Tomorrow, we get to meet the little ones we have spent the past 3+ years preparing for. (Did you know we had our first meeting with our adoption agency the same month the twins were born?!) There are so many thoughts and emotions swirling inside me that I'm simply overwhelmed.
As we get ready for this long awaited day, we have a few requests. By Colombia adoption law we will not be permitted to share pictures of them for at least 2 more weeks in any public forum. We know you are excited to see them. We are excited to share them with you but we will be respecting these laws.
Please do not ask for details regarding their background. Their story is important but it is their story. If they want to share it with the world, we want that to be their choice. We are thankful for their birth mother, grandmother, and foster family and desire to honor them in any way we can.
Do not be surprised if we do not respond to texts, calls, messages, or social media tomorrow. We desire to be present in every way possible. We have waited a long time for this day.
Right now, returning home still feel as far away however, when we do please be understanding that we are still bonding. So not ask to hold our children. Do not hug or kids them. Do not offer them food. These are all very important pieces to establishing us as their providers and care takers. These bonds are essential.
And finally please Pray with us and for us. We have dreamt about this day for so long. We know God has gone before us and prepared the way for us.
"God sets the lonely in families." Psalm 68:6
Showing posts with label pray. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pray. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Day 5
We have been pretty real, raw, and honest so far. When I started writing our journey #1 it was more about me than you (sorry). Writing helps new process. #2 I promised that it wouldn't just be a highlight reel. If you were going to stick with us through this process, you were going to get everything. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
I don't see any reason to stop that now. Day 5 had some of all 3. We woke up with hopes of our Meeting Day being scheduled for the afternoon. We thought only 1 more person had to confirm in order to make that happen. That was not the case. Our legal two Sara was very quickly at ICBF advocating for both us and our children.
Over the weekend a new secretary of the committee was put into office. As often happens in the US, when someone gets a new job, things were not immediately communicated. A few other people at the regional office needed to send things to or communicate with the SoC yet failed to do so.
This is where our legal rep shines. She really is incredible! She made over a dozen phone calls and spent many hours at ICBF fighting for us. She made sure all the right paperwork ended up in the hands of the right people. And when they tried to delay is another 9 days she refused citing what is in the best interest of our children.
Through all of this she communicated openly via text, voice message, and calls. She was straight forward and honest yet sensitive and compassionate. After dealing with all of this she also rearranged our hotel stays and scheduled our hired drivers. I'm my opinion she is basically super woman.
So Tuesday, she will take the twins along with their roster mother to the doctor in order to keep our timeline on track. Then Wednesday morning at 830 am local time we will be united with our children. As you can imagine, this momma is counting the minutes until then.
Tuesday our main priorities are rest and preparation for Wednesday. We are both a bit sunburnt and a bit worn out.
Pray for our physical well being.
Pray for our twins as they go to the doctor today.
Pray for understanding and bonding as we finally meet tomorrow.
Pray for their roster family. They have raised these little ones for 3 years. Tomorrow will be hard but we are so thankful for them.
Pray for our legal rep Sara. She is working so hard. I can not imagine doing this without her.
Finally thank you for all the extractive prayed thus far. We wouldn't be here without our awesome tribe!
Love, peace, and hope from Colombia.
I don't see any reason to stop that now. Day 5 had some of all 3. We woke up with hopes of our Meeting Day being scheduled for the afternoon. We thought only 1 more person had to confirm in order to make that happen. That was not the case. Our legal two Sara was very quickly at ICBF advocating for both us and our children.
Over the weekend a new secretary of the committee was put into office. As often happens in the US, when someone gets a new job, things were not immediately communicated. A few other people at the regional office needed to send things to or communicate with the SoC yet failed to do so.
This is where our legal rep shines. She really is incredible! She made over a dozen phone calls and spent many hours at ICBF fighting for us. She made sure all the right paperwork ended up in the hands of the right people. And when they tried to delay is another 9 days she refused citing what is in the best interest of our children.
Through all of this she communicated openly via text, voice message, and calls. She was straight forward and honest yet sensitive and compassionate. After dealing with all of this she also rearranged our hotel stays and scheduled our hired drivers. I'm my opinion she is basically super woman.
So Tuesday, she will take the twins along with their roster mother to the doctor in order to keep our timeline on track. Then Wednesday morning at 830 am local time we will be united with our children. As you can imagine, this momma is counting the minutes until then.
Tuesday our main priorities are rest and preparation for Wednesday. We are both a bit sunburnt and a bit worn out.
