WHOA That's Good Podcast - Will Robertson’s Birth & Adoption Story | Korie Robertson & Emily Kemp

Episode Date: August 7, 2023

Korie Robertson and her son Will’s birth mom, Emily Kemp, reveal the full scope of God’s grace in the story of his birth, adoption, and life. Emily acknowledges the difficult circumstances that led to choosing adoption for Will and the impact her choices have had on her life’s path. Korie and Emily talk about the incredible and divine ways God brought their families together to form a foundation of hope for Will throughout his life. Emily encourages girls and women who may be in a difficult situation to find hope all around them and to trust that they are never alone in their journeys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy Monday, sisters and friends! I am so excited about this episode. I feel like I'm kind of saying that every time, but this one is really, really special and really different. And we're just going to get right into it because this is something that we've been talking about for a little while now doing something that we've been talking about for a little while now doing, but we've never done before.

We're gonna share a part of our family story that you may have known, no, little bits and pieces of, but we're gonna share kind of the whole of this part of our family story. If you follow our family and are no our family at all, you know that our family was built through adoption. And so we have adopted children, and biological children that made up our family at all, you know that our family was built through adoption. And so we have adopted children and biological children that made up our family and we feel so blessed

and so gifted to have that is the way God made our family. And so our son, Will, was adopted when he was fat weeks old and is the greatest gifts to our life and to our family. And so today we have someone really, really special and I feel like I'm getting already, getting emotional, it's just saying this. We have someone really, really special as a guest on this podcast for you to hear more about. But this is Will's birth mom, Emily Kemp.

And I'm so excited for you to be here and for us to get to be here and just share together. And we're just going to like talk and let you listen in on a little bit about, just talk about our story and how God brought our story together and just amazing ways. And it's been the greatest blessing. Absolutely. But it came through a lot of pain and a lot of hardship.

And so I'm so grateful for you. I just wanna say that. Well, it's great to be here. It's good to be here and I'm grateful for you as well. I'm just so glad to have you all in our lives. Thank you. I always say that we'll, so we got Will in December of 2001.

And I always say that he came right before Christmas so he felt like the greatest gift that's ever been given and he remains to be the greatest gift I've ever been given and you are the one who gave us that gift and so I'm so grateful to you for that and so grateful for yeah all the memories come back at that time in our life whenever we all came into our family and I'm sure those memories come back in different ways for you and so I thought it would be really great if we could just talk a little bit about your story. We're going to talk about adoption a lot today. We're going gonna talk about, you know, God's goodness and His grace. Of course, even in the hard things.

And so let's just start, let's just get into it. Okay. Okay. And just have a conversation. And I'd love for you to just share a little bit about your story and you can like start from like birth or you can start it. I'm like, I was a teenager or whatever, whatever parts of your story you want to share.

Well, of course it did start out, you know, young. I was a child of the horse, which is not fun at all. But growing up, I was 10 years old, my parents divorced. My little sister stayed here. I moved around with our dad. And we were raised pretty much. You have clothes lit, so you don't tell anybody what's going on, everything is fine. And that was true with a lot of people at that day and age in the 80s and 90s. But grew up, of course, we all go through our teenage years.

A lot of people may not have the best teenage years, but I myself made a lot of choices that have affected the rest of my life. But going through school, graduating high school and being practically a rebel, I was ultimately given the choice of when I graduated either I move out and get a job or I go into the military. So that was that was a shock. So I was 19 years old, signing up to go into the United States Army and I did in February of 2001. I went to the United States Army. It was great. I loved it. However, had some medical issues They were seeing doctors about shin splints and so they granted me a 30-day convalescent leave to come back home here in West Monroe and While I was here is when I kind of

Found out that somebody was moving inside. Wow, so So you were basically a boot camp. I was in boot camp. I already had gone all the way through boot camp, I had graduated. Right. But not when you're pregnant. No clue. Wow. I had gotten all the way to Redstone Arsenal in Hetzel, Alabama. And I was at my advanced individual training, which is our schoolhouse. Learning my job, my MOS, and when I had come home, that's when I started feeling something move, and I woke up and kind of started telling my mother that. And she was like, hmm, might be dealing with a situation here. So sure enough, I went to life choices in Monroe, Louisiana.

Wow, I didn't even know that. I did, I did. So life choices is a pregnancy center here in Monroe. Right. Yeah. That's amazing. So they did confirm it. They did an ultrasound or how did they do it?

