Crazy February Adoption Family – The Joners

Have you ever met someone and you knew instantly it was God ordained.  This is one of the most painful stories I hold in my heart from our time in Ethiopia, but with the blessing of the Joner Family, we want to share their adoption story and celebrate God’s precious love.   It’s a story of pain and joy and miracles.  When we traveled to Ethiopia, we met a beautiful baby girl named Alem that was wrapped up in a blanket cuddled next to Zoie at the Transitional Home.  She and Zoie both had pneumonia and had been in the hospital together.  I was called “Spy Girl” in my adoption circle, so to live up to my name, I took a million photos of all the children waiting for their families at home.  I took so many photos of Alem.  She grabbed my heart… soft black curls, tiny fingers and an angelic face.  Little did I know, her name would be Julia.  I was so excited to show her off to her new parents – photos are priceless treasures.  I’m so honored to introduce you to, Jessica Joner, one of the most remarkable adoptive moms I’ve ever met…. here is her story.

Jessica’s Story:

Even before we were married, we both know that we wanted to adopt some day.  After having our two wonderful boys,  we felt that we were ready to start praying about adopting.  As we prayed about it, we really felt God specifically leading us to adopt from Ethiopia.  Our desire started out as a desire to have another child in our family, and now going through the process, our eyes and hearts have been moved in a big way as we see the desperate need to care for these orphans.

In July, we received our adoption referral for our first daughter, Julia Alem, a beautiful two month-old baby girl who was found abandoned when she was just a few days old.  Our hearts instantly bonded with Julia as we had been praying for over a year for this tiny baby that God had placed in our hearts.  Unfortunately, a few weeks after we received our referral, Julia became very sick with pneumonia and passed away when she was just three months old.

We were overwhelmed with the grief and sadness of losing Julia because our love and bond for her was so great.  Thankfully,  we also felt so much deep joy and peace knowing that we knew exactly where she was, perfect and complete in the arms of Jesus.  We were so blessed to meet Kari who was able to meet Julia and held her in Ethiopia.  She had so many beautiful pictures to share with us.  God, in is His great mercy, blessed us with the referral of our daughter, Jalene.  Amazingly, she shares the exact same birthday as Julia.  Our hearts were instantly in love with our daughter, Jalene.  We brought her home from Ethiopia on Valentine’s day last year.  Jalene is so full of joy and had blessed our family in an incredible way.  Our journey of adoption was not easy, but it was worth every moment in the end.  We feel so blessed to have the privilege of loving two beautiful girls.

Joner Family Adoption “Gotcha Day” Video-