Pray for our physical well being.
Pray for our twins as they go to the doctor today.
Pray for understanding and bonding as we finally meet tomorrow.
Pray for their roster family. They have raised these little ones for 3 years. Tomorrow will be hard but we are so thankful for them.
Pray for our legal rep Sara. She is working so hard. I can not imagine doing this without her.
Finally thank you for all the extractive prayed thus far. We wouldn't be here without our awesome tribe!
Love, peace, and hope from Colombia.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
We just got a letter...
Does anyone remember that little jingle from Blues Clues? Every time the mail came it was super exciting. I remember mail being like this as a child, too. I would get the mail with my Mom after getting off the bus. Our dog had even been trained to carry the stack to the house.
As I got older, mail got a whole lot less exciting. Usually a trip to the mail box means bills, catalogs, and junk I don't care about. This was not the case yesterday. When I got home, Tyler had already gotten the mail. It was stacked in the kitchen. I started with packages because they are typically more fun, and he had sent me a text about them earlier. Package number one - cloth diapers! I ordered these about a month ago so I was happy to open them and see such great colors and quality. Package number two - the amazing video monitor system my parents ordered for us for the twins room! We debated whether this investment would be worth while, but after talking to a few moms, we decided it was worth it (and they got a great deal).
I thought this was the end of all the fun. Then Tyler said, "Oh and we got a letter from Homeland Security." In a normal situation this would probably not be good. I knew it would go one of two ways. They could be requesting more information for our file...but that wasn't the case.
WE HAVE BEEN APPROVED! (By Immigration in the US).
So the ominous question is...what's next? Well the easy answer is: our dossier. But most of you have no idea what that means. So...a dossier is a file that will contain about 50 pages give or take. It is a representation of who we are, why we want to adopt, and why we are qualified to do so. It has lots of legal forms, our completed homestudy, reference letters, and even pictures of both us and our home. This file all has to be notarized, certified, and apostilled. So if any one is wondering what I am doing with my free time, read that paragraph again.
When that is done, we will get our official referral file. That will include more information regarding their background, current foster home, medical files, and sizes. We are patiently (or impatiently depending on the day) awaiting this information. After this we will be given our travel dates. Please pray that we can travel in February. We very much want to celebrate the twins birthday with them. We are on track for that to be a possibility.
On a practical level, we also have had a great week! I found some incredible black friday deals on car seats! We saved a few hundred dollars. Additionally we got a good deal on a luggage set. I have also connected with a mom who has out grown the sizes we need. Being able to purchase gently used clothing in great condition has been a huge blessing! We believe all our major physical needs for the kids have been met. I am sure things will come up once they are home, but we feel physically ready to bring them home.
This also means all our extra funds can be spent paying off debt and paying adoption related costs. We are one-third of the way to being fully funded. We feel incredibly blessed to be part of this journey and see the ways God is providing. Please pray along with us that he will continue to provide in whatever ways He sees fit. I have filled out many grant applications and would love to see some of those to provide for the next part of our journey.
Please also pray that God continues to prepare hearts. You never reach adoption without loss. Pray for the hearts of our children's birth family. Pray for their foster family and community. Pray for our family. Pray for Tyler and I as we prepare for big changes. Pray for our community as they wrap around us during this transition. Pray for our twins. Hope is coming, even if they don't know it yet.
As I got older, mail got a whole lot less exciting. Usually a trip to the mail box means bills, catalogs, and junk I don't care about. This was not the case yesterday. When I got home, Tyler had already gotten the mail. It was stacked in the kitchen. I started with packages because they are typically more fun, and he had sent me a text about them earlier. Package number one - cloth diapers! I ordered these about a month ago so I was happy to open them and see such great colors and quality. Package number two - the amazing video monitor system my parents ordered for us for the twins room! We debated whether this investment would be worth while, but after talking to a few moms, we decided it was worth it (and they got a great deal).
I thought this was the end of all the fun. Then Tyler said, "Oh and we got a letter from Homeland Security." In a normal situation this would probably not be good. I knew it would go one of two ways. They could be requesting more information for our file...but that wasn't the case.
WE HAVE BEEN APPROVED! (By Immigration in the US).
So the ominous question is...what's next? Well the easy answer is: our dossier. But most of you have no idea what that means. So...a dossier is a file that will contain about 50 pages give or take. It is a representation of who we are, why we want to adopt, and why we are qualified to do so. It has lots of legal forms, our completed homestudy, reference letters, and even pictures of both us and our home. This file all has to be notarized, certified, and apostilled. So if any one is wondering what I am doing with my free time, read that paragraph again.
