Adoption (Special Guests William & Makayla Dillon) | Season 5 Episode 6

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00:01

Well, hello, welcome back, everybody. If you notice, Pastor Josiah is not here today, but we have to my right, your left, if you're watching this, we have

00:12

Elena, and then to my left, you have Michaela and William Dillon, the newlyweds.

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They had their wedding yesterday, and they have crazed us with their presence. You've seen

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Emperor's New Groove. You remember that scene where the Emperor and Pacha are like in disguise, and they're at the restaurant, and like, they're like, oh, what would you have?

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And they're like, oh, well, this is our, like, we just got married. This is our honeymoon. She's like, oh, bless you for coming out in public. Donovan and I watched that the other day, and it was just like, perfect.

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So thank you guys for being here, even though you guys have already been married for a little bit, but we appreciate you taking the time to come out and chat with us.

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So today we are actually going to continue the topic that Michaela's parents did on adoption.

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We didn't get a chance to discuss that with them at that time, so we actually brought in William and Michaela to talk about their perspectives,

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Michaela being adopted by Shane, and then William's perspective of adopting Michaela's daughter,

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Nova, which is now their daughter, which is a beautiful story. So but first, we want to play a game.

01:17

It's just a would you rather. I feel like those have been pretty popular this last season. So let's see.

01:23

Would you rather, and we'll just do one today, but would you rather sell all of your possessions or sell one of your organs?

01:33

I don't want to sell one of my organs. Huh? I don't want to sell one of my organs. Do we get to pick our organ? Yeah. Do we get to pick it?

01:38

I would assume, one that, like, you can't donate your brain, like, you can't sell your brain. I'm going to go ahead and sell an organ. I would give a kidney. I was about to say,

01:44

I'd sell an organ. But what would be the price? What do you mean? On the black market or? Just like, just whatever.

01:51

I don't have the numbers. Because I don't think you can really sell your kidney for like. Does it say give a kidney or sell it?

01:56

No, it says sell. Sell one of your organs. Sell all of your possessions. Oh yeah, those things go for like 10 grand. That's going to literally rack up as much as selling all your possessions, if not more.

02:04

Like, and it's just one thing you got to get rid of. Well, we're talking about, like, possessions. So like your house. Yeah. Like, your house can be, like, several hundred thousand dollars.

02:13

Yeah. I'm keeping that. I'm keeping that. But you have to sell all of your possessions. So you'd rather just get rid of a kidney and just have one.

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You've got to keep the money from selling your other possessions. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. I would have more money. I'm like, I can just rebuy stuff that I like, you know.

02:26

That is true. I want all my organs. Actually, that'd be a good, like, decluttering thing. Just start over. Just start over.

02:32

Be a minimalist. Yeah. Which, I kind of got into that idea because I just hate crap in the house.

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And my husband was not too keen on that because I started, like, getting rid of his stuff. I heard that. He said something about wanting our treadmill.

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And he said, maybe, if Anna lets me, because she's a big minimalist right now. Well, we just don't have room.

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We don't have room. The room that he, our spare bedroom, he's using for his office, which

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I'm like, we're eventually going to have to turn that into another baby's room. Like, we can't put two kids, like, especially, you know, a newborn and, like, a toddler in the same room.

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I'm not doing that to myself. That's, like, suicide mission. My mom did that to me with my little sister. She's a better woman than I would have been because.

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Me, Kelton, and Austin all shared rooms, the same room, all three of us, for, like, a while. I don't. Well, it's like,

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I get you. You do what you gotta do. But, no, like, so now what I do is, if I haven't seen him, like, wear something or use something for a long time,

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I'll set it in a pile and I said, you just need to go through that. Like, I just need you to go through that. Let me know what you don't want to keep, you know, like, all that, and then

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I'll take it to Goodwill. But, no, I've asked him, I said, is the treadmill, like, foldable? Like, can you move it around?

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Because also. Yes, it's foldable. It's foldable. Well, I have a, I have a leg lamp for Christmas, so, like, the

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Christmas story. Like, for the Christmas story? Yes. My mom bought it for me for my birthday, so I'm like, well, I might need that window for the lamp.

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So, I need to make sure that the treadmill folds up. And it's only out once a year, that lamp?

03:57

Well, this is, this will be the first year I put it out because my mom bought it in March. Please tell me you're just going to keep it up. No. Yes.

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No. We started setting up Christmas decorations yesterday, like, outside the house, and I said, okay, I'm still trying to plot out where we need to, because I need to plot out where we're going to put the

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Christmas tree, if we're going to move it from last year, you know, or whatever. But going back to the question, you said

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Oregon? Or would you rather go? Well, now I'm second guessing, because, I mean, if we don't rebuy everything. But, I mean, like, but how much, if we should

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Google, how much does an Oregon go for on the black market? Because then we can have a better understanding of what we're getting into.

