Overwhelmed

Wow.

When we started on this adoption journey we had no idea where the money would come from. Well I take that back...it was clear that God called us and so it was clear that He would make a way but I had no idea how that would actually shake out.

As of today we are 62% funded, which means we have raised almost $22,000. Seriously?!? We are over halfway there! Last week I received an unexpected email congratulating us on being awarded a large grant toward our adoption. We have applied for 5 or so grants and we were not supposed to hear anything until December, at the earliest. We were shocked and SO grateful. God continues to remind me of how much is heart beats for orphans and it was a nice encouragement in these months of waiting. It is just amazing to see God's mighty hand at work and a sweet reminder that he is moving and working even when we don't see or expect it. He is weaving together a beautiful redemptive story and although the wait is currently so difficult His plans continue.

Current Prayer Requests:
- Continued prayer for our daughter. Despite the fact that we have yet to see her face God knows who she is.

- We are waiting on USCIS approval (the last piece of our dossier puzzle). Apparently they are running long and it has taken longer than expected to hear back. Pray that we would hear good news soon.

- Please pray that our hearts would be open to God's calling. I have no idea when we will hear of a referral and I have no idea if it will be what we expect. I desire for our hearts to be open to God's leading even if it is different than we picture.

- Please pray for peace, especially for me. This wait has been SO hard the past couple of days, complete with lots of tears and discontentment. Not the prettiest picture of faith...I need more of God in my life to transform my desires and attitudes.

Yard Sale

We have now raised a little over 40% of the funds needed to bring our daughter home! Wow. I remember when we were praying and just trying to raise money for the first program installment.God has provided abundantly for this little girl to have a home. Although we still have a ways to go God continues to remind us that he has this...nothing is out of his control.

On that note...Jonathan and I continue to wait for a referral. Currently we are nearing the 2 month mark. I don't really have any expectations of a phone call any time soon which has eased my mind quite a bit however the wait is still hard. Thankfully though, the wait has been eclipsed by the fact that our schedule has been jam packed for a couple of weeks now. The first Saturday in October we held a ginormous yard sale. If I were to be completely honest I don't think I will ever organize a yard sale ever again...no seriously...I'm not kidding. The amount of work, time, energy and not to mention living room space that must be utilized for such an undertaking is just utterly exhausting.

This picture is just the tip of the iceberg. I am in no way the cleanest person alive but this amount of clutter almost pushed me over the edge. Shew. We woke up at 5am the day of the sale to organize all of the chaos. I wish I would have remembered that even the sun isn't crazy enough to be up at 5am. So we had to set up tables by the blinding light of Jon's headlights. We had so much stuff to organize that I don't think we even finished setting things up until an hour or more into the actual yard sale. The entire day was a steady flow of people and by the end of the sale it looked like we had hardly made a dent but...

all that work...

all the stress...

 

paid off.

We raised $942. In ONE day...at a yard sale! Woohoo. It's always so humbling to witness more of God's great provision. We have a few more fundraising ideas on the back burner but with the holidays coming we will probably save those for the New Year. As far as posts go I will continue to write as I feel led but until we get the long awaited phone call for a referral we probably won't have a lot of exciting stuff to share. Please continue to keep us in your prayers that we would wait well.

Three Weeks and Counting

This week will mark three weeks of being in the system in India. I know for almost all families adopting from India that will seem like a drop in the bucket. Adopting from India is an unpredictable process with families getting caught up in red tape for months. I have heard of families waiting years to even receive word of a referral and that isn't including the year or more following the referral just wading through the paperwork in India prior to getting word to travel. Waiting a year or more to get a referral...

That

is

my

fear.

For those adopting families...you were there. Remember? Remember being at the very beginning of your journey and feeling overwhelmed by the steps you still had ahead of you? For me at this moment the wait seems so painfully long. It's hard not knowing when we will finally see the face of our daughter. She is not some orphan...a number...or a random child we are adopting...our "adopted child." No! She is our daughter, plain and simple. She is our daughter who is not home yet. We have a daughter who will wake up not knowing that she has a mother and father anxious to bring her home and a little brother who keeps asking about his sister. My heart aches. This is hard. But in these moments I remember that God has spoken. There were moments His voice was crystal clear. So I remember...