When that is done, we will get our official referral file. That will include more information regarding their background, current foster home, medical files, and sizes. We are patiently (or impatiently depending on the day) awaiting this information. After this we will be given our travel dates. Please pray that we can travel in February. We very much want to celebrate the twins birthday with them. We are on track for that to be a possibility.
On a practical level, we also have had a great week! I found some incredible black friday deals on car seats! We saved a few hundred dollars. Additionally we got a good deal on a luggage set. I have also connected with a mom who has out grown the sizes we need. Being able to purchase gently used clothing in great condition has been a huge blessing! We believe all our major physical needs for the kids have been met. I am sure things will come up once they are home, but we feel physically ready to bring them home.
This also means all our extra funds can be spent paying off debt and paying adoption related costs. We are one-third of the way to being fully funded. We feel incredibly blessed to be part of this journey and see the ways God is providing. Please pray along with us that he will continue to provide in whatever ways He sees fit. I have filled out many grant applications and would love to see some of those to provide for the next part of our journey.
Please also pray that God continues to prepare hearts. You never reach adoption without loss. Pray for the hearts of our children's birth family. Pray for their foster family and community. Pray for our family. Pray for Tyler and I as we prepare for big changes. Pray for our community as they wrap around us during this transition. Pray for our twins. Hope is coming, even if they don't know it yet.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
We waited...
The past few weeks have been quite a roller-coaster. Those close to us have walked with us through pain, heart ache, excitement, and joy. They have cried with us, prayed with us, waited with us, and jumped for joy with us.
About 6 weeks ago we read a profile and after prayer and consideration felt they were the right fit. We submitted our letter of intent. We then learned another family submitted their letter just hours before ours. We praised God for placing children in families but our hearts hurt. It took some time to recover.
We went back to the waiting children list. We requested more information. We read more profiles. None fit. I began to feel distant from God. Surely He has a plan...right?
Over labor day weekend I requested more information on a sibling set. Our global caseworker messaged us back stating that they were not in the approved age range for us. Then she asked if we would be interested in receiving information on two year old twins. I immediately responded yes! Many little pieces of the profile drew us to these children.
Late that night we wrote another letter of intent and sent it off to BCS global. They messaged back with some edits. By noon our team was translating. Our letter was sent to ICBF by Wednesday evening.
And then we waited...
And waited...
And waited...
But it was worth it.
Our letter of intent was accepted. We are planning to welcome twins (1 boy and 1 girl) in late winter, early spring.
We are overwhelmed, excited, and a little anxious. There are still plenty of financial and paperwork hoops to jump through. I have been writing lots of grant applications, looking at babu stuff, and praying big prayers.
Would you pray with us? Support us? Walk with us on this crazy journey?
"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. But once you do, everything changes." -David Platt
About 6 weeks ago we read a profile and after prayer and consideration felt they were the right fit. We submitted our letter of intent. We then learned another family submitted their letter just hours before ours. We praised God for placing children in families but our hearts hurt. It took some time to recover.
We went back to the waiting children list. We requested more information. We read more profiles. None fit. I began to feel distant from God. Surely He has a plan...right?
Over labor day weekend I requested more information on a sibling set. Our global caseworker messaged us back stating that they were not in the approved age range for us. Then she asked if we would be interested in receiving information on two year old twins. I immediately responded yes! Many little pieces of the profile drew us to these children.
Late that night we wrote another letter of intent and sent it off to BCS global. They messaged back with some edits. By noon our team was translating. Our letter was sent to ICBF by Wednesday evening.
And then we waited...
And waited...
And waited...
But it was worth it.
Our letter of intent was accepted. We are planning to welcome twins (1 boy and 1 girl) in late winter, early spring.
We are overwhelmed, excited, and a little anxious. There are still plenty of financial and paperwork hoops to jump through. I have been writing lots of grant applications, looking at babu stuff, and praying big prayers.
Would you pray with us? Support us? Walk with us on this crazy journey?
"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. But once you do, everything changes." -David Platt
Monday, June 13, 2016
Whirlwind
The past six weeks have been a whirlwind. Everything seems to be happening faster than I can keep up and we still have to do day to day life.