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So, do you get to pick, like, certain possessions that you could keep? It says all your possessions. Yeah, so, see,

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I couldn't do that, because a lot of my possessions are, like, things from my childhood, and, like, family heirlooms and stuff, so I would probably just rather sell my kidney.

04:50

See, most of our furniture was given to us. That's your possession? Your kidney is your possession?

04:56

No. But what happens to your kidney? So, that if I sell my possessions, then

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I can, I would lose all the stuff that I've kept and held on to. So, the mentality and stuff, yeah.

05:06

So, I'd rather just keep that. Here's what all your organs and parts are worth on the black market. Oh, okay.

05:12

Just a Google search away. Kidneys, 200 grand, see? Definitely selling a kidney.

05:18

Right. But it's, like, is that one kidney insured? Because you can't sell both and live, so that's one kidney.

05:24

So, liver, can you live without, you can't live without your liver. No. But it regrows.

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Yeah, it, like, it can actually fix itself. Yeah, and you couldn't sell yours if you wanted. You wouldn't be able to. It's like a lizard tail.

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That one's out of the question. Well, if you sold your liver, it'd be $157 ,000. I think that's only if it's in good condition.

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Oh, I was about to say, his would be worth, like, $2 ,000. It's like when you go through, like, the car guru or the

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Kelly Blue Book, and you're, like, good but used condition. No, it's like, or you look at the car facts, and it's, like, has, yeah, has fared, has had blood damage or something.

06:00

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then, and kind of question I want to ask is, do you particularly make money on bone Do you actually make money? So I can actually keep the money. Bone marrow, it says bone marrow, parentheses, legally.

06:34

Three grand, and then, I guess, you can sell, like, women can sell their eggs for money.

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So that's, like, anywhere from 5 ,000 to 50 ,000. I feel like that's a pretty good range. Yeah. And then this is,

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I don't know, this is so interesting. Like, I understand it's a black market, so it's not people, like, actually, like, been, you know, selling their own stuff.

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But your coronary artery is about $1 ,500. Your small intestine is about $2 ,500. Skulls with teeth is $1 ,200.

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Your spleen is only $508. I don't think you need your spleen. You don't.

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So that's a quick bug. Your scalp, $600. The further

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I go down on this list, I'm going to worry so many kids. Was it the Cherokees that used to take scalps?

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Man, they would have been rich. Your gallbladder is $1 ,200. Stomach is $500.

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Shoulder is $500. Per pint, blood is $337. Hair, just hundreds of dollars.

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Hundreds of dollars. I actually donated my hair once. I did too. My hair never grew long enough to do that.

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Oh, I did. It was like down here, and I think I donated like 10 inches. I did it once. I'm like, never again, because my hair had no volume, and it was just horrible.

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Skin is $10 per square inch. I didn't know you could even donate your skin.

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There's a short story about that. Okay, I need you to go. You said short story about skin?

08:00

As in like an actual, you can read it, short story. I wrote a doll called Skin. Really?

08:07

Very good. Okay, I'll have to read that. I only grew up with like Matilda. These are his adult short stories.

08:15

Have you ever read like Lamb to the Slaughter? Do you have any of those?

08:20

I have them all. Okay, I was about to say. He's my favorite. I'm a reader now. I'm currently reading about Prince Harry, his book, just because my mom had it, and I'm like,

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I love drama. Oh, and I have the new Duggar book if you would like to borrow it.

08:36

Okay, is it Jenna? Jenna Duggar, I think. Okay, yeah, we'll talk.

08:42

I'm reading Phil Robertson books right now. Do you like them so far? The one that I'm reading is about like, there's what the world says versus what the

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Bible says, and he puts both of those things in perspective. So, like he wrote what the world says is that God is dead, and what the truth is that God is alive, just as he's always been.

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So, every single chapter is a different lie that the world will spread versus what the truth of the

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Bible is. He is so wise, just incredibly wise, and he has such a great testimony too, and don't they have a movie out about his testimony?

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I think that's really amazing. I was telling William I really wanted to see it. I feel like that would be like such a great movie. You have a babysitter.

09:23

If we had a babysitter. We got plenty of options. We have options, yes. We're like right down the road.

09:29

I forget that. Yeah, it's like we can just swap kids. My husband and I need to go on a date night, so it's just like, you know,

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I hate asking people to watch our son. I really do. Just show up. I'm there all the time.