They initially did the regular pregnancy test, but then they did an ultrasound and come to find out. I was oh gosh, I'm trying to remember now. So March, April, May, June, until I was five months pregnant. Wow. So I had gone through all of that rigorous training. Oh my goodness. Pregnant.

And normally within your first six weeks, if you start doing things like that, you'll lose the baby. Yeah. But no, he's stuck in there with me. He's strong. I'm still in. That's right.

But yes, so found that out. And I had to go back to my command and let them know what was going on and of course none of my uniforms fit. So I stood out like a sore thumb. But overall, they knew that it was no one's fault. So they honorably discharged me, gave me the opportunity to go back if I wanted to. But the next step was, okay, when I get home, what am I doing? So, I got home, I'm still roughing it, ended up going to a maternity home, and decided to give him up for adoption, because abortion just was not in my brain. But I had no home, I had nowhere to go, I had no money.

You know, you're scared. Yeah. So I had no clue what to do. So I went to Sellers and was around a wonderful people. But they're the ones who assisted me through the process of adoption. Yeah. And I was very well aware. He would go to the children's home and somebody would adopt

him, but it would be a good Christian, godly family. So that's one of my prayers really hit hard. Is I started praying furiously, just, you know, God give him place to go, give him somebody that's going to love him and going to be able to provide for him the way I couldn't. Yeah. And so while you're kind of like in that place right now, let's talk about that. Because one thing that I just am really passionate about,

about adoption is the language of like choosing adoption. Because I think a lot of people say like, oh, I gave up my child for adoption. And I think that can have some people that haven't had the negative connotation. And so, but what you did was not give up your child for adoption. You chose adoption for your child and that's such a beautiful choice. I just think birth moms are such heroes because what you're doing is choosing life.

You're first choosing life for your child. Then you're choosing a life that is better than what you feel like you can provide at the moment, which is the case for a lot of women. You're in a position where you're not in a position in life where you can raise a child. And so you make a really selfless and really difficult choice. The hardest decision. Yeah, the hardest decision. You can't imagine a harder decision, but it's such a beautiful, just symbol of love and selfless love for this baby that's growing inside you. It's absolutely such an unselfish decision to say, I'm going to choose something better

than I can get my child right now. Right. And that was the big thing. It's just, you know, I wanted him to be able to have more than I ever did. So I had him in November of 01, and in my brain, I was like, okay, I'm not gonna choose to see him. So I chose not to see his face. I didn't hold him, I didn't touch him, I didn't see his face,

because I knew if I did, he would come home with me. And that was not gonna be great for either of us. So I just told God, give him kisses for me and I'm going to attempt to not get emotional, but I just, I kept going after that point, but I didn't change mentally. My heart didn't change. So I just kept doing the same things I was doing. I didn't go back into the military probably like I should have. But our perspective, us getting real, it was miraculous. I mean it really truly was, you know, that a lot of adoptions take years and all that.

It was just really miraculous we found out about Will and he was a month old. We found out an off-for- forget, you know, getting his picture and just could not wait to level in that sweet face. And so we got him within just a week. So God's hand was just on his life. And those prayers that you were praying at that moment for him were just answered so beautifully and so quickly, because I just feel like

from the time we got him, we found out about him to the time we got him and he came to their home just happened so fast and it just truly was nothing short and miraculous. So yeah God was hearing your prayers. Absolutely. That's a 19-year-old not knowing what you were going to do and not knowing how your life was going to turn out God was hearing your prayers. Absolutely. absolutely. So I just kept going. I knew he was gonna be in safe hands so I just continued on. And I ended up, I'll see that was 01 and 03.

I had another child who is my son now. He's amazing, but I did kind of preserve the name I originally gave your will and Bob. We're going to have to come back to all of that. Let's just tell the audience right now first of all that we both have son's name will. Yes. So she has, we call him little will. Right.

And our will, we have always called Bob as a nickname. He loves veggie tails, Bob the tomato, and Bob the builder, and all these Bob cartoons when he was little. And so we started calling him Bob when he was small and so. I love it. We called your will in our house. We called him Little Will. And because he was younger than our will.

And we call our will, will, and Bob. So yes, that's gonna be a little confusing as we tell this story, but there you go. That's okay, roll with it. That's all right, that's right. But I had him in 03, and I chose to keep him. I was in a safer spot in my brain. I was a safer spot.

