Joy in the Journey

The day Dave and Elizabeth Holmlund met their new daughter didn’t exactly go as planned. But as he so often does, God surprised them with joy in the midst of less-than-ideal circumstances. They traveled to China in August of 2018, and as they waited for the van driving their daughter to arrive, they instead received news that it had broken down on the highway.

So they drove to meet the van. And there on the side of the road in Inner Mongolia, China, their lives changed forever. The day that didn’t go as planned resulted in the invaluable gift of time spent in the car with their daughter’s caregiver. During the hour-long drive, they learned all about their new daughter as she slept in their arms—sweet moments they could have otherwise missed.

“We had plenty of reasons not to adopt,” the Holmlunds said. “We had four children. We were busy with full-time ministry. We had aging parents living with us. We weren’t perfect parents. We didn’t have a perfect marriage. We were often exhausted at the end of the day. And we didn’t have the money.”

On the other hand, they had plenty of reasons to adopt.

“The generous Adoption Aid grant we received from Show Hope a few months before we traveled to China—when we still had no idea how we were going to cover the rest of our adoption costs—was further confirmation we made the right decision,” they said.

“Thank you, Show Hope donors, for making sure we didn’t miss this!”

You can be a part of helping change lives, like the Holmlund family, through the Adoption Aid 20/20 Campaign.