Drama teacher Ms. Katie Wilson’s life was recently changed due to a new little bundle of joy. Her faith paved the way for the excitement and preparation of motherhood. This child, Kevin Tyler Wilson, was born on May 22, 2014 and is now a happy five-month old who is showered with love and attention by his new adoptive family.

Ms. Wilson said that she always dreamed of being a mom. “I kind of created my whole life around that idea,” she said. “I got to a point where I thought adoption was the best way that I could fulfill my dream. I also liked the idea of making a home for a baby who really needed me, and I was praying that God would work it all out and unite me with the child that He always planned, and that He wanted me to raise. So it was all of those things. I wanted to help somebody. I wanted to experience being a mom, and I had faith that I was going to find those things.”

Multiple adoption agencies were unable to allow Ms. Wilson to adopt a baby either because she was a single parent, or because of the situation in the individual countries, including China, Africa, and Russia. Ms. Wilson was very open to having an international adoption, but unfortunately these fell through. She finally ended up with agencies in the states to help her find a baby to adopt. There were many home evaluations and interviews, as adopting a baby is a very long process. Luckily, Ms. Wilson had a great team. After her program “Children of All Nations” was shut down, Ms. Wilson said, “My home study agency in California, Bethany Christian, a national agency, believed in me. That’s a huge process.” They told Ms. Wilson, “We believe in you, we believe you are meant to be a mom, and we want to invite you into our domestic program here in America, and you will be the first single mom to adopt domestically in our agency’s fifty-nine year history.”

After being in the program for some time, Ms. Wilson was wary when she received the call about a baby because of being called twice before and not having her application chosen by the birth parents. She thought the call was just to inform her that her file had been given to another baby’s parents to review for adoption. However, she soon realized that the baby was hers.

Ms. Wilson received the news of the baby and had 48 hours to prepare. It was very sudden and she was immediately overcome with joy and emotion. There were people to call and diapers to buy. “I drove from my house to rehearsal and then Babies-R-Us. I was pulling things off the shelves like a crazy person,” Ms. Wilson said. She then had to make the nerve-wracking drive to Orange County to pick up her new little bundle of joy.

Ms. Wilson was overcome with emotion and joy when she finally met Kevin for the first time. She and the adoption workers all had a little ceremony and prayed for the new baby. She then drove back to her home in San Diego when Kevin fell asleep.

Ms. Wilson said, “He is always going to know that his birth mom was brave enough to know she wanted to give him a life that she could not give him, and that God was good to bring us together. I know how happy he is already in his first few months of life. I know he loves me. I know he knows that everyone around him loves him – his grandma, his uncle. I think [the issue of an open adoption will come into play] by the time that he is old enough to kind of understand that parents are the ones that have taken care of you your whole life, and loved you when you are sick.”

Kevin is a very happy baby who often laughs and smiles. He is experimenting with new sounds, and makes a little alien sound that Ms. Wilson thinks is “adorable.” She feels like a mother now, and said that she and Kevin have conversions, but they are “mostly one-sided.” She kisses his face and sometimes he leans in and kisses her face, too. Ms. Wilson is excited for him to become “a little person.” She calls him pookie, and when she talks to him, he knows it is her.

“Even sometimes now, I cannot believe it. Being a mom is fun. It is a huge responsibility. It’s tiring. It’s wonderful. It’s even more than I thought it would be,” she said.

On the responsibility side, this new mom isn’t taking trips to New York every three months and staying at school till 10 o’clock for shows anymore. She wakes up and immediately thinks about Kevin and his needs. “I don’t get as much sleep, but when did I ever? You sleep when you can and eat when you can, and it’s totally worth it,” she said.

Ms. Wilson’s story is not only a story of wanting a baby for twenty years, but one of extreme faith in God.  She said, “I laughed and cried. And then I laughed and cried more. Then it was just like totally insane. The day before, this is the important part, I was feeling low. It had been a lot of years in the making. I got down on my knees, and prayed to God. I told God ‘You have a plan for me. You know the desire of my heart, but I love you and trust you. But if the way you want me to be a mom, if you want me to continue to parent as a mom to my students at Cathedral, then tell me what I need to get through the disappointment.’ I put my total faith in God and Kevin was born the next day.”

November is National Adoption Month. Learn more about adoption here.