October 25, 2022 • 10 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, we hear the story of how one childless married couple of 13 years became a family of 9, literally, overnight.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
This is our American stories. And this is the story
of how a Florida couple kept seven siblings, four brothers
and three sisters, ages twelve to four together that were
separated throughout four different foster homes. Sophia and DeShawn Olds,
both thirty three, got married in two thousand and four,
and they admit that as newlyweds, they were too busy
(00:34):
with schooling and serving in the military, both veterans who
served overseas in Iraq, to think about starting a family.
This is the story of how one childless, married couple
of thirteen years became a family of nine literally overnight.
(00:57):
We thought like we would never ever get adopted. But
I thought this was like a really good blessing for us.
But I never actually had a moment and Dad undo
city roof. But it feels great. It's late neighbo, like
a half of something like peanut butter and jelly. Hello.
(01:18):
I'm DeShawn Ows and I'm Sophia Olds, and we would
like to tell you about our process, our story of adoption.
We have always wanted to adopt. We've been married for
about thirteen years now, and it had always been in
our plans to adopt and to have biological children. We
(01:41):
actually took the classes in two thousand and six and
we're prepared to adopt a child. However, we couldn't agree
upon in age, so we postponed it. Got busy with life,
enjoying life, continuing in our careers in college, military, US, traveling.
(02:01):
We just were enjoying life. We were having a wonderful
time together with family, with friends. I know a lot
of people probably wondering question, why is it that they
don't have biological children. It just never happened for us.
In twenty thirteen, I took pregnancy tests and the test
(02:26):
came back positive, and it was the scariest thing to me.
I cried and I cried and I cried because I
wasn't ready to be a mother. I know that being
a mother is one of the most important jobs, number
one in this world, and I guess I felt like
(02:48):
I wasn't ready to do that, that I couldn't be
that yet. And a couple of days later, I missed carried.
It was confirmed by the doctors and I had miscarried,
And again I felt another form of sadness, because you know,
(03:11):
a child that we would have, we no longer would have.
Even though we were early on in our pregnancy, it
was it was still devastating for me. No, I hadn't
felt the baby kick, I hadn't felt the baby move,
but it was devastating. But again we continue life. Also,
(03:32):
we were very active in our local church, so we
were active in my husband is the youth pastor children's
church ages. What four to twelve always been a part
of my life, just to help out with children the church.
And I guess one thing but we always did is
that every time we gave our offering, who had on
(03:56):
the back of it adopt a child on there. And
then it was just no surprise that the story came
out the day I Thanksgiving and the day I thank You.
What most people are doing shopping, how we are shopping
and we saw the story on Facebook, these seven children
(04:16):
who needed a home. It was home for the holidays.
And one scripture just came in my mind is that
in my father's house, as many rooms and I go,
prepare a place for you. And in the lowest prayer,
we do things on earth as it is in heaven.
So we had a space to truly be to open
our home for seven children, and we knew that we
(04:39):
had everything that these children needed. They needed a mother,
a father, They needed stability, structure, discipline with us having military,
they needed love, they needed care. My husband being a teacher,
me and being in social work, having those skills, the
spiritual background, everything. We were just putting our our whole
(05:00):
hope and our whole trust, in all of our dreams
and our ambitions in our life in his hands. We
were surrendering all when we decided to adopt our seven children. Yeah,
and once we put our faith out there, it's amazing
how God works it out. These sis. I've been serving
at Ruth for high school. Their parents canadod gut said
what can we do? What can we do? They did
everything from bringing furniture to build bump beds, to donate
(05:26):
sports equipment, to donate groceries. One parent is a farmer
and truly just slaughter a pig for us, so we
have sausage, bacon and everything else. And also our families.
A day hasn't gone by that they haven't asked us
or given to us, whether it be snacks for the
(05:47):
children to take to school, whether it be cooking up
a big pot of lama beings helping out, cooking food,
getting the children off the bus when we both have
to work, picking oranges, whatever it is, any extra that
they have had, anything that they could give, whether it
be five dollars, We have had that outpouring from our families,
(06:09):
from both sides. We have had that from complete strangers
that live thousands and thousands of miles away. It has
been no stress, no struggle at all. And I do
believe that that goes back to us doing the will
of God to help build his kingdom, to provide a
home for as the Bible caused them orphans. You know
(06:33):
that is something that the Bible states we should do, yes,
and James one twenty seven, it's a true religion is
to take care of the orphans, and we all know
that it's more blessed to give than to receive. If
we were allowed to adopt these seven children, we would
do it. We would work every day of our lives
(06:54):
to make sure that they are cared for. And I
think suppost important too, is for them to see in
to have an example of what it's like to have
a father who is the head of the household, who
has a strong faith and belief in God, and who
can teach them who can lead the family. And I
(07:15):
know that they enjoy that. I know that they feel
privileged and proud to know that their dad is up
there teaching them. You can see the smiles on their face,
and they enjoy talking about it. Afterwards. They ask lots
of questions. So that whole aspect has been wonderful to
have him up front teaching our children about God, about
(07:40):
the things that they should do in life, to be saints,
to be good children, to grow up to be successful.