I was with my dad. I was working, had a place to live. So I was like, okay, we'll go. And I should say this too, because just about adoption, because a lot of adoptions are open adoptions. So this might not be as strange now, because a lot of people have open adoptions, but at that time, our adoption was a close adoption.

And most adoptions, I even think at that time were closed. It wasn't quite as common to have an open adoption. So whenever we got will, we did not know Emily at all. We didn't know. All we knew was kind of a form that you had filled out. And there were a few little things that were really neat to know about you, that you were musical and our will's musical.

And just some fun things, little facts that you had written down about yourself. That was always very special to us. But we didn't know. and you know, just some fun things, little facts that you had written down about yourself. That was always very special to us, but we didn't know. We didn't even know you were from here because Will was with the foster family in Baton Ridge, and so we didn't know you were from our town. Wow, I did know. No, we didn't know you were from our town.

We didn't know where, um, yeah, where is birth mother lived or anything? Wow. Yeah, that's amazing. Oh my goodness. So, I guess, so's amazing. Oh my goodness. So, I guess, so we, you had your real. I had a real. And kick going, again, no change.

Just kept going. A year later in July of 04, I had another child. And I did choose adoption for her as well. I was in a bad relationship, I was a bad spot. And mentally I was not capable of taking care of another baby, especially still having one in diapers. So I did give her up her adoption and she was little girl. Then kept going, no change at all.

And in in O5, I had another all. And in in O5 I had another one and she's precious and she does live with her daddy. But still it was a year of change. So by that point we have moved and we're back here in in Louisiana. But still on the same road, so in 2006 in February, I did have an abortion. And I... That's the one of the... That's the second hardest decision in my life was that one. So adoption for Bob, but then the abortion was hard. I'm thankful for God's grace and thankful through Jesus, you know, he saved me in 07. So in 2007 is when I couldn't take it anymore. There was so much shame on the outward appearance turns into weight gain and, you know, your appearance changes. And that's when I had gained over 150 pounds.

Just hanging on to it all. So in 2007, I finally gave up and I gave myself to Jesus and I said, okay, I can't do this anymore. So that is when life started happening. It was in 2007. We started going to. And yeah, what do you think happened that like, was like, do you just feel like you hit bottom

and you felt like I have to make a change? Or was there someone speak something into your life? Or how do you feel like you were able at that point to make a change where you weren't before? The sweetest thing was, was after the abortion. I was in a sad place. but God speaks through children a lot. And see will at that point, little will, at that point was three years old.

And he had just come home one day and he was just like, mama, it's okay. Three years old, what three year old? Do you know, but it's just, you know, I feel like God does speak through children. Yeah, and there's scripture about that child like faith. Jesus is like let the kids come to me because there's something special about the faith of a child and they know things. Exactly. I know the spirit of God and that love and unconditional love. Right. Right. And that's when I really started diving into scripture. And, you know know and in my heart God said it's okay. You can

keep going. So he did give me that hope so I could get up and I stood up and gave my life to Christ, went through baptism and ultimately God started making a way and then he showed us right to White Sphere Road church and it's what's talking as you were telling that to like, you know, there's that scripture and I'm terrible at saying like where it is. I'm just like, there's a scripture somewhere you can find it. Yeah, somewhere in there. Right. That talks about how we're John to God's love and we're and we're gone. We understand

God's mercy. They're his kindness understand God's mercy through his kindness. And like some people, you know, you can, you know, there's the people that might be like the judgmentalness of like, oh, you shouldn't do this or you shouldn't do this, but it's actually God says like, we're John to him through his kindness. And that reminds me of that as your little will kind of saying that to you, it's going to be okay. Like you understand, it's like, oh, it's grace. It's God's grace. It's

God's kindness. It's His love for me that draws me to Him and helps me to understand my worth and my value. And it's not about what I've done or what I haven't done or what I'm going to do is about what Jesus did for me. That's right. It's love and grace and kindness. So yeah, look up that verse, but I love that. I love that scripture. I love that scripture because I think that, yeah, some people, you know, see a young girl in your position and they think, well, she shouldn't do this or she shouldn't do this or she shouldn't do this. But instead that just makes you feel more shame. Right.