In May, we traveled to Pennsylvania. It was a great time of spending time with those who support and invest in us. While we were there, we did a spaghetti dinner and silent auction fundraiser. So many amazing people were incredibly generous. We stepped $1200 closer to our goals. More importantly, we were able to have great conversations. We got to advocate for orphans and educate people on how the process works. This may possibly be my favorite part of our journey. If you ask me about adoption, please know you are getting yourself into a big conversation. You will get to see my passion and my heartbreak. Every once in a while you get a glimpse into that here.
Since returning from Pennsylvania, we have been in more regular contact with our agency. We are working through finishing paperwork and training. We recently found out we will need psych evaluations. This is another expense added to the list (which can be overwhelming at times.) I am working through my Hague Training hours. Most of our references have finished and mailed their letters to the agency. Everything seems to be coming together.
Again we ask for your prayers. God is doing BIG THINGS. He is teaching us big things. He is preparing our hearts for the children He has set apart for our family and I know He is writing their story despite us not knowing who they are. Pray for our hearts as we finish our homestudy. Pray for our paperwork to be complete and acceptable to the Colombian government. Pray for our children. Pray for the children that are not ours but are seeking forever families. Pray for orphan care and adoption.
In May, we traveled to Pennsylvania. It was a great time of spending time with those who support and invest in us. While we were there, we did a spaghetti dinner and silent auction fundraiser. So many amazing people were incredibly generous. We stepped $1200 closer to our goals. More importantly, we were able to have great conversations. We got to advocate for orphans and educate people on how the process works. This may possibly be my favorite part of our journey. If you ask me about adoption, please know you are getting yourself into a big conversation. You will get to see my passion and my heartbreak. Every once in a while you get a glimpse into that here.
Since returning from Pennsylvania, we have been in more regular contact with our agency. We are working through finishing paperwork and training. We recently found out we will need psych evaluations. This is another expense added to the list (which can be overwhelming at times.) I am working through my Hague Training hours. Most of our references have finished and mailed their letters to the agency. Everything seems to be coming together.
Again we ask for your prayers. God is doing BIG THINGS. He is teaching us big things. He is preparing our hearts for the children He has set apart for our family and I know He is writing their story despite us not knowing who they are. Pray for our hearts as we finish our homestudy. Pray for our paperwork to be complete and acceptable to the Colombian government. Pray for our children. Pray for the children that are not ours but are seeking forever families. Pray for orphan care and adoption.
Monday, April 25, 2016
The hardest prayer
In the past six months, I have spent hours reading through profiles on the waiting children portal provided by our agency. We have read through profiles from Africa, America, and Colombia. Tons of faces of children who are waiting for a family.
So often I wonder, how do I choose? How do we look at these children and say "This one is mine." It has to be a God thing. Like so many parts of this whole process, it has to be a God thing. As I have poured over each and every profile, again and again I have been faced with a big, difficult prayer.
Dear God,
Please provide a family for this child, even if it isn't mine.
It may possibly be the hardest prayer I have ever prayed. God is shaping and molding me in this waiting time in ways I never imagined. Today will you join me in that prayer? There are millions of orphans around the world. God please provide a family for this child...for every child.
So often I wonder, how do I choose? How do we look at these children and say "This one is mine." It has to be a God thing. Like so many parts of this whole process, it has to be a God thing. As I have poured over each and every profile, again and again I have been faced with a big, difficult prayer.
Dear God,
Please provide a family for this child, even if it isn't mine.
It may possibly be the hardest prayer I have ever prayed. God is shaping and molding me in this waiting time in ways I never imagined. Today will you join me in that prayer? There are millions of orphans around the world. God please provide a family for this child...for every child.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Homestudy: Take 1
Today was our first homestudy meeting. I saw first because contrary to popular belief, those don't happen all at one time. I intended to write earlier this week regarding our upcoming homestudy but a few things prevented that. #1 was getting ready for the homestudy. I'm pretty sure our house is the cleanest it has been since we moved in. It also now has child locks, appliance locks, outlet covers, and lots of other child-proofing type things. This took a lot of time and work for a variety of people. I am so glad that we are surrounded by people who love us and support us in this journey. Reason #2 was I could not quite figure out how to put into words how I was feeling. I was excited, nervous, anxious, stressed, happy...sometimes all at the same time. I don't know how my husband survived the week...or the day for that matter. I am so thankful for him and how God matched us.
Of course the day did not go as planned (welcome to the world of adoption, right?). Last night, I went to clean out under our sink and found that we had a leak. After locating the source I called our landlord. He said he would be here sometime Monday or Tuesday. He arrived 30 minutes before our caseworker. Its been raining for 2 days straight so muddy footprints were all over my kitchen. When our caseworker arrived, the landlord's son was laying on our kitchen floor, half in our cabinet...this was not at all how I imagined the day.