God always keeps his promises...

He is always at work...

God will choose to work and move how he sees fit and not according to my plans or my time frame.

And most importantly:

God

is

GOOD.

Praise Him for his goodness. I am praying that at this moment I will learn to rest in His goodness alone. With no promise of an end date to this wait...I will rest in God.

Welcome!

Welcome to the story of our daughter!

We know that many of you may be visiting this blog for the first time, maybe you saw us on Give1Save1. We figured we would take some time to introduce ourselves.

This is Jonathan.

Jonathan is kinda crazy...ya know with that red hair and all.
He grew up in South Florida.

He likes cars.
He loves God.
He's a pastor with a heart to shepherd God's people.

He is not the only crazy one...

There is actually a whole crazy family. Four boys to be exact with a few ladies crazy enough to marry into this clan. My side of the family isn't much more sane.

I'm Kristen (the not so crazy wife).

I grew up all over the place, but like to call Kentucky my home.
I work part time helping children in crisis.
The rest of the time I stay at home with our 3 year old son.

He's kinda awesome.
.
We're an ordinary family who has felt called by God to pursue something way bigger than us. We are working hard to bring our daughter home from India. Although we have yet to see her face we know that God already has her picked out. He knows her name and her story. He knows when we will finally bring her home, so in the meantime we pray and wait for his perfect timing.

Stay tuned for more of our little girl's story. We will be sharing more about why we chose international adoption from India and what this process has looked like thus far. Thank you for joining us in this journey to bring home our daughter!

Happy Dance

 I couldn't help myself with this picture!

I was too giddy for words last night. A little after 5pm our family coordinator from America World called to inform us that she registered us with the online database in India and we are now officially waiting for a referral. We could get a phone call today (highly unlikely but still...) That is just crazy!

The wait for a referral will most likely be a long one. There is just no telling what the time-frame looks like from here on out. It is a bit odd because we went from knowing the steps and how long each step would take to being in limbo. After talking with other moms adopting from India this is how things seem to pan out until the day we get word to travel. So I am rejoicing in the moment and praising the Lord that he has brought us this far. He has used you, your prayers, your giving, and your encouragement to sustain us and prepare us to bring home our little girl.

Dear friends and family, rejoice with me today because this is a major step forward. The reality of seeing a picture of our daughter drives me to work even harder to get her home. The next phase in our fundraising is actually raising money toward our travel costs. This is where it gets exciting folks. Just the thought of applying for visas and buying plane tickets brings tears to my eyes. It's getting real.

It Is Finished

...our homestudy that is. I have in my hand a finalized, notarized homestudy. It's beautiful!!

Haha, man it feels good to have this part of the process complete. Things have kind of been in a holding pattern for a while and now all of the sudden it is moving at lightning speed. Now that our homestudy is complete I need to fill out the I-800a form which is basically a form to determine that we are suitable to adopt a child from a Hague country. While I await approval from United States Immigration I will finish up our dossier which is already close to completion.

We now await the news from America World that we are officially registered in India. At that point we will actually be waiting on a match. I don't even want to say this for fear of jinxing the whole process but...we should be registered in India by next week. That means that India and our organization will be looking through the waiting children list for a child that matches our homestudy specifications.Although the wait for our child has been in my heart for years we are finally so close to that part of our journey. If we get word this week you can bet I will be posting an update. In the meantime I will be diligently working on our immigration paperwork, finishing up an assigned book on adoption and searching out adoption grants. We are one gigantic step closer to our little girl.

Pearl

Let me start this post by saying that I have been blessed with the world's greatest in-laws. I never really understood the in-law jokes you hear on tv and certainly have never joined in when friends speak of horror stories involving their spouse's parents. I am blessed. Not only was I welcomed into a family made up mostly of men (crazy red-heads to be exact) but my mother-in-law has welcomed me as her daughter. I do think she may have been a bit desperate for another female to keep her company.

Well, when Jon and I announced to our parents that we were adopting we knew they would be supportive but were surprised when Jon's mom, Laura, offered up a very sweet gift. Laura is a teacher and an author who loves the Lord. She recently published a book and has generously decided to give the entire proceeds to our adoption. There really are no words.