The things that go wrong. The things that go wrong. And you're running, right, rather than saying like, God loves you. And he's here for you, and he's with you even at your heart as time. And that grace that will soak over you. Absolutely, and that's the whole thing too, and what I didn't say was,

through the last two pregnancies along with the abortion, I told no one. Oh wow. No one knew, except for who was directly involved. So family didn't know. No one knew. So I was holding every bit of that and it was destroying me inside. And after Will said that, I was like, you know, I've got to do something else. So gave my life to him. We moved to White Street Road Church in 2008. Okay.

We started going to church there. It was amazing. Had so many new friends. You know, little wheel had so many new friends. And it was so fun because they were calling him mini-me. Yeah. There's big wheel over here. And there's all the cousins.

And so we just had many new friends. Right. Including our wheel have many new friends, including our will. Including your will, right? So that's kind of where our stories begin to convert. But really, we didn't know it for another year or long time, yeah, after that. So I think we should go ahead and kind of like share

that part of the story. Absolutely. It's pretty amazing, I think. Absolutely. Your family started coming to the church that we went to at the time, what's very right. And our wills became friends. And they were just cute as little. They were inseparable. They were the cutest little kids. We called your will mini me because he looked just like our will. Like a little mini me, but it never occurred to us.

It never clicked. Never occurred to us. It's not that. They were brothers instead. because for us too, we didn't even know that you lived in this town, we didn't know anything. And your little wheel was so cute and our little wheel was so cute and then they would be at camp together in the summer. We have pictures of them. Right together. Before we knew they were brothers.

That's right. We have pictures in the together. I remember one summer they both came to camp with, we called it like a frohawk where they like, That's the one. They had the little bowhawk to the little effray right there in the middle of a stage today and so we like have pictures of them through the years as kids as friends right yeah absolutely they were just little wills that's right yes and so I'll never forget one day I think it was your dad who kind of realized it or did you

realize it? Well, actually it was in 2009 and I only remember that because he was turning eight. Okay. And it was y'all were talking to dad, you and Willie, y'all were talking to dad about the birthday party and everything happening. And y'all said you want to mini-meaty-come. So dad was like, oh great, you know what day is it? Then you told him the day.

Yes. And that's when dad kind of stood still. And now little Will and I were head already gone. We'd have left. And so we're in the church of your year. And I do remember your dad saying to me, oh, when's your Will's birthday? Right.

And I said it because he was having a birthday coming up and we were playing a party and I said his birthday. Yes. And that's when it clicked. That's birthday. Right. And I said it because he was having a birthday coming up and we were playing a party and I said his birthday. And that's when it clicked. That's when it clicked. Whatever you also the year. That's when it clicked. And that's when Dad was just, you know, he was stuck.

You know, it was just almost like he couldn't move. And he didn't say anything to me. I didn't notice it. He didn't write it. Because I asked him, I said, oh, when's your little when your little birthday? Yes. We just went on and didn't know anything. Didn't know, yes. And it was a couple weeks later, about two or three weeks later,

when I arrived, received a phone call from dad to come out to his house and let's sit down. So, but that was the first thing I told him. It's like, well, I've told you everything. You know everything now. So, I'm not in trouble. That's good, yes. You had already, and that's so beautiful

because you had already come to the place of healing before this happened, which I think is also a beautiful part of the story and part of my prayers for Will, because I don't forget, as a mom, there was a had a friend who or have a friend who was adopted and she had met her birth mom and it wasn't a good experience. And so I'll never forget her telling me whenever we got will, don't ever let him meet his birth mom because it'll be another rejection because for her it was, it was another rejection.

And I remember I just like, that's not going to be a little story. And I just started praying by thin like God, like when will meet his birth mom? Because I knew that he would want to someday. And I wanted that for him. If that's something he wanted. And I knew that I would, you know, wanted to meet you someday. And I just, I remember praying from that day on, like,

Lord, when he meets his birth mom, let her be a believer, let her love you and let her be in a good place that she can receive will and they can have relationship. And I just prayed for y'all's relationship from like day one. And got answered to his prayers. So beautiful. And his timing, not always the way we expect or know, but in his timing, there's one other story. I think I told you this recently, but I think I think I did. But I'll never forget it.

So we didn't know even your name. We didn't know anything. But Will was born. I mean Will's adoption day was the same day that we had Bella. So we basically got two babies. Two for one. Two for one in one day.

So the same day that we, Bella was born was Will's like official. We had had him since he was five weeks old. But when you actually go to court, and time the papers find a lot. You have to do home studies and all that. And that takes nine months in the state of Louisiana, at the time, I don't know now.