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I don't ever leave, so just show up. I don't either. I just stay at home, Mom. I just sit in the house. Both of you need to go out to the park together.

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Does it even have a park out there? In another neighborhood where Ashley lives, she has one, but there's so many geese, and there's goose poop everywhere, and I am, fun fact,

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I am afraid of geese. I got chased by geese when I was little because my babysitter at the time like antagonized the geese, and they were like mama geese, and they had their babies with them, and so.

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So adoption. Yeah, so I was about to get to that. I'm hosting.

10:22

Geez. You're right. I apologize. You're doing a great job. Thank you for keeping me on track, but so we'll go ahead and talking about Phil's testimony.

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We'll go into your testimony if you would like to start, and just kind of how that whole thing went down with you.

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With me being adopted by Shane? All right. Do you want to dig into before Shane?

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Whatever you want to. Whatever you're comfortable with sharing, I'm game for. All right. Well, my mom was married to my birth dad.

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I don't know exactly how long. I know that she had all three of us with him, and she stayed with him for a little bit afterwards, but they finally separated, which was very, very good, and she started dating my dad, and they got married, and I think

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I was three, and then I would assume okay. I would assume

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Austin was, you know, they were all just kids. I think around 15 and under.

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So me, I was always the little daddy's girl with Shane because I was still like a baby baby whenever he got me, and so he ended up adopting us when

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I was around maybe seven or eight, and at the time

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I didn't really think anything of it. You know, me and Shane have never had the best relationship up until these recent, like this recent year.

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I was not saved, and I did not understand half of the, like half of why they did what they did as parents, and I always would look at him and say, you know, you're not my dad.

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Like you're just, you're just married to my mom, and to me that was something, that was like a defense wall that I put up, and for a long time

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I just wouldn't let it process in my mind that that was my dad, and that was a man who stepped in and adopted us and changed our entire lives, and he has been there since I can remember.

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Like most of my memories of my real dad are not good ones, if there are any that are there, but now that I'm in this point where I'm saved and my salvation is set, like I'm in a better place to finally fully understand that they were amazing parents, and they did have, they did have flaws obviously, like there was a lot of flaws to it, but now that I've had

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Nova and I'm married to William, I'm like yeah, it's,

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I don't know how to explain it, Nova's birth father is the exact same as my birth father, and William mimics

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Shane in a way, so it's kind of like the same thing that my mom went through passed down onto me, like so we have both kind of been through the same thing, and now that that's all happened,

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I've kind of taken a greater appreciation to everything that Shane did, seeing it in my daughter, knowing that one day whenever she's older and she'll be able to understand it,

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I don't want her to ever doubt or not be able to trust that what

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William and I have done for her is in her best interest, and you know he's been there since I was like nine weeks pregnant, so he has loved and cared for her since before she was even born, so him adopting her or being in the process of adopting her has been very, has been something that is very big to me.

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I have cried about it a lot, happy tears. I was saying plus the hormones are still regulated. The hormones are still regulated.

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William's like yes, he fully understands that part, but yeah, at the time you know

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I just, I craved my real dad to be there, I wanted, and I think most of that was I victimized myself a lot when

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I should not have, and I made myself feel blame and hurt, and I craved my dad to get better and to do better, and so in a way

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I kind of pushed Shane out, and I was like I don't want you to be my dad, you're not my dad, you know, and that is something

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I will probably always kind of have a little bit of regret with, but ever since I got on the right path and I've started living my life as a child of God, it has all changed.

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It has all changed. Me and him are closer than ever. I've enjoyed watching you grow because I've known you since you were in GAs, which is like first through sixth grade for y 'all who aren't familiar with that, and so to see you actually come to know

15:13

Christ and to not only make that decision, but also one that benefits your family and you guys taking that role on together, and then you guys both getting baptized and saved and like then dedicating

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Nova in front of the church. I remember standing, I was actually standing next to brother Jeff in the back, and he's just like getting, he started to cry, and I was like, oh my gosh, you're such a baby, you know, like giving him crap about it, and he's just like we have been waiting for this for both of their families for so long, and it's just such a beautiful picture to see you guys live according to the way that Scripture is in your lives going so much better for you.

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The same things that you guys had like growing up, like the issues that you had growing up with like being adopted and then like resenting

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Shane in a way and like having issues, you know. When I really shouldn't have. Right. Yeah. Nova won't have to know those same things, and that is one thing that like, you know, my husband and I talk about a lot is like our kids will never have to feel the things that we felt.

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We're still gonna screw up. I just told my husband, I said, I just don't want to be the reason my kids are in therapy. Oh my goodness.