Here is a short description of the book Laura began to write years ago before Jon and I ever announced our plans.

This is a book about adoption...

and hope.

It's entitled Pearl.

The loss of a son...the memory of a daughter. A search for peace that spans two continents. Mei, a Chinese mother, loses her son in a tragic earthquake, awakening the memory of the daughter she relinquished to adoption years before. China’s One Child Policy robbed her of the infant she called Pearl, and Mei is haunted by loss. The couple learns to survive, finally emigrating to America where Mei sees little Chinese girls everywhere. Could that one be Pearl? Mei's search leads her to a peace she never knew existed. Will she find Pearl? And can she let her go?

Purchase a Copy of Pearl Here

 

Getting Closer

There are times I feel like I am one step away from crazy! The waiting, the phone calls, the red tape, the paperwork...AHHH!! I am struggling to keep my emotions in check.

It seems as if we have been in a holding pattern for quite a while with me saying the same thing over and over again, "waiting for the homestudy to be written." Well now it has been written and Jon and I have finally laid eyes on the 14 page document. We have read and re-read it proofing as we went. The final edits have been sent to our social worker but we are now waiting on a call from our family coordinator to specify some wording in the homestudy. If all goes well our social worker will hopefully be able to email our homestudy to our family coordinator today. Once AWAA's main office receives the homestudy they will take a couple of days to review it and approve it. There is a chance they will ask our social worker to change or add a few things which shouldn't lengthen the process too much. I'm praying that by next week we will have a finalized and approved homestudy. I know that we have made a lot of progress over the past couple of months but right now at this moment progress seems painfully slow. I am SO incredibly ready for the homestudy portion of this journey to be over and done with. Deep breath...

For those following our journey please continue to pray:
- Pray for patience, especially for me. There are moments I feel completely overwhelmed and it has been easy to allow these emotions to affect me throughout the day. I desire for the Lord to grow me through this process but I need to be willing to surrender to His perfect timing.

- Pray for this section of our journey to end soon. Pray with me that by next week we will have a completed and finalized homestudy.

So...

we wait. Here are a few things that we are waiting on at the moment:

- Jon's passport renewal. It has been expedited so hopefully we will get it next week. That is the last piece to our homestudy paperwork. All we need is the 9 digit passport number. Ahhh!!

- Our social worker to write up our homestudy. As far as I know he has already been working on it but it is 14 pages long so it's not like this will happen overnight. Oh how I wish it would.

To temper any irritation over the waiting (which I should get used to) I received some exciting news from our family coordinator with AWAA. She told us that as soon as our homestudy is approved and finalized our family will be registered with CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority). That basically means that we will be registered with India's online database and will officially be waiting for a match! There is no telling how long we will wait for a match but just the fact that at any point we could receive a phone call is absolutely thrilling.

In light of this news I found that my prayers have shifted a bit. I am praying for wisdom and discernment as the Lord prepares our hearts for this little girl. May the Lord make his will clear concerning what child he has for us and may we step out in faith even if the end result looks different than we imagined. Not only have my prayers shifted but man do I have tons of questions floating around in my head. Will we know without a doubt that she is our daughter when we see her picture? How long will it take for us to be matched with a child? What comes next?

This journey is so crazy. Please continue to lift us and our daughter up in your prayers. For now we could use prayer that our homestudy would be completed soon and that our registration with CARA would go smoothly. We're making progress friends. I can't wait to see what God has in store next.

Bake Sale

We completed our first fundraising activity this past weekend. Our church rallied around us and provided the most amazing spread of baked goods I have ever seen. We had three tables full of food. The tables were so crowded with desserts that we had an overflow table in the back where we kept food until a spot opened up. Honestly as I gazed at the abundance of food I worried a bit and wondered, "How in the world are we going to sell ALL of this food?!?" Remember we live in a small town so our resources here are quite limited.

