Chloe

Walt grew up on a 100-acre property spending as much time as possible outdoors. He loved nature and would spend time chatting to God. At times God spoke to Walt and around the age of 12 God told Walt that one day he would have a little girl and God gave him a name for this baby. Walt, in his mind, had a clear picture of this little girl with dark skin and dark eyes. 

Annie grew up with Walt as he moved to her town the year she was born. Then at the age of ten her family moved across the pasture from his house. Both families became good friends and so the families frequently got together. A few years older than her, Annie thought Walt was amazing and she knew that when she grew up, she wanted to marry someone just like him.

As the years passed Annie moved out to university that was just a 30-minute drive away from where Walt was living. When she arrived, Walt came over and helped settle her in, introducing her to a church and the two started spending more and more time together.

Just before Walt and Annie starting dating, they spent their first evening alone hanging out together. Sitting in the car the two chatted and started talking about their hopes and dreams for the future. Annie shared that she felt God had created her to be a Mum and more than anything she wanted to be a mother.

She shared that she had already chosen a name for her daughter too. Annie was surprised when Walt shared, he already had a name chosen for his daughter too. So as Annie shared the name Chloe, Walt immediately told Annie about what God had told him at the age of 12.

Annie had never had the experience of God speaking to her like He had to Walt. Neither could believe it!

Walt had always thought that he would marry a woman with olive skin as the picture he had had was of a little girl with dark skin.

Well, they got married and decided not to try for children immediately but to wait a little while. They both ended up traveling and working for different mission agencies and it was then that they both felt ready to start a family. They were both so very excited.

Months turned in to years and nothing happened. Walt clung to the promise God had given him but as time passed it became harder to wait. During this time Annie questioned God’s goodness.

There was a four and a half year period where it was hard on them individually, as a couple and the way they related to God. Annie questioned if God was good, even when He wasn’t doing things she would define as good.

All of Annie’s friends were having kids and Annie would smile and congratulate them but they were both devastated each time. 

As time passed Annie felt something change and there was a point that she realised she could live a fulfilled and happy life, experiencing God, knowing Him so deeply and being satisfied in the deepest way without ever having a child. This was a huge change in Annie’s perspective.

They prayed that if God did not want them to be parents that He would take away the desire to have a child, but it only got stronger. So, they kept on praying.

Many people prayed for their situation and with them. Walt and Annie were aware of the body of Christ standing with them in prayer.

Annie suggested to Walt that maybe they ought to adopt but Walt was against it. Walt just wanted the child that God wanted them to have. Going through all the adoption process and paperwork Walt was still not convinced.

One evening Annie spotted she had an email with the words ‘It’s a girl’. It was from the adoption agency telling them they had been chosen by a birth mother and that they were going to be parents.

Annie was so very excited, but Walt just felt he would wait and see. Their baby was due late February to early March and so they decided to abandon the name Chloe and work on a name for their daughter. They both agreed Chloe was coincident.

The birth mother asked to meet them. As Annie and Walt walked into her home Walt saw her and immediately thought that she looked like a grown up version of the little girl he had been picturing for all those years.

For three hours they chatted away sharing about themselves and getting to know the birth mother. The social worker explained about the process for the birth certificate/naming part of the adoption. She explained that sometimes the biological mother and the adoptive parents agree on the same name, but they didn’t have to. As she asked the birth mother if she had any names for the baby she told them that she had been calling the baby Chloe.

Walt and Annie cried. Initially the birth mother thought that because of the upset they didn’t like the name, but Walt and Annie shared their story of how God had told them both years ago they would have a daughter they would name Chloe.

Their doubts were now gone. They felt God’s presence all around them and they knew God had been writing this story for years.

Walt and Annie were there with Chloe straight away after her birth. They felt like her parents just as they had planned to be for so long. Annie felt God tell her that He had been with her the whole time and had been walking with them.

So many people came and celebrated with Walt and Annie, and they realised just how much their story had touched so many lives.

Gratitude Magazine thank Walt and Annie for allowing us to share their story.