In Louisiana, it takes nine months for like everything to be finalized and you go to court. Well, Will and Bella are 10 months apart. So it happened to be on her birthday, what actual birthday was a day that the adoption was final. So Willy took him up to the courthouse and he got to go and I wasn't able to be there because I was in the hospital. And so he signed the papers and he snuck a peek at the original birth certificate. And saw your name, that your name was Emily. Really? They didn't see your last name. So all we knew, that your name was Emily. Really? They didn't see your last name.

So all we knew was that your name was Emily. That's all that we knew from that. And then, so one day when Will was little, I remember he said to me, we were at a track meet, just randomly, and he said, it's like literally, it's like, I don't know, Bobber Six. And he said, Mom, what's your friend's name? And I said, what friend?

He said, your friend who gave me to you. And I said her name was Emily. And it was so sweet because I knew it. I was so glad that I knew your name so I could say that to him. And I thought it was so cute because he's like, what's your friend's name? Because he just knew that we were friends. Right.

You gave him to me, you know? And he was one that we, from day one, with day one that we got him, you know, old enough to understand or understand anything. He loved to hear his best story and we would show him his book of the day we got him. And you know, all the things that we knew and so it was really sweet that I really kind of picked over.

And so you're so glad you're named. So I was able to say your name in that moment. I'm glad he did. Absolutely. I'm glad he did. So your dad realizes it. He did. And he tells you, well, interestingly enough, when we were sitting down on his porch, he

looked at me in my face and he said, do you have any idea where your first born is? And I just sat there. It was about a good couple of minutes and You know, you know how God reveals things to us And I looked at him and I said I see his face He said what do you mean? I said I see Who it is and he said well, who do you think it is? I said it's Will Roberts said and he said How do you know that I said, it's Will Robertson. And he said, how do you know that? I said, I'm going to get emotional.

I said, God, let me see your space. Wow. And I said, is that who you're saying? He said, that's exactly who your firstborn son is. That's amazing. So after that day. And even though, like they had been friends for absolutely years, but our church

has a pretty good size church. And so even though, you know, they were, and they were a year and a half, I guess we're gonna have parts. And they weren't always like together, like they were in separate classes, but they would, you know, see each other in the four year or be together at camp.

But it wasn't like, were this tiny church that you would have known it. It's big, so, you know, that was the wild part. For, yeah, for God to reveal that to you in that moment. Right. It was super wild. And just after that is when God really began the ball rolling. We just kept going.

And I remember talking to you and it's like, okay, we'll just, we'll sit this here until the boys get old enough to understand, you know, until he start asking questions. You know, which took us to where we are now, you know, and I even remember in 2016, whenever you guys called us to hear him sing the National Anthem. Yeah, Texas Matters B-Way, which was a great event, but it was amazing to hear that, you know, he had the voice, you know, he got the voice that's been passed down generations. Yeah, and I always like, he certainly didn't get for me because I cannot sing.

And he always was so cute when he was little because we would sing in the car and he'd be like, Mom, no. And oh no, what do I ask? He has this like beautiful singing voice. And I'll never forget, seeing your dad, he sang at the Christmas play one year. Yes. And being like, oh my goodness. Okay, no wonder this was.

That's where we got the voice from. That's right. And but yeah, that was really special because you sang the National Anthem at different events and then we'll got was able to do that. Right. And so we were like, y'all have to come. And so we got this to stay in there together come. And so we got to stay in there together. I was so full. So amazing. So I'm actually on them. Yeah, that was a pretty special moment. Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, so we kind of as a relationship, I think one thing that I want to just honor you in is you've just been so kind and respectful and gracious. Ever since day one, from the moment we got the call to say, hey, you know,

and we were like, what? We were in shock, yes. We were in shock, but from the first time we talked, you were just so kind and gracious and just whatever fears, like I might have, you put them in ease, and so I hope I did the same for you, whatever fears you you might have in that moment too. We were able to say like, hey, we're both moms and we both love our kids so much and we want the best for them.

And we really kind of went about it that way and we said, you had your little little little thing about, I had Malville to think about and we said like, okay, we're gonna wait and we're gonna pray about this and kind of just watch. And when the time's right, time's right, God's gonna reveal that for're gonna pray about this and kind of just watch and when the time right, times right, God's gonna reveal that for us to share this with our kids.

