“Wish You Could See Her Today”
Interview with Julie Akin, America World adoptive mom
If you follow our Facebook or Instagram pages, you may have seen the beautiful music video of “Wish You Could See Her Today” we shared on Saturday for Birth Mother’s Day. The song was written by Nick Akin, one of our adoptive dads, to honor his daughter’s birth mom.
If you missed the video, watch it below… and be sure to have a tissue handy!
We loved it so much that we interviewed Nick’s wife, Julie, for more of the story. Keep reading for some inspiration!
How did you decide to adopt?
Adoption was always something we had talked about doing one day in the future. We had no concrete plans until God turned our “one day” into a “TODAY.” Nick grew up traveling with his dad and two brothers, singing Christian music all over the country. In 2017, The Akins were leading worship for a local revival. There was a group called Ugandan Thunder who was doing a special concert for the same event. They were a children’s choir comprised of orphans from Uganda who came to the U.S. to perform and fundraise for their orphanage. When we heard them sing and saw the joy on their faces while worshipping, in spite of their circumstances, we were changed forever. We left that night sponsoring a child monthly but knew that God was calling us to do something even bigger. We began researching and praying and were blown away at the numbers… an estimated 153 million orphans/abandoned children all over the world. We knew we couldn’t be a family to all of them, but we knew we could help one. We were open to any kind of adoption, but after being encouraged to look into the India program and learning about the need, we knew our child was there.
How did you choose America World?
We spent a lot of time researching agencies and different programs. One day, we were looking at the America World website, and we saw that Mark Hall had used them and that they had close ties to Steven Curtis Chapman. We found a number and decided to call. The person on the other end of the phone was so kind and patient to answer all of our questions and asked if we had ever considered India. She jump-started our research into the India program and, later on, was our social worker. It was incredible that the person I just happened to talk to who encouraged us to look into the India program did all of our post-adoption visits and was able to see our process come full circle from beginning to end.
How did you get matched to Tanvi specifically?
God changed our hearts radically through the adoption process. In the beginning, we didn’t realize that as non-Indian citizens, we were not eligible to adopt a child without special needs. Special needs scared us, and when it came time to check the boxes on the special needs list, we felt very unequipped. We also knew that we didn’t want any part in “choosing” our child and prayed that no matter what box we checked, God’s will would be done, and we would match with the child He had for us. It felt like such a huge responsibility. But at the advice from a doctor at the International Adoption Clinic in Birmingham, AL, we put a checkmark in the “maybe” section of one particular need. She told us that sometimes this could be minor and sometimes severe. We were matched with Tanvi because we said “maybe” instead of “no”. And our hearts went from being scared of special needs to realizing that we were never alone in any of this. What seemed so scary on paper just became life and daily opportunities to fight for Tanvi. Our homestudy even had to be revised because we had originally agreed to minor/correctible needs, and Tanvi fit in the severe category. We learned so much through this process—how we aren’t called to have the answers or to understand the big picture, but we’re called to say “yes” and take little steps of faith every day.
What challenges/blessings have you faced?
Challenges and blessings always seem to go hand-in-hand. Before traveling to India, we really didn’t know what our first steps would be when we got home, as far as her medical needs. We knew she would need specialists but didn’t know where to start. Two days after being home, her needs became an emergency and took her to the ER at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where she was admitted for 11 days and had the first of four surgeries. We were scared, but it ended up being the absolute best thing that could have happened for all of us. We no longer had to figure out what specialists to see because they all came to us. Nick woke up our first morning at the hospital and stepped outside of Tanvi’s room into the hall to hear several teams of doctors, each on their cell phones, talking to other doctors about her. It should have been one of the scariest seasons of our lives, but we had more peace in those 11 days than ever before. It was also a wonderful opportunity to bond with this child whom we had never even seen smile. In those 11 days, she bloomed. She weighed 14 lbs at 2 years old and was extremely dehydrated and malnourished. But as she was being nourished in the hospital, we watched her begin to transform.
How did Nick decide to write a song for Tanvi’s birth mom? What do you know about her – if anything?
Nick started thinking of how thankful he was that Tanvi’s birth mom chose life for her. He thought about how hard it must have been for her to walk away that day at the hospital. Tanvi was found at a hospital in Delhi wearing a green sweater and wrapped in a red blanket. Based on the little information we have, we believe Tanvi’s birth mom loved her but didn’t have the means to care for Tanvi’s rare and complex needs that would have eventually taken Tanvi’s life. Nick wrote this song for Tanvi’s birth mom as a way to showcase how God brought beauty from ashes.
What would you say to people considering adoption for their families?
To take the first step of faith by saying “yes”. You aren’t called to have it all figured out; you’re just called to do it. And do it even if you’re scared, trusting that God will provide your daily bread… your manna. He will give you the strength, wisdom and resources right as you need it. Maybe not ahead of time, but He’s never late. He writes the best stories! Knowing that doesn’t mean it’s an easy journey, but it’s a possible one.
What would you say to birth moms?
Thank you. Thank you for choosing life and giving your child a chance to thrive. We hope this new music video brings you comfort.
Anything else?
The more you watch God’s provision of daily bread, the easier it is to trust him. The finances of adoption was one of the scariest aspects of the process, but He showed up every single time. It was a Wednesday afternoon when our family coordinator called to tell us that it was time to travel to get Tanvi. But we still owed $14,000 before the adoption was paid in full and we could go. We were on our way to church for Wednesday night activities, frantically talking about how to get that money fast. All the banks were closed, so we couldn’t reach out about a loan until the next day. But as we were taking our kids to their missions classes, one of our son’s teachers stepped into the hall and asked to speak to us. She said that God had laid us on her heart that day. She had a certain amount of money that she normally donated to a specific organization each year, but she told us that God wanted her to give us the money instead. It was $13,960. We laughed, cried and tried not to fall on the floor. When we told her about the conversation we had just had with our coordinator, she laughed and said, “Well, I’ll round up.” Now, this same teacher loves on Tanvi and prays with her every Wednesday night. God is so faithful and only needs your “yes”. Plant that mustard seed of faith at His feet and watch as He makes it grow!
Thank you so much to Nick for writing this beautiful song and to Julie for being willing to open her family’s story to us! We hope it inspired you as much as it did us.
Are YOU ready to say “yes” to adoption?
To learn more about adopting from India, visit our India adoption page. Or if you’re not sure which program would be right for you, start your search at our Learn About Adoption page. Contact us at info@awaa.org with any questions. We would love to help you with your first step!