 

I should have trusted the Lord from the beginning because the rush of people we had from start to finish was phenomenal. We had a few down moments but most of the day was filled with sales. We sold whole pies, cobblers, cakes, cookies, tarts, brownies. You name it we had it. A good number of our brothers and sisters from church stayed the entire day to help out. The second picture was taken near the end of the day but by the time we wrapped things up even more goodies had been sold and we were able to fit the remaining baked goods on one small flat. In 5 hours we raised over $700. Talk about awesome!

As I look back at that day I feel overwhelmed again at the ways God provides and encourages us in this adoption journey. There was one specific moment during the day when I remember hearing a dear friend enthusiastically thank someone for purchasing food. She was genuinely thankful on behalf of us and her gratefulness overwhelmed me. Seeing our small gathering work with us to bring our daughter home is so humbling. 

Next up we are planning a yard sale at the beginning of October. I'll post an update on where we are in the adoption process in the coming days but for now, I'm rejoicing in God's goodness last weekend. 

Adoption Video

Jon's youngest brother Benjamin has worked so hard to put together a short video explaining a little bit about our adoption journey. If you have a few moments take some time to watch our story and pass it on. God continues to work in amazing ways to bring our daughter home.To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Big Step

This whole journey has been a learning process for me. Not only am I becoming very familiar with the paperwork and red tape associated with international adoption but I am learning in small ways more about God and what it looks like to trust Him daily.

We turned in a huge part of our home-study the other night. The information on this particular paper has been prayed over and discussed at length. Just turning it in was huge step of surrender for me. The paperwork I am speaking of is a special needs chart required by India concerning a waiting child adoption. The two page paper consists of a list of needs with spaces where we have to indicate which needs we feel our family can accept. Talk about heart-wrenching. Just the thought of saying no to needs makes me think of some child in India who will remain orphaned. Shew. Thankfully I have a rational half...my handsome hubby who sat down with me and helped me talk and pray through the separate needs. In the end there were some needs we had to say no to, especially considering the rural area in which we live and the resources at our disposal. Even now as I write this my heart feels heavy and every time I think of that chart I have to offer up a prayer of surrender to the Lord. In the end I know that nothing will stand in the way of what God desires for our family. This was a huge step for us and gets us even closer to bringing our daughter home.

Our small family continues to covet your prayers because behind the piles of paperwork and months of waiting there is a little girl somewhere in India who is without a family. My heart yearns for the day when I can hold her and tell her the story of how she came to us and how our great God wove this family together. There are days this mother's heart aches but praise God that he is using this period to refine my faith and  hopefully to show others the amazing love and faithfulness of a personal God. We are one more step closer to meeting our precious daughter.

Movin' Right Along

I am SO thrilled and relieved to say that we have finished the final visit of our home study. This past Monday afternoon our social worker came to our house to complete the home visit, which is basically a home inspection to show that our place is suitable for a child. Honestly this visit has had me incredibly stressed out. I knew our social worker was not coming in to see how clean my home was but I couldn't help from cleaning the house from top to bottom. It turns out that the visit was not even close to as thorough as I expected. It didn't hurt that our social worker is very laid back and continues to make us feel at ease every time we see him.

The home inspection just consisted of our social worker checking to make sure things were childproof, that we have working smoke detectors, a first aid kit, a fire extinguisher etc. He also wanted to check out the rooms of our house to make sure we had space for another child. We also sat down and answered a number of questions and went over what paperwork we have left to complete. Our worker was encouraging when he commented on how quickly we have been able to put together our paperwork. However in my mind this paperwork has seemed like a never ending process.

Now that the home visit is over and done with we only have a few more pieces of paperwork to turn in. By the end of this week we should only have two more small requirements to meet. I'm hoping and praying that we can have our paperwork complete by the end of June or beginning of July. Our social worker already told us that he is beginning to write out our home study so once those final pieces are in place we should be golden!!

Here is a short breakdown of where we go from here:
1.  Social worker writes 14 page home study.
2. The home study is then sent to AWAA to review. Once it is approved our social worker will then get the paper notarized.
3. Once the homestudy is notarized we will get it back along with numerous copies.
4.  Jon and I will then begin USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) paperwork and fingerprinting. All that paperwork is crucial because it will allow us to bring our daughter into the United States. Once the paperwork is filled out and sent in the review process takes 1.5-2.5 months.
5. During the wait for USCIS approval we will be compiling everything needed for our dossier.

