November Adoption Update
It’s been three months since we last updated you on ouradoption journey, and I am so excited to share all the ways God has beenfaithfully providing for and guiding us. I also want to include a few ways youcan be praying for us as we continue in the process.
Fundraising
We are completely overwhelmed byhow the Lord has used you to generously support our adoption! Every time I makea fundraising goal, God has blown it out of the water. Since August, we haveraised over $2,000 from the Noonday Collection trunk show, our Yard Sale, andgenerous donations! We have now raised 25% of the total cost of our adoption! Iapologize for all the exclamation points, but I rejoice every time I look at myspreadsheet to know how God has provided for our future baby. We need about$1,200 more by the end of the home study process in order to start showing ourprofile to birth mothers.
We are currently brainstormingideas for fundraisers in November and December. We’ve thrown out selling craftsor baked goods or even wrapping presents for people! We are always open to newcreative ideas, so let us know if you have one!
In addition to fundraising, wehave submitted two grant applications. One would be a home study grant thatwould help us pay the remaining costs of our home study (which is a very raregrant to find!). The second would be a $4,000 matching grant that includes acrowdfunding platform for us to use. We are hoping to hear back from both ofthose soon.
Pray that God would help uswork hard in our fundraising efforts and would give us creative ideas forholiday and end-of-year fundraising. Pray for favor with the grant committeesthat they would choose to award us the grants.
Home Study
The home study process hasmoved very slowly. We had hoped to be done with our home study by now,but we are now not anticipating being home study ready until January. Many ofthe factors contributing to the delay are out of our control. I have had tolearn to trust God’s perfect timing and know that we are not “missing out” onour baby because we are behind where I thought we would be in the timeline.Right now, we are completing our autobiographies and medical paperwork andshould have our second home study meeting soon.
Pray that we would trustGod’s perfect timing in our adoption process. Pray that we would be diligent incompleting our paperwork, and that our social workers do their job withexcellence and discernment.
Adoption Conference
I wish each of you could havesat next to us at the adoption conference we attended last weekend to hearstory after story of God’s faithfulness both in suffering and joy throughadoption. Our adoption agency, Lifeline Children’s Services, requires eachadopting couple to attend their adoption conference, “Rooted in Love.” Welearned about topics such as prenatal trauma, child development, transracialfamilies, and more! The most impactful part of the weekend were thetestimonies. It was so encouraging to hear from other domestic adoptive parentswho are on the other side, sharing both their triumphs and their heartaches.But most of all, the testimony of a birth mother brought tears to oureyes—tears of sorrow for what a young 16-year-old girl had to go through, tearsof joy to know the courageous and sacrificial decision she made for her son,and tears of hope in knowing what God has done in both her and her son’s life.
The birth mother’s storyreminded us why we are on this path that is sometimes hard and very expensive.It’s not for our own glory. It’s not even because it’s the “right” thing to do.It’s because God has adopted us into his family, and our adoption journey is asmall picture of what Christ had to endure to make God our father.
Pray for our birth mother, that God would provide for her safety and well-being. That she would know God’s love, come to salvation (if she hasn't already), and follow God’s will. Pray that she would have a strong support system and have wisdom in making decision for her child.
We cannot fully express what it’s like having you all beside us on this journey. We love you all, and feel free to reach out if you have any more questions about our adoption.