“Edge of Our Seats”
Interview with Nick and Julie Akin, America World adoptive parents
November is National Adoption Month, and it kicks off our Season of Hope—our year-end giving campaign celebrating everything God has done through our ministry during the year and looking forward to all we hope He will do in the future. With these things in mind, we were thrilled to learn that Nick Akin had released a new music video of a song inspired by adoption!
If you haven’t seen it yet, watch it below, and read on for an interview with Nick and Julie explaining the story behind the song, “Edge of Our Seats.”
What gave you the idea for the song?
Not long after bringing Tanvi home, our dear friends were in the process of bringing their daughter home from India. The court process was grueling for them, with 11 hearings and many sleepless nights. Adoptive parents generally aren’t present for the hearings and remain in the States while someone in India attends court and advocates on their behalf. With the time difference between the U.S. and India, the hearings happen when it’s the middle of the night here. It’s nearly impossible to sleep knowing that someone is on the other side of the world, making a decision that will change your life forever. My friend spent those 11 nights praying and waiting to hear the judge’s decision. One night I was messaging her, and as I was anxious along with her, I sent her the words: “When we’re on the edge of our seats, God is seated on the throne.” I told Nick about it, and he wrote it so perfectly into a song. Who knew one day we would get to turn it into a music video?
In what ways were you on the edge of your seat during Tanvi’s adoption process?
NICK: The entire process kept us on the edge of our seats. From trusting God to provide the funds we needed, wondering if we were checking the “right” boxes on the special needs list, and waiting for each step to be completed… but God was so faithful to remind us that He had everything under His control. Every time a bill was due, He provided! I’ll never forget how we needed our final $14,000 before we could travel to India to get Tanvi. We were definitely on the edge of our seats, wondering how we would come up with that amount of money. We walked into our church on a Wednesday night and were stopped by a dear friend who said they had a certain amount of money they normally donate to an organization, but they felt like God was leading them to gift it to our family and wouldn’t you know… it was $14,000.
When did you feel this way after you brought her home?
NICK: Tanvi has had eight surgeries since being home. When we came home, we felt overwhelmed, not even knowing where to start to get her the help she needed. Two days after being home, we realized her needs had become an emergency. We took her to Scottish Rite in Atlanta. We didn’t even think to pack a bag. Little did we know we would be there for eleven days. But I’ll never forget stepping out into the hallway and hearing doctors coordinating together on Tanvi’s behalf. Then they came to us with a plan. Tanvi has gone from not being able to sit up on her own to walking with a walker, and she is currently walking more and more without her walker. And to be honest, in many ways, even after how far she has come, it still feels like we are on the edge of our seats at times, wondering about her future and what other challenges are on the horizon, but we have truly learned after seeing God come through time and time again, that He is on the throne watching over Tanvi and our family.
What other times have you felt this way?
NICK: I grew up singing in a family Gospel group, traveling from church to church with my brothers and my dad. I remember when God began to call us to different paths of ministry, I felt anxious about the future. It was definitely an edge-of-my-seat time in my life. I knew God wasn’t finished with me, and I truly felt His call to continue in music evangelism. Now, just like with the adoption process, I can look back and see how God has been so faithful to provide every step of the way. It also has been such a blessing getting to have Julie and the kids with me. When we do concerts, they join me for a few songs, and we get to share testimony of Tanvi’s adoption story and how it relates to the Gospel. We’ve seen many trust in Jesus as Savior along this amazing journey!
JULIE: There have been so many times in our lives where we’ve felt like we were on the edge of our seats, anxiously wondering what was going to happen next. One of the most crucial of these times was when I was pregnant with our now 9-year-old, Jude. I have had 4 miscarriages, and in 2015, I began seeing a fertility doctor in hopes of getting answers. Not long after, we found out we were expecting again. We went in for the first ultrasound, and the tech went from being bubbly and talkative to silent after she placed the ultrasound on my belly. The doctor came in, explaining that at this first ultrasound, the baby’s heartbeat should be between 110-120 bpm, and our baby’s was at 73 bpm. She said she was so sorry, but we needed to prepare for another miscarriage and would follow up with another ultrasound in a week. We left devastated. This was the week leading up to Easter, which we know wasn’t an accident. Our family and friends gathered around us at the altar at church on Easter Sunday, praying, knowing that the God who breathed life into Jesus and resurrected Him could also breathe new life into our sweet baby. The next day, we went in for the follow-up ultrasound. The tech put the ultrasound on my belly and immediately said, “Wow!” The baby’s heartbeat was beating at 153 bpm, even higher than the scale said it should have. Such a miracle!
How do you think we should respond as Christians to this feeling?
NICK: I think we should look to God’s promises in the Bible, see His faithfulness throughout history, and also look back on His faithfulness in our own lives. When Julie and I find ourselves anxious about the future, we can look back to the past and be reminded of all the times God came through for us. We know that if he did it in the past, He can do it again in the future. This song is our way of encouraging anyone who may be anxious about the future and on the edge of their seat right now. We can tell you from experience that when we’re on the edge of our seats, God is seated on the throne.
Thank you so much to Nick for writing this beautiful song and to both Nick and Julie for being willing to share more of their family’s story with us! (By the way, if you missed Julie’s interview with us in May around a song for Tanvi’s birth mom, check it out here.)
How is God calling YOU to be on the edge of your seat?
If you think the call could be adoption, start your search with our Learn About Adoption page. We would love to help you with your first step!
You can also help make adoption possible for other families by giving to our Season of Hope matching grant. Thanks to the generosity of a group of donors, everything given up to $54,000 through the end of the year will be DOUBLED!