A Decade of Faithfulness: An Adoption Story
Some stories don’t begin where you’d expect them to. For Melissa and Kendal Burwell, theirs began in one of the hardest moments of their lives.
In 2015, the Burwells lost their son Lucas at just three months old due to a congenital heart defect. On the drive home from the hospital, wrapped in grief, Melissa told Kendal something she felt stirring deep in her heart: “I remember telling my husband that I felt like we were supposed to adopt someday,” Melissa said.
It wasn’t a fully formed plan. It was a seed, planted in the middle of sorrow, that she couldn’t shake. Kendal didn’t understand it yet, but Melissa held onto it anyway.
Day by day, the Burwells continued to care for their children Matthew, Erik, and Emma, and held Lucas close in their hearts from Heaven. The years passed, but the pull toward adoption never left Melissa’s heart. “I continued to feel God calling our family toward adoption, even though I had no idea what that would look like,” Melissa said.
Then in 2023, Kendal had an experience that opened his heart to adoption too. “God spoke to me … and said, this is what I want you to do. I’ve provided and given you more than you need,” Kendal shared. Soon after, on the drive to a Christmas Eve service, Kendal surprised Melissa by sharing that he, too, had been feeling the same tug towards adoption. In that moment, something shifted. What had been two internal callings became one shared mission, and their journey to grow their family began again.
The Burwells began researching adoption, and they quickly found that many agencies focus on finding homes for infants, and that private adoption was a costly process. It felt discouraging at first. But a friend of Melissa’s from work, someone who had fostered through Coyote Hill, encouraged her to consider foster care.
“The more we learned, the more we felt like this was exactly where God was leading us. There are so many children who need safe, loving homes, and we felt called to be one of those homes,” Melissa said.
Once they began walking with Coyote Hill, they completed training classes, provided respite care for a couple of children, and began to settle into the rhythm of what this journey looked like.
“From the beginning, Coyote Hill stood out because of the support they provide to foster families. As we went through training, we never felt like we were expected to do this alone,” Melissa shared.
As they waited, they hoped to welcome a child around five to seven years old, feeling ready to move past the infant stage. Then came a phone call that changed everything.
Emma Rawlings, a Coyote Hill Family Advocate at the time, reached out to ask the Burwells if they would welcome a five-month-old baby named Kason. It wasn’t the plan they’d imagined, but after prayerful consideration, they said yes.
A few weeks later, they received confirmation that Kason was coming. They had just one weekend to transform a room in their home into a nursery, but they were eager and ready. Coyote Hill showed up, providing diapers, essential supplies, and steady support. The goal was simple: help the Burwells welcome Kason with abundance and joy. On August 28, 2024, Kason arrived.
“From the very beginning, Kason fit into our family so naturally. We immediately fell in love with this happy, innocent, chunky little boy,” Melissa shared.
One of the sweetest moments came when Melissa and Kendal introduced Kason to their daughter Emma, who has Down Syndrome.
“She instantly fell in love with him. The way she looked at him, cared for him, and wanted to help with him was incredibly special to watch,” Melissa said.
And yet, even in the middle of so much joy, the challenges of foster care were also present. The Burwells loved Kason fully while holding the reality that reunification with his birth mother was the goal. They attended visits, court hearings, and all the moving pieces of the foster care process, supporting what was best for him even when it was emotionally difficult. Through all of it, Emma and another Coyote Hill Family Advocate Jaimee Marshman were right there, walking alongside them every step of the way.
“I met the Burwells the day they welcomed Kason into their home. He was a happy little redhead surrounded by Melissa, Kendal, and their daughter, Emma. You could tell he was going to be well-loved in their home.”
“More than anything, [Emma and Jaimee] made us feel like we weren’t doing this alone. Foster care can feel overwhelming at times and having people who genuinely care about both the children and the foster families makes all the difference,” Melissa said.
The unknowns were many, but with each day, the possibility of adoption grew. As avenues to reunification grew slimmer, the Burwells found themselves holding onto more hope and excitement that Kason would soon be theirs forever.
Then, after nearly two years of praying, trusting, and hoping, it all came together in one moment. On February 9, 2026, Kason’s adoption was finalized. The Burwells knew, without question: this was their son.
“When I got to put my name on the legal documents and make it official, that child of mine, it was the same as watching my kids come into this world,” Kendal shared.
“What started as a small feeling in my heart after losing Lucas became a journey that unfolded over more than a decade. Looking back, we can see God’s hand in so many moments: my husband’s change of heart, learning about foster care, getting that unexpected phone call about a baby we never planned for,” Melissa described.
The Burwells will tell you that trusting God’s plan, even when it looks nothing like your own, is incredibly special. Their faith grew deeper. Their family grew stronger. And it all began with a quiet nudge on a grief-filled drive home.
“It’s perfectly fine to be worried and doubt, but if you’ve gone down this path to start getting licensed, God’s got things in his hands… if you’re being called to do it, you’ve got to trust the Lord,” Kendal said in encouragement to others.
We are so grateful to foster families like the Burwell family who show that saying “yes” can be the beginning of a beautiful journey.
