It seems that the holidays are always the time when we hear some of the most precious stories of the year. While many people seem to get burdened under the weight of choosing the perfect gift, one 10-year-old boy received the most touching early Christmas gifts that you will ever see! Thankfully his mother Stacy Lindsay of Iowa recorded the 2018 Christmas moment for us to enjoy.
There is always some type of sibling rivalry within a family. Siblings may not get along perfectly, or they may spend time vying for the attention of their parents. Kids may see their younger siblings as clingy during earlier years.
However, as most siblings grow, they learn to foster a relationship that calls a truce to any previous squabbles as they learn to become friends instead of just siblings. There was no case of sibling rivalry for 10-year-old Owynn Lindsay.
In fact, he has been asking his parents for a younger sister and brother for years. He even added a sibling to his Christmas wish in 2017, hoping Santa could nudge the process along.
Owynn’s parents, Adam and Stacey Lindsay, who are from Iowa, had a sibling for him on their Christmas list as well. They always wanted a second child. Stacey was one of 14 kids in her family, and both she and her husband wanted Owynn to have at least one sibling to grow up with. However, the process wasn’t going as planned as the couple struggled with infertility. Thankfully for them, one woman would be showing up in their lives and changing it for the btter.
“For seven years my husband, Adam, and I have battled the infertility war,” Stacey wrote on Love What Matters. “We started our family back in 2007 when our first child, Owynn, was born. We always wanted at least two children. I grew up in a very large, tight-knit family. I had 14 siblings, so I knew how important a sibling would be to Owynn.”
The couple had suffered through five difficult miscarriages before trying in-vitro. That process was unsuccessful. The couple then turned to the idea of becoming foster parents. They quickly realized how heartbreaking it would be to bring a child into their home, only to have to give that child up after loving and nurturing the child for a period of time.
Stacey continued: “But after five miscarriages and unsuccessful in vitro, we surrendered our journey to God. We thought we would try and do foster care. Owynn was asking for a sibling, adding it to his Christmas list to Santa, and asking a lot of questions. He and I had a lot of deep conversations about how sometimes God doesn’t always answer our prayers exactly how we intend him to.”
They decided it was in the best interest of their family to forgo the route of becoming foster parents, much to Owynn’s dismay.
“After my husband and I took an introduction to foster care class we knew foster care was not a good fit for our family at that time,” she explained. “We knew the goal of fostering was to place that child back with his or her family, and our hearts were too sensitive — we knew that part may be extremely hard for our family. My son was heartbroken.”
Stacey and Adam soon met a young woman named Kendra. She was pregnant and seeking to put her baby up to be adopted. Kendra selected Stacey and Adam to adopt her baby. However, the couple knew that the process would be a long one.
“In June (2017) by the grace of God we were introduced to an amazing young woman, Kendra, who wanted to place her baby for adoption. We knew it was a one in a million chance she would pick us, but our prayers were answered” Stacey shared. “We kept the whole situation from our 10-year-old son knowing that the chances were high the birth mom may change her mind. We already knew his feelings on becoming a sibling, and we knew we couldn’t get his hopes up again just to crush his heart.”
They held off on delivering the possible news to Owynn, knowing that Kendra could always change her mind. Thankfully for the family, she did not and the dream that the family had was about to come true.
“I was there to witness her birth along with Kendra’s sister,” Stacey recalled. “Adam and some of Kendra’s family waited outside. When Adam came in to meet Naylee for the first time I saw his eyes light up, something I had only saw one other time — when Owynn was born.”
“We stayed in the hospital with Naylee and didn’t leave her side until Kendra gave us permission to take her home,” she added. On December 8th, 2017, the couple officially took home baby Naylee Kenmyn Rayn Lindsay.
When Owynn arrived home from school that day, he found an incredible surprise. “So we are waiting for Owynn to come through the door,” Stacey is heard saying in the video. “We have something or him. He has no idea but he is getting an early Christmas present.” When Owynn ran to the porch, he was surprised to see his parents home so early. “We came home early!” Stacey exclaimed. “We have something for you.” His parents tell him that they got him an early Christmas present and that it is waiting for him under their Christmas tree.
Little Naylee was bundled up in a baby seat under the Christmas tree. “Do you know what that is? Read her shirt,” Stacey said to Owynn.
As Owynn looked down at her shirt, he saw that it had the words Little Sister on it. The young boy was incredibly joyful as he held his new baby sister for the first time.
“Is that awesome or what?” Stacey asks Owynn, and he nodded yes. He then proceeds to sweetly hug his parents for the wonderful gift. “Thank you,” he tells them, while tearing up. You just know he is going to be an awesome big brother to Naylee!
“We are absolutely in love,” Stacey wrote. “At times we still just look at her and can’t believe how blessed we are. We knew God played a role in all of this. He gave us trials to test our faith. In his time, he gave us what we had always prayed for, our sweet Naylee Kenmyn Rayn.”