And so, well, and that was like my thing. I was in my brain. It's like, oh, I'm just glad to be here. Yeah. You know, because my prayer was answered at that point. One of them was, I got to see, I got to watch him grow, you know, from a distance. Yeah. You know, and that was great with me. You know, I never wanted to hone in or interrupt or make ripples, you know, make

waves. I just didn't want to do that because nobody deserves that. You know, I was just glad to be there. You know, it kind of reminds me of a movie, but I don't remember. But it's just, it was amazing just to be able to see who he is and who y'all are and to know that God Answered that prayer that y'all are precious people and you're amazing and you've always put your children first ahead of you and that's all I prayed for was it's like God just let them have the right heart. Yeah, you know Just just let him grow up and know who he is and who you are. Yeah. Yeah, that was huge He's a great man of God. Absolutely.

And yeah, so yeah, we took our time and just decided, we needed to get to each other to learn too. And just kind of get to know each other. Just a little bit behind the scenes and that kind of thing. And then whenever we told our wheels, I think their responses was the cutest thing ever. Absolutely. So I called Emily and was like, okay, do you think it's time?

I think it's time and we decided that we were going to do it, you know, the same day. So they would know. Right. They would know at the same time and it wouldn't be like one would know when the other one wouldn't, which I thought that was so so respectful for us to do that together. Absolutely. That was really great. And what was your little will?

Oh my goodness. When I finally got home, I sat on his bed and I was like, hey, you know, hey, man, we need to talk. And this one, he's seventh grade. And I told him I said, okay, because he had known the story. Yeah. You know, I was very transparent with him. That's one thing. I didn't grow up with transparency, so I wanted to make sure that he knew transparency. And I told him I said, okay, I said, well, I just got some information today that I can tell you that your best friend

is actually your biological brother. And he was so excited. There were tears, lots of tears, but there were tears of joy, I believe, in my heart, because he did not express any anger or resentment or anything. It was more so, when do I get to hug him? When can I see him? Can we go over to the basketball game?

But at that point in time, they had already, you know, best friends back and forth. But now it's every day. But it's, yeah, it's every day. So great. But it's amazing. But his response is, it's the phrase that dad has always said, you know, never be surprised at what God does. Yeah. Always be amazed. So I stand in amazement always. That's good.

To know that his response was so positive. Yeah. And you'll have to tell everybody what the way. That was not, okay, so that was, that was our will too. It was so cute because I don't forget, we're sitting at the table. He had gotten home from school that day and I just, I said, hey, I have some, same thing, you know, same thing. I have some nice tell you.

And he went, many days, my brother, just like that. Like, and he was just like, all smiles. I love it. He was so happy, my brother. Just like that. And he was just like all smiles. I love it. He was so happy, so excited. There was no tension or it was just like, joys, that's amazing. It was so cool.

Like it got just like, it just did. And like exactly, like what God just did. Like you could not write that story. You could not, you know. And so it was the same way. So I remember calling you and you were like, that's the same response from me. It was amazing.

And like that's exactly our will. That's right. So good and so amazing. And from then we started just building a relationship and you come into things or birthday parties or different things. There's things here and there. Yeah.

And it just grew from there. And we let it grow gradually. Right. We let it grow gradually, the music grow gradually, and I feel like his hand was in every step of it. And so I'm so thankful for that. Oh gosh. Like a musical, he orchestrates every bit of it. Yeah, exactly.

You can't even, you could never have planned it. So he told about being there for when he sang the National Anthem was just really special. And then another kind of like the ultimate special moment just happened. Oh goodness. When will an Abbey just got married? Absolutely. And that was just amazing. That was an absolutely amazing day, like several days. The emotion and the spirit behind their wedding was just insurmountable.

I just don't know. If we could have seen God's face right there, he was there right there, being able to be there and spend the day with everyone. And during the ceremony, the most powerful part was getting to hold you and grasp you in prey. Yeah. And, you know, all of us with tears down our faces. But that, to me, was the most important part was they know that we're all surrounding them.

Okay, so let's talk about that moment because that was a moment that I will never forget. It was just so special. So, it was this moment in the ceremony. I'll just kind of tell y'all it's after they say their vows and we just had this moment where the pastor invited all of us up his family and to come up and just pray over Will and Abbey and we had music and it was just beautiful. So we're huddled up like hands and heart close. Like all close together, willing at you're in the center. And it's just a time for us to just pray over them and their marriage.

