Being a professional and a grandmother on staff at Abiding Love Adoptions, I have been a Christian for over 50 years and a Social Worker in some capacity for over 40 years. His love is the greatest gift in my life, and I live out my passion, purpose, and mission daily – changing the lives of others as a servant in His kingdom, with and by the power of His love – the greatest power ever known! 

Several earlier life experiences led me into Social Work – helping a childhood adopted friend find her birth family, living internationally with my military family, and arriving at then Craig Air Force base in Selma, Alabama three months before the movement, after living in a totally different world overseas. These experiences left me with a vision and desire to change the world of adoptions, demonstrate His love to all cultures and ethnicities, and fight injustice everywhere.

Later, I graduated from Troy University with a double major in Social Rehabilitation Services and Journalism, as well as a Masters in Social Work from the University of Alabama. I have served in almost every type of public child welfare social service program, including Adoptions, at all levels, including county, multi-state and federal. In one of those positions, while Director of two County Child Welfare Agencies, I met Carrie Murray Nellis, then Guardian-ad-litem for our children in Juvenile Court proceedings, and now founder, owner and Executive Director of Abiding Love Adoptions. We have always shared a heart and focus for the children, their birth mothers, and adoptive parents. I just didn’t know then how shared it would become one day…

In my personal life, my precious husband Kip Decker has been a naturalistic impressionistic artist for over 50 years and is recognized and published as one of America’s Top 200 Acrylic/Water Media Artists. As a blended family, we share five adult children and their families, including our hearts – 11 grandchildren! We are known as Lolli and Pop, and those grandparent roles fill our hearts with joy! 

Finally, after retirement from the government sector, a position opened at Abiding Love Adoptions. The sacred calling to go love big and well was clear. I could not say no to the only agency existing anywhere that honors everyone in the process – birthmothers, babies, and adoptive families. So here I am, surprisingly now the SC State Director of Abiding Love Adoptions and Birthmother Advocate. What a blessing and privilege to serve our Birthparents with such a team of dedicated team of professionals!

It was New Years Day of 1992. We had been blessed with 3 beautiful children and the youngest was almost 8 weeks old. The day turned tragic when our precious baby boy (John Jacob) went to sleep in his swing and never woke up. My husband and our two living children, Chad 7 and Tiffany 4, would spend the next year in intense grief asking God why he had allowed such a tragedy. At about the one-year mark, God clearly showed us we were to adopt. Within 3 months, we were leaving the hospital with a precious little bi-racial baby boy we named, Alex.

Meeting Alex’s birthmother at 7 months pregnant, I could tell she was already grieving the impending loss of her son. The attorney assured me that, since she chose (and trusts) us, her grief would soon be replaced with peace and comfort knowing that we were going to be very open. He was right. She did heal and gain peace (and even joy) in the coming months and years. A year later we adopted Natalie, who also has a precious birthmother.

I became a strong advocate for these young women. I Founded (and became Executive Director) my own adoption agency and ran it for nearly 30 years. I felt drawn to Abiding Love because I just wanted to get back to my first love… ministering to the heroic young women who make this unbelievable sacrifice for their child to have a loving and stable home and family. I fully intend to do that at Abiding Love Adoptions.