Ye and ilady, just think for them my spiritual fathers,
because I did not have a biological father involved in
my life, but my special fathers from my pastors, to
(08:00):
different men in my church to help so me the
way right there. And I can just use that to
in part, not to my children about all the children
I'm minister to on a weekly basis. So I think
it's important to know that in this story of adoption,
I am not called to be a minister, to be
(08:21):
behind a poolpit, to preach out a church, to be
a pastor. But I know that this is my calling
that God has placed in my life, and I am
embracing it. I am enjoying it and That's why I
can say that I am not stressed because it is
something that we are doing, that we are supposed to do,
so it makes it so much easier. Does it require
(08:44):
a lot from us, a lot of time, a lot
of correction that we have to do, but it is
also worth it, every part of it. This is what
we're supposed to do in life. These seven children are
our calling to be their mother and their father, and
(09:05):
we take it just as serious as if it was
a pastor over a church or a CEO over a business.
This is us, a manager over a team. This is us.
This is what we are called to do. And we
give him all the praise of glory the honor for
it because without him, we would not be able to
do this, and we are doing it. And that is
(09:28):
our story, and what a story it was. And thanks
Greg for doing that, and thank you Sophia and Deshaun
Olds for recording that and for doing what you did.
It's an inspiration and it was their faith. Of course,
the fruits are their faith. And by the way, NBC's
Today's Show, ABC News, Inside Edition, Miami Heraldparents dot Com
(09:52):
and people they all did this story, but they somehow
managed to leave the faith walk of this couple out
of the story. And just a few things they said.
And it was Sophia who said this, once you put
your faith out there, it's amazing how God works it out.
And in came the food, and in came the help
(10:13):
from the family members. In came all that love. True
religion is to take care of the orphans. And if
more Christians in this great country did what this young
couple did, my goodness, we could solve a lot of
problems in our country. This is our American story. Sophia
and DaShan holds his story, and those seven kids they
(10:34):
adopted their stories too.
This is our American stories. And this is the story
of how a Florida couple kept seven siblings, four brothers
and three sisters, ages twelve to four together that were
separated throughout four different foster homes. Sophia and DeShawn Olds,
both thirty three, got married in two thousand and four,
and they admit that as newlyweds, they were too busy
(00:34):
with schooling and serving in the military, both veterans who
served overseas in Iraq, to think about starting a family.
This is the story of how one childless, married couple
of thirteen years became a family of nine literally overnight.
(00:57):
We thought like we would never ever get adopted. But
I thought this was like a really good blessing for us.
But I never actually had a moment and Dad undo
city roof. But it feels great. It's late neighbo, like
a half of something like peanut butter and jelly. Hello.
(01:18):
I'm DeShawn Ows and I'm Sophia Olds, and we would
like to tell you about our process, our story of adoption.
We have always wanted to adopt. We've been married for
about thirteen years now, and it had always been in
our plans to adopt and to have biological children. We
(01:41):
actually took the classes in two thousand and six and
we're prepared to adopt a child. However, we couldn't agree
upon in age, so we postponed it. Got busy with life,
enjoying life, continuing in our careers in college, military, US, traveling.
(02:01):
We just were enjoying life. We were having a wonderful
time together with family, with friends. I know a lot
of people probably wondering question, why is it that they
don't have biological children. It just never happened for us.
In twenty thirteen, I took pregnancy tests and the test
(02:26):
came back positive, and it was the scariest thing to me.
I cried and I cried and I cried because I
wasn't ready to be a mother. I know that being
a mother is one of the most important jobs, number
one in this world, and I guess I felt like
(02:48):
I wasn't ready to do that, that I couldn't be
that yet. And a couple of days later, I missed carried.
It was confirmed by the doctors and I had miscarried,
And again I felt another form of sadness, because you know,
(03:11):
a child that we would have, we no longer would have.
Even though we were early on in our pregnancy, it
was it was still devastating for me. No, I hadn't
felt the baby kick, I hadn't felt the baby move,
but it was devastating. But again we continue life. Also,
(03:32):
we were very active in our local church, so we
were active in my husband is the youth pastor children's
church ages. What four to twelve always been a part
of my life, just to help out with children the church.