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We will be. Yeah, that's just like, you know, it's always the mom, and I'm like, I could just be the dad, you know, it's fine, but it's such a beautiful picture of what

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Christ does for us, and so let's go to, what was it,

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Ephesians. I haven't, I'm actually using Pastor's Bible, so let me see.

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It's, I thought I had it bookmarked. Here it is. While you're looking for it. Yeah, go for it. What you said about Shane coming in and you being that daddy's girl and like craving that,

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I was the same way with my stepdad. My stepdad was actually the first person to hold me in the hospital after I was born, before he and my mom ever like ever dated or anything like that.

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They were all very close family friends and stuff, and I just,

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I remember when my mom and stepdad got married, I went around the whole wedding day going, we're marrying

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Stevie today, because I was so excited to have that father figure in my life, to have him, because I knew from the get that he loved me, that he cared for me, and then as I grew and realized that my dad was not who

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I thought he was growing up or who I needed him to be, excuse me, and you know, as a girl, you crave that relationship with your dad.

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You just do, whether it's your stepdad or your real dad, and that's something that I struggled with, especially as a teenager, as like, why, why can

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I not be good enough for my dad, and I kind of did the same thing, because I also have a younger half -sister, and I saw her relationship with my stepdad, and so that was hard, because while my my stepdad,

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I knew he loved me, and he cared for me, and he wanted to do all these things for me, he and my sister always had a bond over things that I never connected with him with, but there are other things that he and I connect on, that I get to have those relationships, and still have that bond with him, that I never had with my dad, and that's something that I never understood at the time.

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My real dad got remarried, and she already had three kids, four,

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I don't know, she had kids, and he was there for quite a few years with them, like, they have grown up with them, they're not married anymore, but he still, like, kind of talks to them, and will take them out, and so seeing that, you know, he has not been in my life, ever, for more than maybe two or three months at a time, and seeing that from, like, an outside perspective,

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I'm like, okay, so you can be a father to them, and not me and my brothers, that obviously makes you feel a type of way, right, and make you feel like you're not, yes, it feels, you feel rejected, and you feel like you're not worthy enough, and that has played a part into,

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I have allowed that to play a part into my self -image, and how I've always kind of felt about anything in relationships,

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I mean, me and him are finally at a place where I know my worth with him, and I know my worth in God, and that changes everything.

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I just cannot stop stressing enough, like, how everything in my life is completely different, and all of it is to God.

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There is not a single aspect of my life that is not because of God, so.

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That makes me so happy, like I said, just watching you grow up, and then, like, talking to you, and seeing the changes that have happened, it's just such a blessing to be able to be a part of that, and so, but William, as you've seen, we all had crappy dads growing up, so, like, the role of fatherhood is such an important one, and I think, well, especially with our society now, there's a lot of absent fathers, and it's like, sometimes, even if your father is present physically, he's absent mentally, and,

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I mean, that's something that my mom went through growing up, and then, like, you know, I had issues with my dad, and then my husband has issues with his dad, and I just remember looking at my dad passed away, like, several years ago, and at the funeral, you know, like, we got to view him, and, like,

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I went in privately, because I hadn't seen him in, like, 10 years at this point, because we just didn't have a relationship, and I don't harbor anything against him, you know, for what he did, because I don't deserve forgiveness from God, so, like, he doesn't either, but it's like, but I'm giving him forgiveness, because I don't deserve it, and so,

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I remember looking at him in his casket, and just saying, you know, dad, like, I'm not mad anymore, like,

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I still don't understand why you did the things that you did, but it's like, I just know that, like, my kids will never feel the way that you made me feel, and so, that was the conscious decision that I had, that me and my husband were making of, like, we are not, not that we're going to, like, make the same,

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I don't want to make the same mistakes, because I don't want to be like my dad, it's just, like, I want to live according to how scripture calls me to live, and fathers serve such an important role, like, my husband was raised by, like, all women, and the one man, the father figure, talking about that from the church one day, yeah, and after DJ was born, and one of the, his, like, man father figures was not a good role model at the time, so, like, he was literally just raised by a bunch of women, and it is, my mom and I were actually talking about it, like, just yesterday, she's like, it is a miracle that your husband turned out the way that he did,

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I said, it really is, it's God, that's, that's all it amounts up to, but, so, I'm going to read Ephesians, if you guys, if you're actually reading, or, like, watching this, and not driving like I usually am, or walking around the house doing chores, if you want to open your

22:06

Bibles to Ephesians 1, and I'm going to read four through six, okay, 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 in himself as sons through Christ Jesus, according to the purpose of his will, to praise, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he blessed us in the beloved, so,

22:32

William, listen, I have that highlighted, okay, so, William, with your perspective, what was adoption like for you,