And so we're seeing them aside each other. And we both just like reach over and lie to each other. And we're just like, then it's like the shaking. And it's like the sobbing. The sobbing was intense. It was, it was like we were both just like shaking and crying and just so grateful for the moment and so thankful and it was just beautiful and I'll never forget. I like of Emma's and picked for the To See Will and Abby and their heads together and Will's

singing. And it could, because you could hear his voice and it was just so beautiful. And we just got to be there and pray together and thank God for what he did. Absolutely. And yeah, right. That's, and that was all in my brain. You know, after we had all gone back to our seats, you know, it was just absolutely incredible. And I was literally shaking like a leaf.

And my husband was like, are you okay? Oh, I'll be fine. It's just, I just seek God. You know, I saw God with you and I saw God willing. And I look up at Will and Abby as well and tears running down their faces. And just to be able to see the love that they have for each other and know that the love that God has for us.

Yeah. It's just, it was huge, huge moment just to be there. And I was just so thankful and grateful that we've had these years to connect. Yeah. That's so true too, thinking about that. Like the timing, we were able to be at a place, you know, to where we were able to just be there together

in that moment. That's so special. And then the dance, we did the mother's son dance. Yes. So sweet. It was so fun. It was so fun. So Will and I started the dance and then halfway through,

we passed them off. And Emily came out and dance with Will. And it was so sweet. It was great. It was really fun. So great. So many great pictures of the whole scene. But it was so sweet.

And then we just, it was wonderful. Celebrated. We partied. It was a huge dance party. We danced all night. And had the housey. But it was so- And then we just, it was wonderful. Celebrated. Absolutely. It was a huge dance party. We danced all night and had the best celebration of these two amazing couple becoming one. So it was great as a best.

So the rehearsal dinner, your dad's speech, I think was just, it was so emotional and so sweet and so beautiful. And for actually a lot of our like our other kids had not necessarily heard a lot of like his part of the story or whatever they know you but they don't necessarily know your dad and your and your more of your family. And so that was really special for him to share. It absolutely was and he, everybody was tiered up by that time. It was so many

tiered slowing. He is an There were so many tears flowing. He is an emotional person as it is, which is where we get it. But he just enjoyed allowing God come through him to make sure that everyone knew, especially Bob and Abby, that he has prayed for all of us involved, you and Willie, Bob, just to make sure that they know that they are loved. You know, they were always loved from, you know, the first time that he found out. But dad, he reaches new levels when it comes to even the power of prayer. And he is just, you know, God has just given him so many gifts, but we could not leave that place without tears. Oh, no, no one did. And which I was thinking about, and you're sharing like that part of your

story and your teenage years that were difficult, and you had some different, cool years, you know, times when you came back and lived with your dad and everything. So the God has done a lot of work in his life as well. And so, yeah, that that moment was just a culmination kind of of all of that. Yeah, one of the things you touched on earlier that I want to kind of go back to, because I think it's like really powerful and can be really helpful for people as they're listening. So I think people are going to, there's going to be so much as part of your story that's going to touch people and it's going to hit them in different places. But one of the thing is that that holding things in and not sharing with other people trying to appear like everything's okay when it's not and I think that that is something that within families is very common, but it's also the thing that can really be damaging in families and how you've decided you wanted to do

that differently. We kind of just share a little bit about that and why you feel like you knew that you had to do that differently. I had to. After I was saved and have gone through the things that I've gone through, it was important to me for my wheel funny, for little will, to know that it's okay to talk. You don't need to hold this in because it's going to hurt you. After holding things in and going through the emotional damage and the physical damage that that does and people don't believe that. When it comes to you holding things in, you're not talking about anything, emotions are at

an all time. Hi. It's going to destroy you. You're going to implode from the inside of your own period. So it was super important to me to make sure that little will knew it is okay to talk about your feelings. You're not going to get in trouble when you tell me your feelings. I'm not going to come down on you.

I want you to know that you can be a voice. You have a voice. Be a voice. I don't fear if you're three or if you're 25, you have a voice and it's important. Not everything is fine. It's not going to be fine all the time. That's good.