And I guess one thing but we always did is
that every time we gave our offering, who had on
(03:56):
the back of it adopt a child on there. And
then it was just no surprise that the story came
out the day I Thanksgiving and the day I thank You.
What most people are doing shopping, how we are shopping
and we saw the story on Facebook, these seven children
(04:16):
who needed a home. It was home for the holidays.
And one scripture just came in my mind is that
in my father's house, as many rooms and I go,
prepare a place for you. And in the lowest prayer,
we do things on earth as it is in heaven.
So we had a space to truly be to open
our home for seven children, and we knew that we
(04:39):
had everything that these children needed. They needed a mother,
a father, They needed stability, structure, discipline with us having military,
they needed love, they needed care. My husband being a teacher,
me and being in social work, having those skills, the
spiritual background, everything. We were just putting our our whole
(05:00):
hope and our whole trust, in all of our dreams
and our ambitions in our life in his hands. We
were surrendering all when we decided to adopt our seven children. Yeah,
and once we put our faith out there, it's amazing
how God works it out. These sis. I've been serving
at Ruth for high school. Their parents canadod gut said
what can we do? What can we do? They did
everything from bringing furniture to build bump beds, to donate
(05:26):
sports equipment, to donate groceries. One parent is a farmer
and truly just slaughter a pig for us, so we
have sausage, bacon and everything else. And also our families.
A day hasn't gone by that they haven't asked us
or given to us, whether it be snacks for the
(05:47):
children to take to school, whether it be cooking up
a big pot of lama beings helping out, cooking food,
getting the children off the bus when we both have
to work, picking oranges, whatever it is, any extra that
they have had, anything that they could give, whether it
be five dollars, We have had that outpouring from our families,
(06:09):
from both sides. We have had that from complete strangers
that live thousands and thousands of miles away. It has
been no stress, no struggle at all. And I do
believe that that goes back to us doing the will
of God to help build his kingdom, to provide a
home for as the Bible caused them orphans. You know
(06:33):
that is something that the Bible states we should do, yes,
and James one twenty seven, it's a true religion is
to take care of the orphans, and we all know
that it's more blessed to give than to receive. If
we were allowed to adopt these seven children, we would
do it. We would work every day of our lives
(06:54):
to make sure that they are cared for. And I
think suppost important too, is for them to see in
to have an example of what it's like to have
a father who is the head of the household, who
has a strong faith and belief in God, and who
can teach them who can lead the family. And I
(07:15):
know that they enjoy that. I know that they feel
privileged and proud to know that their dad is up
there teaching them. You can see the smiles on their face,
and they enjoy talking about it. Afterwards. They ask lots
of questions. So that whole aspect has been wonderful to
have him up front teaching our children about God, about
(07:40):
the things that they should do in life, to be saints,
to be good children, to grow up to be successful.
Ye and ilady, just think for them my spiritual fathers,
because I did not have a biological father involved in
my life, but my special fathers from my pastors, to
(08:00):
different men in my church to help so me the
way right there. And I can just use that to
in part, not to my children about all the children
I'm minister to on a weekly basis. So I think
it's important to know that in this story of adoption,
I am not called to be a minister, to be
(08:21):
behind a poolpit, to preach out a church, to be
a pastor. But I know that this is my calling
that God has placed in my life, and I am
embracing it. I am enjoying it and That's why I
can say that I am not stressed because it is
something that we are doing, that we are supposed to do,
so it makes it so much easier. Does it require
(08:44):
a lot from us, a lot of time, a lot
of correction that we have to do, but it is
also worth it, every part of it. This is what
we're supposed to do in life. These seven children are
our calling to be their mother and their father, and
(09:05):
we take it just as serious as if it was
a pastor over a church or a CEO over a business.
This is us, a manager over a team. This is us.
This is what we are called to do. And we
give him all the praise of glory the honor for
it because without him, we would not be able to
do this, and we are doing it. And that is
(09:28):
our story, and what a story it was. And thanks
Greg for doing that, and thank you Sophia and Deshaun
Olds for recording that and for doing what you did.
It's an inspiration and it was their faith. Of course,
the fruits are their faith. And by the way, NBC's
Today's Show, ABC News, Inside Edition, Miami Heraldparents dot Com
(09:52):
and people they all did this story, but they somehow
managed to leave the faith walk of this couple out
of the story. And just a few things they said.
And it was Sophia who said this, once you put
your faith out there, it's amazing how God works it out.
And in came the food, and in came the help
(10:13):
from the family members. In came all that love. True
religion is to take care of the orphans. And if
more Christians in this great country did what this young
couple did, my goodness, we could solve a lot of
problems in our country. This is our American story. Sophia
and DaShan holds his story, and those seven kids they
(10:34):
adopted their stories too.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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