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I mean, coming in as, like, the outsider, not being the biological father of Nova, how did you step into that role, how did it make you feel, like, all that, just kind of break that down for us,

22:51

I mean, like y 'all said in the beginning, father figure is very important, I never thought about it in the way that she isn't mine, because I know that, you know, to succeed, you need to have a two -person household, you need to have a father, you need to have a mother, because you benefit from both of those, in a way, so,

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I don't, I really haven't thought about it as in, she's always been yours, she's always been mine, that's the way

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I think about it, and he's always said that the only difference is there's no blood connection, but outside of that, that's the only thing that changes anything, but even that doesn't change how he feels about her, but as she gets older,

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I know there's gonna be some, like, the same thing Michaela went through, like, well, where's my real dad, like, why doesn't he want me and stuff, and if you think about it,

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Michaela's lived through that, so now she has that testimony, that example that she can share with her daughter, and we can break that cycle, that way, you know, she is growing up following God's word, being in a household that follows

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God's word, and all that kind of stuff. Can I give you guys some advice? Yes, of course.

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Always be honest with her, but don't speak illy of the father, the biological father, because my husband, like,

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I won't go too into depth of his testimony, just because, like, I want him to be able to share that on his own time, and this is the little different, but he didn't really have a good, well, an existent relationship with his parents, like, and he was about seven, his grandma ended up adopting him, and so they call his grandma

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Nini, and he's just like, Nini, I just don't understand, like, why, you know, my parents don't love me, and she goes, they do love you, they're just being selfish right now, and he said she was always honest, like, without having to share, like, all the adult details with me, so, like,

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I always knew that they loved me, but, like, they were just being selfish right now, and now him and his mom have a relationship, but, like, him and his dad, they just don't, and, you know, it's nothing, like, ill between the two of them, it's just non -existent, because you have to put forth an effort into a relationship with your child or with your wife or, you know, whomever, whomever you want to have a relationship with, you have to put forth in work, and so,

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I don't know, I just, I still think it's a beautiful testimony, it's, like, even if your grandma adopts you or, like, in William's case, you know, he adopted your daughter, and you guys now have a family, it's a perfect representation of what scripture says

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God did for us, because, like, we, we did not deserve his adoption, we did not deserve his grace, we didn't deserve that, but he predestined us before, like I said, before the foundation of the world, we were chosen by him specifically, and I don't know,

25:43

I just, I'm, like, well, it's amazing. He actually hasn't adopted her yet. Well, you're in the process.

25:50

Yeah, we're in the process. But the reason I say that is just because he said something this morning about how there are steps to take in order to adopt or become adopted, same thing in the

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Bible, there are steps to take in order to become a child god, and that stuck with me all day, so that's why

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I wanted to make sure that it was thrown out there. She's still in the process of becoming a

26:17

Dylan. And like you said, I haven't changed any of my stuff either.

26:23

That'll come, I mean, it'll happen. It comes. The only thing that's changed is my signature. If I sign something, I just, it's just such a hassle, but now,

26:30

I think, like, since COVID, I don't think they make you, like, go to the social security office or anything anymore.

26:36

At least, I'm about to say, at least they didn't with my sister -in -law. No, she got to do all of her stuff online. I'm like, I hate you because I had to go down to the one on, like,

26:45

Austin P. and, you know, like, be afraid for my safety, and, like, take a whole day off, and we're like, no,

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I was just able to, like, file paperwork, and I'm like, I freaking hate you, but, like, I don't know. I just, I think it's such a beautiful thing that we were not what we were originally, the way that God created everything.

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It was perfect, and then we ruined it, and then, so, he's like, all right, dingleberries, you have to, like, now

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I have to adopt you back into the family. Now we have to fix this, and he gives us all that option, but I like to think, well,

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I like the thought that reading that scripture is he chose us. He picked us.

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He handpicked us, and he has a purpose for us, and that was honestly one thing I started praying for when

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I found out we were having, you know, a baby last year, and then, like, when I specifically knew that he was a boy, is that, like, whether he's predestined to be one of God's children or not, like, that's up to God.

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It's like I've given him over. Donovan and I have given him to God, and it's like, use him however you see fit, and I'm excited but nervous to see because just the way that the world's going, you don't know how it's going to be, you know, when our kids are grown, and but I think we have such a good church family, and we're just going to marry all of our kids off to each other's kids, so it's like everybody's calling

28:07

Emmett Nova's boyfriend, so. Already? I'm trying to thank you. Every time that Emmett and Nova are in the same room, somebody's like, oh, look at that, that's the boyfriend and girlfriends, and I'm like, she is two months old.