But you've also, I know, and remember that you've got to be fine all the time. That's good. But you've also, I don't know, remember that you've got to keep God in the front. He's going to be the one that's going to help you get all this out. Otherwise, it could just, you could explode words on other people. And then it's detrimental to those people. That's good. Then you call the domino effect. But the biggest thing is, it's just make sure to know it's okay. Yeah. It's okay to talk out loud and to tell somebody what's going on. Yeah. And don't hold it in. Yeah. Um, it's, it's even more than okay. It's important to tell somebody like find somebody that you can tell. And if it's not within your family, if it's somebody a counselor or someone

a church, be your best friend, but make sure you have a friend that's actually going to speak truth and life into your life. But find somebody that you can tell if you're going through any of the things that we talked about. If you're going through those things, it's so important to find somebody to bring things to the light and break this open. That's where healing can take place. And I do think that within families, just that realness, even if even if it's you're sharing the bathtub.

That's right. Even the hard stuff. Like kids need to know because I think a lot of times kids can be raised up in a family that it looks like it's good, but they know. They know to down. It's not. And whenever parents try to cover and hide things, but it's really best to just say, like, hey, this is hard for me. Or I've done this and this and this, and here's what God taught me in it, and it was bad, and I made bad choices,

but God looked what God did in my life through it. And it still told both of us, you know. And it's just, you know, with God, there's going to be hope. Yeah. You will come out on the other side. It may not be the easiest, but at least you got it out. And now God can say, okay, I can work with this.

You're out in the open now. So when you hold it in, you're not allowing God to help you. You have taken control over all of this. Or when you let it out and you speak it, somebody knows that you trust and that you know it's going to speak truth and life into you, but also God takes it and says, okay, then let me work with it now. Yeah. And that's what, you know, one thing with will, you know, I told him, I said, always be transparent with anybody you come in contact with. Yeah. You know, that transparency is going

to develop into a hope that you'll never be able to get rid of. And I love it. That's good. That's good. I think one of the things that people need to hear too is that if you didn't have that in your family environment, you can change that. Absolutely. For the next generation, you do have the power to change that. And you've changed that for the next generation. And your previous generations have changed in that too.

And so everyone has the power and has, through God, everyone can change. And every situation can change. You know, there is not a situation that's not without hope. And so I was thinking, I'd love for you to just kind of say, like, what is, if you could like go back and tell yourself, in any of those positions that you were in during those years of your 20s when you were, you know, you were making bunch voices, you were in a tough time. If you could go back and share with yourself, then like what would you say? I would say it's okay. It's okay to breathe, and it's okay to be

honest with yourself. And it's okay to stand up until somebody that you're having a tough time. You know, it's all right. Find that person who you trust and who you know you can lean on to breathe life into you to say, okay, but with God you can do this. It's good. So he will give you the hope that you need to keep going. But I would tell her, it's okay. It's good. You've done this and it's all right.

Here, let's get back up. Yeah. And let's tackle it. That's good. Okay, so now what would you say to the girl that is and that's there right now? Like you're speaking directly to that girl. Take a deep breath. You're okay. Yeah. You always have somebody beside you and around you that can help you or at least point you in the right direction. Be transparent with yourself first. And then be transparent with those around you. So that way you have plenty of help from all four corners. But always know that God is not going to leave you nor forsake you. And he's always going to be there and welcome you with open arms. You do not have to go through this by yourself.

That's good. At all. There's always gonna be somebody that has either been there or going through it with you. So you're not alone, you're not by yourself. Pray about it first. That's good.

I think that is like the biggest lie of the April one that you're alone in this. Like, you're not the only one who's gone through this. You know, when else is gonna understand and that's such a lie to keep you from sharing so thank you so much don't want young girls and young women I think they're by themselves because you're not yeah I was and I felt like I was but I wasn't got new the path but he just needed me to wake up that's so good thank you so much for sharing that and I just think about all the prayers that we prayed and they were answered most certainly in

God's time and not even not always the way we thought they were gonna be answered in ways that we could have never even Imagine but sitting here today with you you just look back and you're just like Look at all the prayers and I think about when Will was a little baby that our prayers were like meeting up in heaven Absolutely. Because we were both praying for him and what a blessed love baby he was. Oh, blessed love. What a blessed love man he is to have two mamas that love him and I prayed for him all of his days. Thank you.

I love you friend. I love him to the thank you. Thank you his days, so thank you. I love you friend. I love him to the thankful for you. Thank you for your support. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I love you friend.

I love you too. I love you. I love you too. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. you