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
Showing posts with label support. Show all posts
Showing posts with label support. Show all posts
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Sunday, July 17, 2016
How is the adoption coming?
We have been hearing the same question a lot. "How is the adoption coming?" Depending on who asks, they are looking for certain answers. Eventually everyone wants the same answer. When will your kids be here?
Oh how I wish I had a simple, easy answer for that question. There are a few tangible dates I can give you. Things for you to keep in mind, pray about, etc. July 26th is our next (and hopefully final) homestudy meeting. We will update any paperwork that is outdated from previous meetings. We will go over the house, finances, and personal notes again. We will make sure we have dotted all our i-s and crossed all our t-s. Thankfully we have some incredible adoption specialists at Bethany Christian Services to walk through this with us.
The next big date is our anniversary! August 28th, we will be celebrating our second anniversary! Ahhh! Seriously, though God has taught us so much about each other and ourselves in the past 2 years. We have grown together and walking through this process together has made us stronger. The other really exciting thing about August 28th, is Colombia requires 2 years of marriage for their adoptions. This year our anniversary falls on a Sunday, but the following week our homestudy will be considered complete. Then off for approval.
Over the next few months, we will apply for grants, do fundraising (because every little bit helps), make payments, submit paperwork, and everything else we can possibly do to prepare. Hopefully we will be matched in the fall. This will tell us a little more about the children we know God has already chosen for our family...pictures, stories, medical diagnosis, etc. I am so excited for that day!
We will then go through some more paperwork, be assigned travel and court dates, arrange travel, and GO TO COLOMBIA. Our prayer is that this will happen in early 2017. Since both of us work in food service, winter is the easiest time for us to be away from our jobs.
As we inch closer here are specific things you can pray about:
July 26th - homestudy meeting
Grant applications (I - Kerri - am writing many of these currently)
Finances - Our next payment due will be $5000. We currently have about 65% of that put away.
Our children - despite not knowing who they are yet, I know God is working in them and us to write this part of our story.
Travel dates
Again, thank you for being a part of our support system. Y'all are awesome. We love you and can't imagine doing this without you.
Oh how I wish I had a simple, easy answer for that question. There are a few tangible dates I can give you. Things for you to keep in mind, pray about, etc. July 26th is our next (and hopefully final) homestudy meeting. We will update any paperwork that is outdated from previous meetings. We will go over the house, finances, and personal notes again. We will make sure we have dotted all our i-s and crossed all our t-s. Thankfully we have some incredible adoption specialists at Bethany Christian Services to walk through this with us.
The next big date is our anniversary! August 28th, we will be celebrating our second anniversary! Ahhh! Seriously, though God has taught us so much about each other and ourselves in the past 2 years. We have grown together and walking through this process together has made us stronger. The other really exciting thing about August 28th, is Colombia requires 2 years of marriage for their adoptions. This year our anniversary falls on a Sunday, but the following week our homestudy will be considered complete. Then off for approval.
Over the next few months, we will apply for grants, do fundraising (because every little bit helps), make payments, submit paperwork, and everything else we can possibly do to prepare. Hopefully we will be matched in the fall. This will tell us a little more about the children we know God has already chosen for our family...pictures, stories, medical diagnosis, etc. I am so excited for that day!
We will then go through some more paperwork, be assigned travel and court dates, arrange travel, and GO TO COLOMBIA. Our prayer is that this will happen in early 2017. Since both of us work in food service, winter is the easiest time for us to be away from our jobs.
As we inch closer here are specific things you can pray about:
July 26th - homestudy meeting
Grant applications (I - Kerri - am writing many of these currently)
Finances - Our next payment due will be $5000. We currently have about 65% of that put away.
Our children - despite not knowing who they are yet, I know God is working in them and us to write this part of our story.
Travel dates
Again, thank you for being a part of our support system. Y'all are awesome. We love you and can't imagine doing this without you.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Support system
Wow. When we jumped in to this crazy adoption journey, I am not sure we had any idea just how far we were jumping. Or what that would look like during the journey. We have learned this is not a journey we have any desire to walk alone.
