The Lau Family
In the Fall of 2016, I received a phone call from a woman I had met over a year earlier at our national church conference. We had had a brief time of prayer during the conference and frankly, I had forgotten our time together! Now, many months later I received good news. What an amazing and encouraging surprise to hear Sarah Lau exclaim, “We’re pregnant!” May her story bring fresh hope to your hearts.
Dear Dianne,
My husband and I pastor a church in Estero, FL. We were married 1 week to the day after I turned 18.
We wanted to start a family right away but God had other plans for us. After a miscarriage, and 6 years of trying to start a family, we felt led by God to adopt.
We started the process of adoption through foster care locally. In 2011 we adopted a sibling group of 3 children who at the time were 5, 3 and 2 years old. We also had two other little girls in our home as foster care placements. In a matter of 6 months we went from no children to 5 children; in what felt like overnight.
Our very first foster care placement (one of the little girls I mentioned earlier) was 7 months old when she came to us. She remained in our care for a grueling 3 years of ups and downs before her adoption was finalized in 2013. We continued to be active in the foster care community until 2015. Loving and caring for children who aren’t biologically yours and who even at a very young age have had to overcome and endure through many traumatic life experiences is difficult, to say the least. This season of our lives strengthened our faith and tested us tremendously (and continues to do so).
Our children know they were chosen by God to be part of our family and He’s woven our stories together through adoption.
We’re grateful to have the privilege to become parents in this way. Psalm 68:6 “God sets the lonely in families.”
In the summer of 2015, I attended the Vineyard’s national conference in Columbus, Ohio. We had just moved to a new city to pursue God’s calling to plant a church after being on staff at the Cape Coral Vineyard (Jamie and Kim Stilson’s church) since we were teenagers. During the conference, I had come to receive prayer regarding our church plant. You began to pray and sensed the Holy Spirit prompt you to ask me if we had any children. I was caught off guard as this had been a longing of my heart for so very long (10 years at this point)- but we had our family now our 4 children through adoption and I was focused on this new adventure of church planting.
You prayed that God would heal my womb and told me to contact you not if, but when I became pregnant.
To be honest and true to my namesake (Sarah) I just kinda laughed to myself and thought how after all these years and our life circumstances would I now become pregnant?
To my shock and amazement. On July 5th of 2016, I found out I was pregnant. God was so gracious to give me several confirmations that this was clearly His plan, His work, and His timing. I had just been offered a position as a part-time pastor for a women’s addiction center but it didn’t offer insurance, even though I really wanted it we felt it was best to stay where I was and continue my health benefits. I had felt convicted to abstain from all alcohol since May of that same year- as an act of obedience to God. I firmly believe the longer I walk with Jesus that so much of following Him is choosing to be obedient when He calls us to do something and trusting that His ways are always best. On the evening before I found out I was pregnant we saw the most incredible full double rainbow in the sky. We took a picture I had never seen anything that beautiful before. As you know, rainbows represent God’s promise of faithfulness to never flood the earth again in the story of Noah. Rainbows are a sign of hope. That same day I felt the Holy Spirit challenge me during my quiet time that I had stopped believing that God would want to bless me.
That night I dreamt I was pregnant. I woke up and after everyone was out of the house I took a pregnancy test and it was positive!
As my emotions swirled I spent that day praying and thinking of all the years we had longed and suffered and couldn’t fathom if this was even real. Then I remembered your prayer from a year earlier (to the week) of the conference. I clearly drew to the conclusion that this was without a doubt an act of God’s healing power and faithfulness. When I shared the news later that evening with my husband he was speechless. As we cried tears of joy together we thanked God for this precious gift.
After 11 years of marriage, we’re expecting a baby boy in less than two weeks from now. Which in itself is a sign of God’s promise. In 2007, after another pregnancy announcement (which anyone who struggles with infertility knows can be challenging) and my monthly reminder that I wasn’t pregnant, I cried out to God in despair questioning why He wouldn’t want to give us a child and went to bed feeling defeated. That night I had a dream that we were in the hospital having a baby boy- we had the name picked out and said it out loud for the first time, when God said, “No, name him Noah.” I held onto that dream as a sign of hope all this time.
This little boy which God has blessed us with will be called Noah he is a fulfillment of prophetic words in our life and the healing of infertility.
Thank you for your prayers!
Sarah
Update: Noah is now 6 months old and is a happy and healthy baby boy. He is always smiling and full of personality. He is a tangible reminder that God keeps his promises and is faithful.