Radical Requests

Pastor Brock hit it straight on the head this morning!  It is amazing how God works like that.  Many of you know that this adoption is to get a little guy in Hanna's orphanage.  I say little, but he is actually already 7 and most likely will be 8 before we have a chance to get him.  He is older than Hanna - by 3 months - and has been in the orphanage his whole life.  He has a hearing impairment and ear deformity.  His adoption will most likely not be easy.  We'll have to try to teach an eight year old English and help get his earing fixed or at least made better.  We'll also have to get him into school - an all English speaking school.  It isn't ideal.  This is where God has led us.  He's led us to This child.  He's telling us that this is Our son, that we need to bring Him home.  Yesterday I saw some absolutely beautiful babies waiting for families in China.  One little one if particular is gorgeous.  I went to bed last night asking Jerry if we should just get a baby.  A baby would be so easy.  A baby would learn language easier.  A baby would make bonding easier.  A baby would not have to get to school quickly.  A baby... I love babies.  I would take a baby in a heart beat.  Then God entered again to reiterate what he's been telling us for 4 years.  Let loose on your grip with adopting a baby - let loose on what you think your perfect child is - let loose and listen to Me.  God has a plan and I was trying to take the easy road.  Just like with Abraham who was willing to sacrafice his only Son to follow and listen to God.

The Starfish

An old man was walking down the beach just before dawn. In the distance he saw a young man picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea. As the old man approached the young man, he asked; "Why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be a waste of time?" The young man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun. "But there must be thousands of beaches and millions of starfish, exclaimed the old man. "How can your efforts make any difference?" The young man looked down at the small starfish in his hand and as he threw it to safety in
the sea, he said; "It makes a difference to this one!" -author unknown 

I came across this story while visiting one of the several adoption sites I like.  Seems so fitting! 
We've now had our 2nd homestudy meeting and will have our 3rd on Monday.  We are really looking forward to finishing up the meetings and getting our dossier completed.

Why Adoption

    We are often asked that question or told what a wonderful thing we are doing.  Ultimately it isn't about us at all.  Hanna has blessed our life so much - we're the lucky ones.
Why adopt? Our journey started formally about 8 years ago - but earlier for me.  I never thought I'd have biological children, so I always thought I'd adopt.  Jerry was not quite there with me - especially after we were blessed with 2 wonderful boys through the use of fertility drugs.  After Reese, I wanted more children, but our pregnancies were not easy.  I was on bed rest with both of the boys - but longer with Reese. 
     Then God gave Brooks a friend named Solomon.  They were best buddies in kindergarten.  Solomon's mom and I started scrapbooking together - and they were in the middle of the paperchase to adopt a little girl from China.  Kathy and Clay had 3 boys, but felt led to adopt.  I lived through her during those days learning as much as I could about the journey and nagging Jerry about doing the same thing.  For about 2 years, he always said no.
Then God introduced us to Paul and Stacey.  They had 1 son and were beginning their paperchase to adopt from Korea.  We went to a dinner theater one night and discussed adoption all the way there and back.  When we got home, Jerry and I had a conversation about it and he said he didn't want to adopt and I needed to stop.
     Well, we know how God works sometimes and He worked in a big way this time!  It was the week of Thanksgiving and Jerry got the worst back pain he's ever had.  It lasted for days and he tried everything to relieve the pain.  Ultimately he was trying to tell God no and God was telling him yes!  On the night of Thanksgiving after everyone had left and we were cleaning up, he came to me and said he knew what was wrong with his back.  He'd been complaining all week, so I was very interested.  Jerry said that he wanted to adopt, but was nervous - and almost that instanteously his back ache went away.  We immediately got on the internet and looked up the agency that our friends were using and signed up.  That was November, 2005.  It was supposed to be 11 months to get Hanna, but ended up being 3 years - but Hanna was born in December, 2005!
      Over the years, we've been amazed at the number of sermons we've heard that actually have called us to adopt. It might not have had anything to do with adoption, but that was the meaning given to us.
     So back to the original question, why adopt?  Our question is why not.  There are about a million kids -or more- out there in the world who don't have a mom and a dad to tuck them in at night and read them a bedtime story.  There are a million kids out there who may not know the love of a family.  There are about a million kids out there who haven't been introduced to God's love and grace.  There are a million kids out there who need us.
    

Pre-homestudy documents

I received an email last week that contained 6 documents I needed to fill out, sign, and mail to our agency in order to start our homestudy.  Wow - after printing the same documents for the kids 3 times, I finally have them completed!  I hope this is not the way the paper chase is going to go!  I guess I shouldn't try to do important paperwork at 9:30 at night while watching TV!  Anyway, I have the documents completed, the family photo uploaded to one of our local print places, and I'll get it in the mail tomorrow...  Hard to believe that this dream is becoming a reality again!  God is so wonderful and works in such mysterious ways!  It is not for us to comprehend His plan - just go with it!  From our family to yours - we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Current Status

Decision made to adopt..check
Formal application...check
Formal application approved...check
Initial payment made...check
Contract signed...check

Now we are ready to begin our homestudy!

It's really happening

We submitted our formal application on Monday and paid our first fee.  Today we spoke with the branch manager of our adoption agency and she approved our application and will send it on to headquarters.  Then we pay our homestudy fee, sign a contract, and begin the process. 
We think we know the child already, but we're waiting on God to let us know His plan - and China too.  You never know in international adoption.  Be prepared for anything and everything.  We know that we'll adopt a waiting child, so we're hoping the adoption can be finalized in about a year!  As soon as we can, we'll post a picture of our child.  The kids are already saying that the van will be crowded our next trip to Florida!  But Brooks is excited, because he'll get to drive some.
Our plan is to keep everyone informed of the process - where we are - and our timelines here.  
The two main issues for us with adoption are not being in control of the timeline and finances.  Unfortunately it is expensive to adopt.  We've worked hard the last several years to try to be in a financial situation to adopt again, we're saving money each month, but it looks like we might come up a little short.  We don't like the idea of going into debt, but if we have to, we will.  We may try to do some fundraising in the future if we see it is needed.  We'll keep track of our adoption experience right here.  It is our hope people will follow us and spark interest in adoption. 

Crazy Love

This summer, Jerry and I read Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  It certainly is convicting!  Ever since we got home with Hanna, we've constantly thought of adopting again, but tried desperately to put those thoughts far away.  Well, God kept bringing them to the forefront and we wouldn't listen.  Then we vacationed at Wind River Ranch in Estes Park, Co.  It is a Christian family guest ranch.  We did much praying and listening that week - and read the book.  God was speaking loudly and this time we actually started listening.  We've come up with all of the reasons why we shouldn't adopt...expensive, crazy, we have 3 great kids...but God kept saying Yes!  So here we go again!  We actually have 2 extra seats in the van and 2 extra beds upstairs.  Jerry says we can't get anymore beds, nor can we get a vehicle that holds more than 7!  We don't know where, we don't know when, but we do know that we are going to Adopt Again!