After 15 years of infertility, a firefighter and his wife received an answer to their prayers when he found a baby left at his fire station.
Many of us know the pain of waiting for something we deeply desire. We pray, we hope, and sometimes we wonder if God hears us. The story of Chris and Janae Martinez shows us that God hears every prayer, even when His answer comes in ways we never imagined.
The Day Everything Changed
On February 6, Chris was working at the Belen fire station when an alarm sounded from the Safe Haven Baby Box. Someone had placed a newborn inside the device, which allows people to surrender babies safely and anonymously.
With shaking hands, Chris called his wife.
“The first thing he said was, ‘I’m crying right now,'” Janae, 39, recalls.
The tiny baby boy, later named Mikel, was wrapped in a towel with his umbilical cord still attached. Weighing just 5 pounds, he was blue from cold and shivering.
“I knew the moment I laid eyes on him that I wanted to be his dad,” Chris says. “I was going to protect him.”
The timing could not have been more perfect. Just weeks earlier, Chris and Janae had received certification to become foster parents after years of hoping for a child.
A Fragile Beginning
Doctors rushed Mikel to UNM Health System, where they treated him for pneumonia and hypothermia in the neonatal intensive care unit.
“He was in rough shape,” Chris shares.
Two days later, the state approved the couple to visit baby Mikel in the hospital. For Janae, the connection was immediate.
“He was so fragile and I fell in love with him,” she says. “I gave him that first bottle and I just looked in his eyes and it was instant. I knew.”
Chris and Janae visited Mikel every day during his month-long hospital stay. Each visit strengthened their bond, but uncertainty loomed over them.
“That was hard because here we were getting attached and we didn’t even know if we were going to be his foster parents,” Janae explains.
From Firefighter to Father
For Chris, 44, the desire to become a father had been a constant presence, especially at work.
“We wanted it so badly,” Janae says, describing how Chris felt whenever other firefighters talked about their children.
“I already knew right away I’m going to do everything in my power to make this my son and be there for him,” Chris says. “And being that he was dropped at our fire station, I felt, like, a special connection to him.”
A Family Forms
Their prayers were answered when the state first approved them to foster Mikel. Then, on March 10, 2024, they officially adopted him. They gave him the middle name Gracen because, as Janae puts it, “we feel like the grace of God brought him to us.”
Today, Mikel is a thriving 13-month-old who loves pulling socks from drawers, dancing, asking for kisses – which he calls “besos” – and cuddling with his parents.
“He’s almost about to walk!” Chris says proudly.
Even in their joy, Chris and Janae remain thankful to Mikel’s birth mother for her difficult decision.
“What she did for Mikel was so brave and selfless,” Janae says. “We want her to know that we are going to give Mikel the best life – the life that he deserves. He’s such an amazing kid.”
Hope After Waiting
For 15 years, Chris and Janae carried the weight of infertility, never knowing if they would become parents.
“I just remember the feeling of not knowing if we’ll ever become parents, or not knowing if I would ever become a mom, because that’s all you dream about, is just being parents and being a mom,” Janae told KOB4.
Their journey shows that families form in many ways, sometimes through paths we never expected to travel.
God’s Perfect Timing
Looking back, the couple sees God’s hand in every detail. Had they received their foster certification any later, they might not have been ready for Mikel. Had the baby been left at another fire station, they might never have met.
Instead, on that cold February night, a firefighter who longed to be a father was present when a newborn needed love and protection.
A Message of Hope
If you’re waiting for your prayer to be answered today, remember that God sees you. The Martinez family waited 15 years before holding their son. Their story teaches us that sometimes our greatest blessings arrive in unexpected places and moments.
God’s timing may not match our schedule, but His plans are worth the wait. Just as He brought Mikel to Chris and Janae at exactly the right moment, He is working in your life too, preparing blessings you can’t yet imagine.
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