John & Lauren Sponaugle

Updates

• Update 5

  I’m running out of ways to say we are still waiting…

  July 27, 2025

  You know how when you pray for patience, God tends to provide opportunities to grow your patience rather than just removing whatever it is you have to be patient about? That’s where we find ourselves two months after our last update. Still waiting!
  Since our last update in May, we have finished our video, many of you have liked and shared in on social media which we are grateful for. While we are fully trusting that God has the family already chosen for us, we are trying to be diligent in moving forward as he guides us rather than sitting and waiting.
  Well, that’s it, that’s the update! Everything on our end is done at this point in time, we are waiting to be matched with a birth mom, and trying our best not to wish this time with just the two of us away too fast.
  We continue to covet your prayers for our hearts as we prepare to become parents, for our birth mother and father, that they will be surrounded with people that will love them and support them as they make this decision to place their child up for adoption, and that we will not just tolerate this time of waiting but enjoy it to fullest.

  With love,
  John and Lauren

• Update 4

  Still waiting...but two steps closer!

  May 8, 2025

  "In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly." - Psalm 5:3

  Greetings, beloved friends and family!

  This update is a little different from the past two, as we have made some progress and therefore have some great updates to share with you all! As of a few weeks ago, our website was approved and put online for birth mothers to view and learn more about us. To say that was probably the most difficult thing we've done so far would be an accurate statement, especially when you take into account how much John just LOVES to take pictures. Some mild threats may have been made to get him to cooperate, but we finally got the correct pictures (after two or three emails from our agency with edit "suggestions"), and we are live. That was big hurdle number one.

  Big hurdle number two: we have officially completed our home study and are now approved by the lovely state of Alabama to bring a child into our home. Now that we have both our website and home study completed, we can be shown to birth mothers who are due anytime between now and 9 months down the road.

  So now we once again find ourselves waiting, but working on waiting expectantly. We still have one more thing to create for our agency, a short video of us talking about ourselves and showing birth mothers what our lives look like, and then we will be "100%" adoption-ready, as our agency terms it. So in the meantime, as you wait with us, we would love your prayers as we continue to prepare ourselves for parenthood, for our birth mother and her family, for our marriage as we learn to be patient with each other as we both step out of our comfort zone to move forward in this adoption, and for the child God has chosen for us, that they will grow up knowing the love their Father has for them.

  We love you all!
  John and Lauren

• Update 3

  Moving Forward!

  March 1, 2025

  Happy March!
  It’s amazing what Spring does for the soul. Here in Alabama the weather has already started to warm, though I’m told to expect it to drop a couple more times before Spring is here to stay. I’ve always associated Spring with new beginnings. The irises and daffodils popping up from the ground offering a splash of color amongst the brown grass. New life.
  As we are excitedly waiting to meet the new life God has chosen for our family, we are steadily checking boxes off and completing the stack of paperwork that adoption requires. Our grant has finally reached our adoption agency and we are finally able to move forward with them. Which means more paperwork..but more fun as we are now working on making our website that will be shown to birth mothers who show interest in us. Our home study is progressing and we feel confident that Gods hand is in this entire process.
  We so appreciate your love and support during this time. As we continue on, please pray that we continue to trust Gods timing and not our own, that God will work in our birth mother’s life and surround her with His love, and for us as we prepare our hearts and minds to become parents!
  Love you all,
  John and Lauren

• Update 2

  Active Waiting

  January 12, 2025

  I wanted to hop on here and give a brief update, as we are still waiting for the grant to be approved and sent to our adoption agency. The board meets at the end of every month to approve requests and since last month was full of holidays, we are eagerly expecting the approval at the end of this month. We reached out to the social worker that our agency recommended to do our home study and we are scheduled for our first meeting with her tomorrow to go over the laundry list of documents and paperwork that need to be completed. During our initial phone call last week, she advised that we plan for this process to take 6-10 weeks. She also cleared up the misconception that Alabama requires an updated home study every 6 months (further proof that not everything on the internet is true, even if multiple sources say the same thing), and we only need to update every year! The initial cost of the home study is $1,800 and should we need to update it, if we do not finalize an adoption within a year, it is $1,200. Thanks to y’all’s generosity, we have that covered as well! Through this whole process thus far, it has been so fun to witness God moving. It is truly all in his timing and his will that we have made it this far. What a privilege to be a part of it, and what a blessing it is to be loved and encouraged by all of you. We are looking forward to sharing this journey with you all, and eventually introducing the newest Alabama Sponaugle!
  

• Update 1

  Hurry up and wait!

  January 1, 2025

  Our friends familiar with military life will recognize the phrase “hurry up and wait!” It is often used in situations where you have done the most you can do and are now waiting for the powers that be to approve you for the next step. This is where we find ourselves, anxiously waiting for our grant request to be approved and sent to our adoption agency, which will allow us to level up to the next step in this crazy journey. We have no words to describe how loved we feel, and are blown away by all y’all’s eagerness to see us become parents. We truly did not expect to be able to pay the agency fee until at least March, let alone have the entire $24,000 needed by the end of the year! Thank you just doesn’t seem adequate.
  Our agency has graciously given us some recommendations for home studies while we wait, even though they only provide that once we have paid the fee and signed the contract with them. We have begun looking into said recommendations and have narrowed one down that lives in the greater Birmingham area. Unfortunately with the holidays, things like this tend to move a little slower as people are (understandably) spending time with their own family and are not so quick to reply to work inquiries (who is during this time of year?). We are excited at the possibility of having another Sponaugle to celebrate the holidays with, perhaps even by this year, but we are trying to be diligent in remembering that the One who has orchestrated this journey so far, will continue to do so in His timing for His purpose. What peace there is in that.
  As we continue to wait for approval for the grant, we have been reading through the various resources given to us on adoption in preparation for the child God has chosen for us. We will begin to put together our profile, which includes everything about us the birth mother might wish to know, pictures, life stories, and hopes and dreams for our child, daily routines, and the moments in life that has made us who we are today. Our next financial payment will be for the home study, which will be around $2,000, and will hopefully begin in the next few months.
  Again, thank you all for your love, prayers, and generosity. How grateful we are to have such a village to be a part of.
  We love you all,
  John and Lauren