However, she was gracious and happy to meet everyone. We went through lots of paperwork. Some was finished already. Some we worked through together. Some she left for us to work on. We walked through the house together. We passed all our safety checks! And to no surprise, I stressed out about this step way more than I needed to. We set our next interview meeting for next week.
We also discussed countries. We have said for quite some time that we were adopting from Ethiopia. When we first got involved we were encouraged to consider South Africa because it shares so many qualities with Ethiopia. We had discussed it and were open but we have still felt like Ethiopia was a much stronger option for us. Today, we were asked to consider a country that was not even an option when we first began this process...Colombia. It shares many similarities with Ethiopia as well. Our agency is also getting a lot of referrals from Colombia right now and it may speed up our process. It is so hard for me to think about a country outside of Africa because it has been the picture in my head for so long. Again, we are asking God to make it abundantly clear if this is the direction we are to be heading. Please pray along with us for this and our homestudy process as a whole. At the end of the process we will have to declare a country.
We know God has been taking care of our children and weaving their story until it joins ours. We are excited to see and be a part of what He is doing.
Of course the day did not go as planned (welcome to the world of adoption, right?). Last night, I went to clean out under our sink and found that we had a leak. After locating the source I called our landlord. He said he would be here sometime Monday or Tuesday. He arrived 30 minutes before our caseworker. Its been raining for 2 days straight so muddy footprints were all over my kitchen. When our caseworker arrived, the landlord's son was laying on our kitchen floor, half in our cabinet...this was not at all how I imagined the day.
However, she was gracious and happy to meet everyone. We went through lots of paperwork. Some was finished already. Some we worked through together. Some she left for us to work on. We walked through the house together. We passed all our safety checks! And to no surprise, I stressed out about this step way more than I needed to. We set our next interview meeting for next week.
We also discussed countries. We have said for quite some time that we were adopting from Ethiopia. When we first got involved we were encouraged to consider South Africa because it shares so many qualities with Ethiopia. We had discussed it and were open but we have still felt like Ethiopia was a much stronger option for us. Today, we were asked to consider a country that was not even an option when we first began this process...Colombia. It shares many similarities with Ethiopia as well. Our agency is also getting a lot of referrals from Colombia right now and it may speed up our process. It is so hard for me to think about a country outside of Africa because it has been the picture in my head for so long. Again, we are asking God to make it abundantly clear if this is the direction we are to be heading. Please pray along with us for this and our homestudy process as a whole. At the end of the process we will have to declare a country.
We know God has been taking care of our children and weaving their story until it joins ours. We are excited to see and be a part of what He is doing.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Celebrating others in this Journey
We interrupt our regularly scheduled blogging to celebrate another family in the journey. I began working with Melissa and Sully when I was in college while we were all serving at the same church plant. They have beautiful hearts. Their journey has looked very different from ours. They have been walking a path of domestic infant adoption for a few years. They have struggled in the waiting and rejoiced in the details. They have had their hearts broken and prayed A LOT!
Today we want to celebrate with them. Their daughter has been born!
Dear Emily,
We pray that you might know how much you are loved, chosen, and wanted. God has been guiding your path long before you were even born. We pray that you might see God's love every day. We pray that you will grow to be healthy and strong. We pray that your days be filled with joy and your path be smooth and when they are not, we pray that you turn to your Father for help. We pray that you always know the sound of your Father's voice, the comfort in His arms, and the joy of His truth. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you his peace.
Amen
If you want to know more about Melissa and Sully's journey you can find their blog at http://adoptajourney.blogspot.com/
We love you Cook Family!
Today we want to celebrate with them. Their daughter has been born!
Dear Emily,
We pray that you might know how much you are loved, chosen, and wanted. God has been guiding your path long before you were even born. We pray that you might see God's love every day. We pray that you will grow to be healthy and strong. We pray that your days be filled with joy and your path be smooth and when they are not, we pray that you turn to your Father for help. We pray that you always know the sound of your Father's voice, the comfort in His arms, and the joy of His truth. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you his peace.
Amen
If you want to know more about Melissa and Sully's journey you can find their blog at http://adoptajourney.blogspot.com/
We love you Cook Family!
