LifeDate Fall 2023 – How to Use Your Gospel-Motivated Voice For Life
by Thomas J. Wilson
April 27, 2022, was a day that we will remember for the rest of our lives. We had been struggling for years to get pregnant, and eventually decided we should open our home to adoption. After a three-and-a-half-year wait, God answered our prayers. On April 26, 2022, we received an email from Lutheran Family Service (LFS) that there was a baby boy named Ashton needing a loving, caring family. Along with the email was a picture of this precious child. We were hooked. The next day we had an interview with LFS, and within a few hours, they called to notify us that we were chosen to be the parents of that little boy!
We knew going into the adoption of Ashton, soon to be Vincent Allen, that he had many medical issues and would need extra care, love, and lots of patience. Ashton was born premature, suffered respiratory distress immediately at birth, and was rushed to the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. He was also diagnosed early on with Dandy Walker Malformation. He spent his first two months in the hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit before LFS was contacted and another month before he was officially discharged and placed with us to come home.
It was during the month that we first met him that we knew there was something special about this little boy. We also found out very early that we would have to be a strong voice for him. We were just starting to learn about Dandy Walker and the needs of his feeding tube and medications. We were barely there enough to hold him before we heard a doctor ask why we were wanting to adopt Ashton, pointing out that his quality of life would be very low. But our faith was strong, and we knew God had a plan for us and for Ashton. We did not let this doctor discourage us. We listened and then we spoke with others. Ashton may have been born with medical needs and development issues, but he is still a child of God.
That has been our motto throughout this process. Ashton/Vincent is a child of God. He was chosen for us, we were chosen for him. God’s plan was for us to be a family, and we will be his voice to fight for his health obstacles and get him what he needs. Finally on February 1, 2023, Ashton’s adoption was finalized, and he officially became Vincent Allen Wilson, son of Thomas and Lisa Wilson.
Over the span of 11 months—from August 2022 to June 2023—Vincent has been hospitalized with Covid, Rhinovirus (six times), and Parainfluenza. We have been to five different hospitals and emergency rooms. Because of his pulmonary issues, he is in need of heavy support. The worst came at the end of September 2022, when we rushed to the ER because Vincent was breathing erratically. By the time we got back to see a nurse, he stopped breathing, and the ER went into chaos. This became his first of six life flights to Mayo in Rochester.
Remember, God has a plan, and God’s plan was for us to be at Mayo! Through our visits there, we have been able to pinpoint Vincent’s pulmonary needs, and we have been able to make a care plan and speak for him to get the coverage and medical help he needs. Yes, we have had more visits, life flights that we did not want, but each time we learn something, change something, and the visits are less frequent.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:3-6).
God had a plan. He watched over Vincent’s biological mother and gave her peace to not abort the pregnancy. God gave her peace as she decided to place him for adoption. God guided the process to bring us to Vincent and Vincent to us. God continues to comfort us and bring us peace as we struggle with the stress of Vincent’s medical issues. But through it all we continue to praise God and to be a strong voice for one of His children!
Thomas J. Wilson is Director of Christian Education at Zion Lutheran Church, Humboldt, Iowa.