One couple finds fulfillment in life's unexpected twists and turns...

Unexpected Blessings

by Scott Warren

When we married in July of 1995, we never dreamed that we would someday end up starting a new church…especially not one in Salt Lake City, Utah.

When people learn that we moved from Arkansas to Utah to launch a church, they assume it is an oppressive and taxing endeavor spiritually, emotionally, and relationally. In reality, moving here was one of the best things that ever happened in our relationship.

When we arrived in Utah in 2003, it was just the two of us. We knew very few people. While our relationship was already strong, living in a new place apart from families and lifelong friends gave us a lot of time to spend together. This gave us the opportunity to get to know each other —and ourselves—in a way that we otherwise might not have experienced.

We went on long drives to explore our new surroundings. We enjoyed hiking and camping in the mountains, lingered over breakfast by the river, and screamed our heads off at Friday night hockey games (Staci did the screaming). We might never have found out how much she loved hockey had we not moved here.

These fun “dates” soon became a regular thing in our lives. Because we knew the demands of planting a new church would compete for our time, we established the importance of keeping “us time” a priority.

As the church began to grow, we started to think and talk about adopting a child. For 12 years, our family had consisted of just the two of us, but we felt God leading us to change that.

We met with a local agency to inquire about adoption. So many children need a loving family, and we wanted to be blessed with the child God had specifically for us. With this in mind, we decided not to specify race or gender preferences with our adoption.

Five weeks later, our little girl, Mia, was born. Nineteen months later, God miraculously provided for us to to adopt Mia’s brother Jude. Though our family may look different than most, there is no doubt in our minds that these kids were meant to be our kids.

Trans-racial adoption is more common and accepted here in Utah than many other places, and people often approach us with questions about our experience. This has given us many more opportunities to engage people in conversation than we normally would have had. Adopting our children is very much a God-centered story, and we share it as such. You might even say that Mia and Jude already have their own ministry.

Now that our family has grown, and our church continues to grow, we are so thankful for the habit we formed during our first few years here—the habit of making “us time” a priority. These days, we have to be more deliberate about our date nights, and we maintain one day a week that is strictly a family day.

Living where we live and doing what we do is, at times, demanding and difficult. There are certainly times of spiritual, emotional, and relational stress, but there’s definitely nothing else we would rather be doing. Our ministry is definitely a family affair. You might say it is an unexpected blessing.

A day will come when we hand off the leadership of our church to another family, but we will always be Mia and Jude’s mom and dad. We will never regret the quality time spent with them. And when they grow up and start their own adult lives, we will still be husband and wife, thankful for the time we invested in each other during our early days in Utah.

About the Writer: Scott and Staci Warren joined Randy and LeAnn Ledbetter to start Crosspoint FWB Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. Learn more about their church at www.crosspointslc.org.