a good cause! (And then message me or leave a comment so I can send you the address for the fundraiser.)


Additionally, my friend Amber Dion has come up with her own fundraiser on our behalf called A Bow For A Baby! Amber is amazingly creative and offered to make and sell these super cute headbands with proceeds going towards our adoption fund. She will be at the salon fundraiser as well so bring some extra cash and buy some bows! They're too cute to pass up. See?

Annnnd, as if that's not enough, my friend Julie Stephens is a wonderful cook and is going to make some Korean treats for us to enjoy while we get our beauty on. You won't be disappointed, I promise.

So, come get pretty, eat good food, and learn about our precious son. Word on the street is that we'll be selling shirts and beard combs as well, so get excited and bring your husbands with! I recognize that this sounds girly, but dudes need haircuts too and we're selling the Beard Combs just for them. Plus, we wouldn't want DJ to be there all by himself now would we? So be a pal, guys, and come join in on the fun!

Hope to see you on the 5th!

August Recap

Hello there beard fans! We just finished out the month of August and wanted to share some highlights from this past month. The simple version is bulleted out below, but you can read our newsletter for more details!

• We received our referral for a beautiful, happy, healthy baby boy! We are now one step closer to bringing this sweet little one into our family. Praise the Lord!

• The Growth Tracker has been updated. Check out their sweet growth here. You will notice that some of the beards have shrunk. This is either due to A) an accidental trimming incident, B) their humility in wanting to let others pass them by,  C) the work force made them, or D) their uber talented beards have the ability to grow backwards. We'll let you decide.

• We added a new Beard to the team... Phillip Bleecker! Phillip and his wife, Carissa, are also on the adoption journey and have started a Pie Of The Month Club to raise money for their adoption. If you want a pie, let us know and we'll connect you with him!

• Between Beard Growers, Sponsors, T-Shirt buyers and One Time Donors, the Lord has burdened over 225 hearts to participate in this little journey of ours. We cannot even describe how awesome it is to see our family, friends, church and community rally behind us in our adoption. 

• T-Shirt sales brought in $778.54. Holla!

• Total funds raised by the end of August (including t-shirt sales) is $16,429.83. Double holla! 

• The three beards who brought in the most funds for the month of August won an engraved "A Beard For A Baby" beard comb. Congratulations to our winners Brady Goodwin, Michael Head, and Steven Pirtle!!

• Septembers incentive is now in full swing. The Beard Grower who raises the most funds this month will win this amazing Beard Pillow. Come on, boys! Who wants it?  

As always, we thank the Lord for you.  We could not do this without your help. Thank you! We love you!!