When Cole Dickerson’s phone buzzed at work, the message was short but loaded: “Babe, will you seriously pray and think about something?!” He knew immediately this was not one of those casual texts about what to eat for dinner. His heart pounded. His wife, Jordan, had something big on her mind.
Jordan worked at a children’s hospital in Memphis, where heartbreak and hope walked the same hallways. She had met a little boy there who wasn’t sick like most of her patients. He wasn’t there because of a medical condition, but because he didn’t have a family to care for him. To Jordan, that fact alone was crushing. She couldn’t shake the image of his smile, laughter, and tiny hands searching for belonging.
Cole and Jordan had always talked about adoption. It was one of those “someday” conversations that you tuck away while you focus on marriage, careers, and life plans. But now, with one text message, “someday” felt like today. They prayed, they cried, and they began the long process of foster parent classes, paperwork, and endless acronyms. The system was complicated. DCS officials reminded them that adopting a specific child without any family ties was nearly impossible. Cole and Jordan both admitted it would take nothing short of a miracle.
And then, life threw them a curveball. While they were knee-deep in classes and dreaming of what might be, another couple began fostering the little boy. Cole described it like getting the wind knocked out of them. They had already built an invisible bond with him in their hearts, and suddenly, someone else was tucking him in at night. The loss stung, but they stayed the course.
They told themselves this was preparation, that the right child would come one day. That’s when the miracle showed up. Two weeks later, on their first anniversary trip, Jordan got a phone call from her hospital. The little boy, Jeremiah, had been brought back due to medical needs. The couple fostering him wasn’t able to continue. Cole and Jordan sat in shock. Deep down, they cried in disbelief and knew this was the moment they had been waiting for. God’s timing, they felt, had opened a door they thought was already closed.
When they returned from their trip, they met with Jeremiah’s social worker, who wanted to ensure they were serious about the foster-to-adopt journey. They jumped through every hoop, filled out every form, and attended every class. By June 2017, Jeremiah walked through their front door and into their arms. On the porch was a sign that said “Welcome Home.” It was not just decoration. It was a declaration.
A year later, on July 16, 2018, the adoption became official. The courtroom became their sacred ground, the place where the boy who had captured Jordan’s heart at the hospital was declared, legally and forever, their son. The pictures from that day say it all—Jeremiah on his dad’s shoulders, arms raised high, a child who had found his forever family. And then came another twist. In April that year, Jeremiah prayed one night before bed, thanking God for his mommy, daddy, and baby sister who would be here in a couple of weeks. Cole and Jordan exchanged glances. A baby sister? Not exactly how things worked. But a few weeks later, a test confirmed it. Jordan was pregnant. And yes, Jeremiah was right. It was a baby girl.
Looking back, Cole calls it nothing short of a miracle adoption story. The odds were stacked against them, making the system messy and confusing. Their hearts broke when another family stepped in. Yet, in the end, the pieces came together in ways they never could have orchestrated themselves. Cole doesn’t focus on the challenges when he talks about his life. He talks about gratitude—how thankful he and Jordan are to be a family, about how Jeremiah, once just a little boy without a home, became their son, joy, and proof that miracles still happen.