28:18

Calm down. Let's slow down. No, it starts, it starts early. I think our son is with Colleen because she's only a couple months behind him or Noah, Chris's baby.

28:29

My goodness, she'll probably be a lot taller. Wasn't Davidson with Nadine? I think so. I don't know.

28:34

We're just all going to marry off our kids. All the babies are together. Yeah, we're just all going to marry off our kids to each other's kids, and so it's just like have this one big group of people, but okay, so let's go ahead and do

28:44

Exodus 12, 48, and then that's what I was going to say is you were talking about how she's yours in every way but blood, and what she's about to read, that's exactly what, when the

28:58

Israelites left Egypt, there were a lot of people and families and stuff that went with them that were not

29:07

Israel, but what they were done, what God said was, you know, get them circumcised and then they're to be treated no different because then they are part of our people, and that's crazy.

29:20

They came with like different cultures and customs and everything, and they were taken out of their homeland to escape, and then they were adopted into God's family.

29:30

Like you said, you had to follow, I want to say like a ritual, but for lack of better terms, a ritual in order to go through that process.

29:37

Well, to set yourself apart. That was the whole point of circumcision in the Old Testament was to be set apart as part of God's people, so just the fact that they were able to do that, and then they're not treated any different.

29:51

They are Israelites at that point, just like Nova is your daughter at that point because you are taking responsibility for her.

30:00

You are the head of the household, and that is just beautiful to me because she'll know no different, and that's beautiful.

30:10

That's what I'm hoping. Well, and two, it's a perfect reflection of what

30:17

God says in His Word, and you guys are doing that, and so she won't see hypocrisy in that, and so as long as you guys live in the mindset of, like I said earlier, it's like, oh,

30:28

I don't want my parents or whatever failures they made or mistakes that they made. If you just look at it like I'm just going to live according to Scripture, it's going to be a game changer because everyone messes up.

30:40

As parents, we are going to mess up, and like I said, we're probably going to be the reason our kids go to therapy, and it is what it is, but my goal is to not be the reason.

30:48

They're going to wonder where their mom goes once a week. Therapy because I don't want to make y 'all have to come through it.

30:55

I will take on the burden, but I just think it's such a beautiful reflection, and like I said, she won't see hypocrisy in the household like that, and that will become a beautiful part of her story and her testimony, too.

31:09

So going off what Elena said, Exodus 12 -48, so the Israelites and everyone just escaped

31:15

Egypt, and now they're going, you know, through, well, they're not the desert at this point.

31:20

They're just escaping. Had they crossed the... It's right after Passover, I think, as they're exiting.

31:26

So it says, If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all of his males be circumcised, then he may come near and keep it.

31:36

He shall be as a native of the land, but no uncircumcised persons shall eat of it. So it says you need to become circumcised, like you said, to be set apart, but if you are not uncircumcised, then you shall not eat of it, and so it's just like you can't, you have to do this in order to partake into the

31:54

Passover if you want to fall within that family, and so I don't know.

31:59

I just think you guys have such a beautiful, beautiful story, and I don't know.

32:05

I just love it. I'm excited to see what God is going to do through you guys, and grow y 'all, and...

32:11

Well, it's like I'm already excited because I've, we've seen so much already. Absolutely. And I'm just like, what else could come?

32:17

Like, I don't know. But wait, there's more. But wait, there's more, and you guys just, you're starting off in such a better direction than it would have been like a year or two ago.

32:28

Yeah, and you know, before I got pregnant, I didn't, I don't think I got, let's see, my salvation came in when

32:36

I was maybe two months pregnant, one month pregnant, whenever like that first, whenever I first found out

32:41

I was pregnant, that's when I was like, okay, I should probably start changing the way I live, I guess.

32:47

But then... Like I'm bringing a child into this world. I guess I'll do it. But no, then

32:53

I started meeting with Pastor Josiah, and started coming to church more, and opening myself up in a way that I had never allowed myself to open up.

33:03

And she is my motivation for it. I mean, she, obviously,

33:10

I love being a Christian. I love the way that my life is. And I love God. But she has always kind of been my biggest motivation for it.

33:20

Like, if I start falling, I'm like, I have a husband and a daughter who need me to be their helpmate, and their mother, and their counselor, and I need to be these things.

33:31

And so once I start falling, like they're, that's my motivation to kind of like pick it up. And then I have a lot of younger women here at the church who have reached out to me, and seek advice from me.

33:41

And that has felt nice. You know, because a year ago, nobody would have wanted any of that from me.

33:47

I'm a hot mess, I'm still trying to get it together. Maybe we should text somebody else.

33:52

Oh no, let's go that way. I'll redirect. Yeah, I'll send you somebody else's number. Phone a friend.