Monday, November 3, 2014
Thankfulness: Our Journey and Our Village
It is the beginning of November, traditionally a season of thankfulness. It seemed like a perfect time to talk about our journey and our village. However, if you are new to our story let's get you caught up.
As a teenager I was exposed to adoption in my church and my youth group. I was also exposed to the stories of children all over the world. This started a spark inside me. At that time I had no idea how it would grow. However, it is clear now that this was all part of God's plan. He started to build our village.
I met Tyler in 2011, just a few weeks after graduating college while we were both working at Sonic. There was always a chemistry between us, but neither of us said anything. I accepted a job in Ohio in early 2012 and soon moved. When back in Tennessee on vacation almost a year later, Tyler revealed his feelings for me and soon after we began dating. By this point I knew I was being called to adopt so we discussed this very early in our relationship. God continued to write our story as we agreed that we would begin growing our family through adoption. We got married in August 2014 and we are excited about the growth of our family.
We plan to adopt. We are very interested in adopting from Ethiopia. We also think we will probably pursue this through Bethany Christian Services. So that is the beginning of our journey.
Now more about our village. They say that it takes a village to raise a child. Our children are on the other side of the world and I am already finding this to be true. Starting with their birth family, then who is raising them now whether that be another family member or an orphanage. I continually pray for this group. They are beginning to shape who my children will be. I am glad God has chosen them and thankful for all they continue to do.
Then there are the people who will be a part of the process. The staff at the adoption agency. The people in country who handle paperwork. The person who will do our homestudy. They are part of our village. They are essential in bringing our children home.
Our family and friends...you make up a large part of our village. You stand beside us and support us. I'm sure I will call more than one of you in tears during various parts of our journey. I also know you will share in our joys and be a part of our children's lives for years to come.
There is also another continually growing group of people who are part of our village. These are the people in our lives who have adopted, are in the process of adopting, or desire to adopt in the future. These people understand the journey on a different level. All of our stories are unique but they all intertwine. These are the ones we will turn to for the tips and tricks. They are the a continual encouragement and a reminder that we are not alone.
And finally, there is you. We are inviting you to be a part of our village. This will look different for each person. Some of you will pray for us (and our children and the rest of our village). Some of you will support us financially. Some of you will support us emotionally. Some of you will support us in ways we didn't even know we would need or want. Is God calling you to be a part of our village? We would love to share more with you about God is doing in our lives.
As a teenager I was exposed to adoption in my church and my youth group. I was also exposed to the stories of children all over the world. This started a spark inside me. At that time I had no idea how it would grow. However, it is clear now that this was all part of God's plan. He started to build our village.
I met Tyler in 2011, just a few weeks after graduating college while we were both working at Sonic. There was always a chemistry between us, but neither of us said anything. I accepted a job in Ohio in early 2012 and soon moved. When back in Tennessee on vacation almost a year later, Tyler revealed his feelings for me and soon after we began dating. By this point I knew I was being called to adopt so we discussed this very early in our relationship. God continued to write our story as we agreed that we would begin growing our family through adoption. We got married in August 2014 and we are excited about the growth of our family.
We plan to adopt. We are very interested in adopting from Ethiopia. We also think we will probably pursue this through Bethany Christian Services. So that is the beginning of our journey.
Now more about our village. They say that it takes a village to raise a child. Our children are on the other side of the world and I am already finding this to be true. Starting with their birth family, then who is raising them now whether that be another family member or an orphanage. I continually pray for this group. They are beginning to shape who my children will be. I am glad God has chosen them and thankful for all they continue to do.
Then there are the people who will be a part of the process. The staff at the adoption agency. The people in country who handle paperwork. The person who will do our homestudy. They are part of our village. They are essential in bringing our children home.
Our family and friends...you make up a large part of our village. You stand beside us and support us. I'm sure I will call more than one of you in tears during various parts of our journey. I also know you will share in our joys and be a part of our children's lives for years to come.
There is also another continually growing group of people who are part of our village. These are the people in our lives who have adopted, are in the process of adopting, or desire to adopt in the future. These people understand the journey on a different level. All of our stories are unique but they all intertwine. These are the ones we will turn to for the tips and tricks. They are the a continual encouragement and a reminder that we are not alone.
And finally, there is you. We are inviting you to be a part of our village. This will look different for each person. Some of you will pray for us (and our children and the rest of our village). Some of you will support us financially. Some of you will support us emotionally. Some of you will support us in ways we didn't even know we would need or want. Is God calling you to be a part of our village? We would love to share more with you about God is doing in our lives.
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