Here is a little glimpse into a few pieces of our support system.
Here is a little glimpse into a few pieces of our support system.
They come in many different shapes and sizes. They are family and friends. They are customers who come into Hot Rods. They are church family that we get to do life with.
I am incredibly thankful that God saw this moment. He knew we would need people...we would need people to pray, people to encourage, people to support, people to give, people to listen, people to understand.
He knew I would need someone to remind me to keep my health on track in the midst of stress. He sent me a friend from a few years back who was also walking through her own adoption journey.
He knew we would need someone to come along side us and help guide our budget and finances. He provided my boss, who has tons of knowledge about finances and lots of local resources.
He knew I would need people on the days when I felt like falling apart. People to do life with in the joys and the pains. So He sent my work family. Both employees and customers. They might not always understand the process but they will walk with me in it.
He knew Tyler would process very differently than I do. Many days he needs his bio family more than I realize. God has continued to strengthen their relationships.
He knew I would need people to pray big prayers, encourage on the hard days, and to celebrate with on the good days. He sent my Point family...especially my amazing connection group. They even send me things like this.
God knew that we would need each other. He designed us so differently yet so intricately linked. He has designed balance in our relationship and continually reminds us to lean on one another.
God knew most importantly that we would need Him. I can not imagine doing this crazy journey without God. I am continually leaning on Him, trusting that He's got this. In the moments when everything feels like its spiraling out of control, I have to trust that its all in His timing and His ways.
Thinking about adoption? What is your support system? Who are you going to lean on?
Reading this? Thanks for being a part of our support system. You may not realize it, but you are holding us up through this journey.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Overwhelmed
This week has been incredibly overwhelming...in so many different ways.
We have been overwhelmed with how quickly things have been happening. We will attend an informational meeting next month and then we plan submit our formal application with Bethany Christian Services. We originally thought we would not be able to submit this application until August 2015. Our timeline suddenly moved up by 7 months. I told a friend recently that I was not mentally prepared for this timeline to shift so drastically. So it has been overwhelming yet incredibly exciting for our timeline to change this way.
We have been overwhelmed with the many people who have already stepped up to support us. We have mailed envelopes to five different states. A handful of our envelopes have already been returned moving us toward our first goal. We have also had people share in conversation, prayer, and ideas. We are so excited to watch our village grow!
And finally today, I was overwhelmed by Christmas. I was out after work picking up a few things for my husband. I almost began crying in Walmart surrounded by hurried Christmas shoppers looking for the best deals. Christmas has been different this year. I feel as though I've already received such an amazing gift with the hope of our adoption moving forward. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the thought of celebrating Christmas with our children...sharing the story of our Savior's birth, Christmas morning excitement, sharing in gifts, and spending time with family as a family.
As we prepare to celebrate a child in a manger, part of my heart is with two children on the other side of the world.
We have been overwhelmed with how quickly things have been happening. We will attend an informational meeting next month and then we plan submit our formal application with Bethany Christian Services. We originally thought we would not be able to submit this application until August 2015. Our timeline suddenly moved up by 7 months. I told a friend recently that I was not mentally prepared for this timeline to shift so drastically. So it has been overwhelming yet incredibly exciting for our timeline to change this way.
We have been overwhelmed with the many people who have already stepped up to support us. We have mailed envelopes to five different states. A handful of our envelopes have already been returned moving us toward our first goal. We have also had people share in conversation, prayer, and ideas. We are so excited to watch our village grow!
And finally today, I was overwhelmed by Christmas. I was out after work picking up a few things for my husband. I almost began crying in Walmart surrounded by hurried Christmas shoppers looking for the best deals. Christmas has been different this year. I feel as though I've already received such an amazing gift with the hope of our adoption moving forward. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the thought of celebrating Christmas with our children...sharing the story of our Savior's birth, Christmas morning excitement, sharing in gifts, and spending time with family as a family.
As we prepare to celebrate a child in a manger, part of my heart is with two children on the other side of the world.
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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