33:58

So I'm very, it's a very good place to be. It's a very happy place to be in.

34:05

And stable. It's a comfortable, I always thought that my depression was my comfort spot. Like.

34:11

Why do you say that? Because I've been depressed, I've had depression for 10, 11 years.

34:17

So all my life, I was just so used to dwelling in it, and allowing it to control me.

34:22

That if I stepped out of it, and tried to do anything else, I was like, oh, this is scary. I'm going back home. I'm done. I'm staying in my room. You're hiding away.

34:28

Turn all the lights off. I'm, you know, I didn't want to ever reach out. And so it's,

34:36

I'm happy that my comfort spot is now in God. And in our home.

34:41

We're just talking about accountability. Not with Elena and myself. I wouldn't divulge that information.

34:48

But just the putting yourself outside of your comfort zone, and just making yourself do it.

34:55

And it's so easy to not, just be comfortable. Because if you do anything outside of that, it's a discomfort.

35:03

Like exercising. Why are you looking at me? I'm just, no, no, no. I'm just looking at you. No, I know that you don't want to exercise, and that's fine.

35:10

I'm saying like, for me. Out of breath coming up the stairs. I've been out of breath ever since I gave birth. I can't catch my breath.

35:15

Before, before I gave birth. I walk into the grocery store, and I'm like, yeah, we got to sit down for a second. Before I gave birth.

35:21

Everything's changed. Walking up the stairs. Have you tried to jump up and down yet? No, I'm not doing that.

35:28

Don't do that. I can't. I have to like, close my like, like, my knees together sometimes. Whenever I'm like, yes, yes.

35:35

I did that yesterday. I was laughing last night with my family, and my legs were like close together. They said, are you closing up so you don't beat yourself a little bit?

35:42

I said, yeah, a little bit. It's a whole thing. I told my doctor. I told my doctor about that.

35:47

And she's like, well, we could start, you know, PT, do the therapy and stuff. And I'm like, okay. So the lady called me to set it up.

35:52

And she's like, yeah, so I went over your insurance benefits. And like, if we do, I think it was like, if you met your deductible, it's only going to be this much per visit.

36:01

And like, you would do it once a week for like six to eight weeks. And then if you haven't met your deductible, it's going to be this much for this many weeks.

36:08

And it was like 600 to $800. And I'm like, I'll just pee on myself. I'm sure there's

36:14

YouTube videos. And that's what I said. I'm like, I could find it for free. There's several other women within our church who just had babies this last year.

36:22

So they've given me to, it's just like so many in the church. It's like, pastor said today, they're like cockroaches. They're crawling everywhere, which is such a day.

36:29

Oh, well, that's right. Yeah. You guys were hanging out with the house. But I was like, dang,

36:34

I really hope they're going to be here today. That's why I should have texted me. Yeah. Well, because I knew that you might've had something else at two o 'clock and I was like,

36:41

I'm going to text her because like, we've already been over this, but I know like, again, you're a new mom and things just forget things.

36:47

And like I said, if it's not on my calendar, I forget about it. And so it's, it's absolutely fine.

36:53

But William, I want to say since like you guys have been together since she was like newly pregnant, you know, in the first trimester and stuff like what has been your favorite part about having a daughter and, um,

37:07

I guess just being involved like as a father, like what's your favorite part of having a daughter and then being a father?

37:13

Yeah. Having a daughter kind of put me on the spot.

37:19

I mean that you're on the podcast. Any question?

37:25

I mean, just having a daughter, a child is you get to watch them grow. You get to see their personalities start come through that kind of stuff.

37:33

So I'm enjoying that. I'm enjoying learning. There's a lot of that going on.

37:38

You're her favorite right now. You're her favorite person. Just learning and waking up, seeing her, you know, coming home, seeing her.

37:46

She's happy to see you. Isn't that the best? She's in a very, she's like finally learned how to smile and she's starting to learn how to like giggle.

37:54

And she just, Oh, she just flashes that smile at everything she can. We caught our sons on camera and like, you can hear me in the background.

38:01

I'm crying. He was at work the first time she ever smiled at me and I texted him.

38:07

I was like, she smiled, she smiled. I was like spamming him. He said, no, she didn't. You're lying to me. And then she got home and I was trying to get her to do it again.

38:13

But you know, that first smile is normally like the only one they'll give you for like a week or two. So he was like, Michaela, are you telling me the truth right now?

38:19

I was like, yes, I'm telling you the truth. I just, I love it. My husband taught our

38:25

Sunday school class today and we were talking about how in second Kings, when second

38:30

Kings four and I'll end on this and then we'll, um, we'll get going. But it was about how

38:36

Elisha ended up performing miracles. So this is after Elijah had passed away and he's starting to, you know, take over and do those miracles as the prophet.

