"We are Josh and Cricket Boyer. We fell head over heels in love in high school in 2002 and were inseparable throughout college and ever since. Josh and I share the same passion for striving to be the earthly hands and feet of our Lord through our everyday lives at home, work, in the community, and in our church.
In 2007, after being married only a few short months, I started feeling incredible abdominal pain and underwent subsequent surgeries. We were told at that time that children might not be a possibility for us. We were crushed but knew that if the Lord put the strong desire in our hearts to become parents that He could make it happen. And He did! We were surprised to welcome our precious miracle baby boy, Blaine, into the world in May, 2011. We rejoiced at the Lord’s grace and mercy!
However, I endured some complications during delivery and postpartum. We were devastated to be told by four different infertility specialists that I would not be able to conceive a child again. We went through years of fertility treatments, procedures, emotional heartache, and prayer in attempt to defy the odds to expand our little family of three.
Josh and I have always shared the desire to make a difference in the world by opening up ourselves and our home to adoption. During our emotional infertility roller coaster, we felt the Lord really tugging at our hearts that this was the time to make our lifelong adoption dream a reality. We enrolled in the foster program, in hopes of eventually adopting. We spent a great deal of time and effort attending the classes, preparing to become foster parents. Then miracle #2 happened: we discovered we were pregnant!
We were more overjoyed than words could express. We had prayed for so many years for a miracle. We even prayed for a baby by name: SAM (acronym for Shadrach, Abednego, and Meshach). In Daniel 1-3, the Lord worked a miracle in the lives of these three young Hebrew slave boys. When threatened with excruciating death in a fiery furnace for refusing to worship an idol, they replied that their god (Jehovah) was able to miraculously deliver them, but even if He chose not to, they still would place their faith in Him. This Bible story was laid heavy on our hearts while fighting the feelings of infertility defeat. To this day, we still call our unborn baby SAM to remind us of the love, faithfulness, and sovereign grace of our Lord in providing the divine miracle of life inside of me.
Shortly after discovering our second miracle pregnancy, we were presented with the beautiful opportunity to adopt an unborn baby girl. Our hearts swelled as we humbly accepted this perfect gift from God with tears streaming down our faces. The Lord orchestrated this most precious baby to arrive only a week before our due date with baby SAM: virtually twins!
But even while our hearts were overwhelmed with joy, my newly-pregnant body was quickly declining. I was diagnosed with a rare and serious complication of pregnancy at week 5, called Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG). I was uncontrollably vomiting and losing so much weight that I was forced to cease my part-time work as an Occupational Therapy Assistant, Massage Therapist, and Homeschool Teacher to Blaine. I became very ill because of my inability to keep liquids or solids down and my body became too weak and dehydrated to independently perform basic self-care tasks. My organs began to fail from malnourishment.
I have since been through quite a lot to sustain this precious life inside of me. I received full-time home healthcare for several months, including 24/7 IV treatments and a medicine pump inserted into my abdomen in an attempt to reduce the vomiting. Unfortunately my dehydrated veins would not withstand the IV needles any longer and my condition became increasingly worse by the day. My HG was crippling. I was then hospitalized and underwent the high risk “last resort” procedure of receiving a PICC line. I was immediately put on Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) which provided full medication and nutrition intravenously, similar to what a coma patient receives.
After several weeks of TPN, I began to make small improvements. Sadly, it was short lived. A sudden decline, high fever, disorientation, and convulsions sent me into the intensive care unit for a week. I had gone into septic shock from an unknown virulent systemic infection. We were told baby SAM and I were fortunate to have survived the attack.
Josh has been picking up as many extra shifts in his work as a Law Enforcement Officer to try to compensate for my lost work wages, childcare costs (I have been too ill to care for toddler Blaine), and the many pregnancy-related medical expenses. He has worked himself to the bone and comes home to be Nurse, Husband, Daddy, Errand-runner, Chef, Landscaper Extraordinaire, Chore-Master, and Boo-Boo fixer. He is our family hero in all aspects of the word.
We are truly humbled as we continue to seek God’s will while preparing our hearts, home, and finances to nurture and raise three children. We look forward to the day of finally holding our precious “twins,” Blaine meeting his two new siblings, and striving everyday to fulfill Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Although everyone may not feel the tug to adopt as the Boyer's do, anyone can be a part of this by giving towards their $20,000 goal! We, at Promise Love, want to help them reduce the financial burden so they can focus on getting these babies home. Thank you so much for being willing to open your hearts to them! All funds raised go directly to the Boyer's adoption fees. Promise Love Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization. All donations are tax deductible.
Help make their dreams come true and DONATE NOW
or by check to:
Promise Love Foundation
PO Box 47432
Tampa, FL 33646
**if donating by credit card there is a small processing fee