38:44

And there was this one woman who he met and he's like that she ended up preparing a place for him because he passed through so much.

38:51

And so she prepared a place for him at their home, um, for him to rest his head in between like going places.

38:56

And so he's like, Oh, you're going to have a son. And she's like, don't get my hopes up. You know, like a

39:02

I don't know, like what her story was, but she was like older, probably wasn't able to get pregnant, like all this stuff.

39:08

And so she, um, like a year or so later, she has a son and like a few years or some time goes by,

39:13

I can't remember. And he ends up, um, passing away. The sun does. And Elijah didn't know about it.

39:20

And, um, so my husband was like telling this, this account in scripture and he's talks about the song that we sang this morning.

39:27

Um, it is well with my soul. The guy who wrote that song was actually, um, he just found out that his four daughters died in like, in what was an excursion or something.

39:37

They were coming over. I thought his wife didn't die. Cause she sent him a telegram. Oh, that's right. She was. Yeah. She sent him a telegram.

39:43

She said like, I don't know, it was two words and it was like, uh, safe, but alone. And so like his four daughters died.

39:50

And so he ended up writing like the first chorus and like the first line of that song, like after his daughter had died and my husband was in tears talking about it.

39:58

And one of the guys in our class was like, yeah, man, those kids, they just make you soft. I said, man, I thought he was soft before we had kids, but he, your kids just like make you into a ball of mush.

40:08

And it's just like, it's one of the best things ever. Like last night I'll tell this. Oh, this will be like the last, last thing.

40:15

And then we'll I'm like, last thing. And I'm done. Last thing. And I'm done. Is the second or third. This is just a second.

40:21

This is the last thing. And then I am just a cute story because I want this documented online forever.

40:27

But so again, 50 years. Yeah. So I, um, I'll grab my son and you just ever want to like squeeze your kid, like out of love.

40:34

You're there. So cute. I think bite her. I think bite my daughter on like the head. I'm like, God, we're not the only ones.

40:40

Donovan. I do weird stuff like that all the time, but I like just want to squeeze them. And I always go like,

40:45

I go. And so last night, um, we were all three in his bedroom and it was before bed.

40:51

So he's like playing with this little toys and stuff. And he picks up this little poo bear, um, stuffed animal that he has.

40:56

And he puts it here and he goes, I tell my husband all the time.

41:04

I said, I just want like 10 more of him. He's just so flipping cute. No others. Just that one for real.

41:10

Like, I know, I know what I'm getting so far. He's like an easy baby. He's just such a sweet little boy.

41:16

And I'm just like, he puts me a lot in a bind at your oldest. He's just such a sweet little boy.

41:23

There's something about firstborns. That's why I'm afraid to have more. Cause you can't, I feel like we, okay.

41:29

We, we scored good on this one. You know, there's no guarantee. That's why I'm afraid to have more cause we scored good. Like Nova sleeping.

41:34

You might have to Nova sleeping through the night. Yeah. You did Nova sleeping through the night now.

41:41

And she's only two months old. But there's that thing, the sleep regression. That was a real, it's a real thing.

41:47

Yeah. That's what it reminds me of. I didn't think it was a real thing is a for everything. Not all babies go through it. Elijah has always,

41:53

I'm hoping she doesn't pray even now, even whenever she was like a week old, she was sleeping through the night, except she would wake up like once and wait.

42:01

And I was like, I don't want to have another. And he was like, why? I said, I'm just so scared. We're not going to get lucky with the next one.

42:06

We're going to be up like 18 times. My niece and nephew both did that. Like they're good sleepers. And I'm like,

42:11

I told my sister -in -law, I'm like, I hate you. I don't want to talk to you. But anyway, um, see for real last thing.

42:17

Well guys, thank you for coming on. We really appreciate y 'all. No, it was just it. I kept my promise. We appreciate y 'all coming on and taking the time to come out and share your testimonies.

42:28

And again, like we said it a ton of times on here, but we're just so proud of you guys.

42:34

And we're so excited to see what the Lord has in store for y 'all. And so thank you. Thank you. You're welcome.

42:41

So do you guys know how to do the outro? No, you guys say you watch the podcast. Y 'all never make it that far.

42:47

I know we make it that far. I just want to see y 'all like say, okay, well we're done. And I'm like, okay, off quick.

42:55

It's over. Okay. Well we're going to say until next time deuces. Okay. All of us. Can kind of our thing, but all right.

43:06

Okay. So until next time, deuces. What was your favorite part about the wedding?