Shew. Any questions?!?

Short Update

Friends and Family,

God continues to bless us far beyond anything we deserve and we are incredibly grateful. We are just past the 10% mark for our fundraising and for us that is a HUGE deal. Aside from money that Jon and I have poured into bringing our sweet daughter home, in a little less than 3 months we have raised over $4,000. Praise God!! This doesn't even count local fundraisers we hope to push in the coming months and adoption grants we can apply for once our home-study is complete.

As far as the home-study goes we are very close to completion. We have covered most of the costs associated with that portion of our journey. In the next month or two, once our home-study is written and completed, we will then have to submit a USCIS application and get our fingerprints taken. That process will cost close to $900. Yikes. Then once our dossier is complete we have over $6,000 we will need to pay to our agency for numerous expenses, including an international program fee, and second program fee. We have some money funneled away for those expenses but we don't have the full amount so I'm planning on working extra shifts in addition to praying for God's provision. He has yet to withhold anything we need so we are trusting His continued faithfulness. It's funny. I know we have some big expenses coming but God has proved himself so much in only a matter of months I can hardly find reason to doubt his love and care for our daughter as well as for our small family. Keep those prayers coming. Not every moment is filled with faith, trust and complete reliance on the Lord but we desire to honor Him through this whole process. He is growing us and I believe even now preparing us for our daughter.

Our final required meeting with our social worker takes place on Monday. Woohoo! He will come to our house for our home visit (home inspection). I'll have more to share once that takes place. Until then...you will find me frantically cleaning. ;-) More updates to come soon!

Mother's Day Thoughts

(I know this is a few days late but it took a little while to put my thoughts into words.)

As I celebrate the blessing of a godly mother in my own life I can't help but thank the Lord for the blessing of the sweet son he has granted to me and my husband. I love the craziness of our life. I love that my son runs to me when he needs a kiss or a hug to make everything better. I wouldn't trade the stress and lack of sleep for anything.

However, as I am reminded of God's great goodness through the blessing of my little boy I can't help but feel an ache in my heart on a day like Mother's Day. Our sweet family is separated from our daughter who is somewhere halfway across the world. My heart aches for her birth mother and whatever decisions and life experiences led her to surrender her daughter. Why must this world be so broken that families are torn apart? Why are there hundreds of thousands of orphans around the world? When my head begins to swirl with questions I remember that this isn't how things were intended. Although my desire for years has been to bring our daughter home from India the circumstances that led up to this point were not what God originally designed for his creation.

When He spoke this world into being there was no separation. There were no empty arms or aching hearts. But now everything is a mess. Sickness and death, prejudice and hate, loneliness and separation invade the cracks and crevices of this entire world and we all feel it. Aside from the fact that my children are already broken by sin they will also have to endure the brokenness of this world. One of my children already knows this reality too well. All I can think to do today is pray that the Lord can use our family to be a part of the healing process. May we in some small way live out the life giving, sin crushing, hope restoring, joy inducing, powerful reality of the Gospel.

There will be a day when the hugs and kisses won't just make the boo-boos go away so with that in mind I need to point my children to the One who brings complete healing and comfort. May this adoption journey be a reminder to those looking on that Christ came to restore a broken world. He came to undo all that sin had ravaged. Let us live lives that continually point to the One who has given everything so that we might become sons and daughters of God. Let us address the brokenness of the world head on and display the grace and love that we have been given. Let us love not with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Interviews Complete

Yesterday we met with our social worker for the second time. We handed over a stack of completed paperwork (woohoo!) and then sat down for a two hour interview process. Shew. I didn't really know what to expect with the interviews but they weren't bad at all. Jon and I recently turned in our autobiographies and our social worker just spent time clarifying a few things and asked a handful of other questions. Our next meeting will take place the second week of June, which feels painfully far away. However we have a few things we need to get in order prior to that visit.

The meeting in June will be our actual home-study. During that visit our social worker will complete a home safety inspection. He told me that visit should only take about 45 minutes. According to our social worker that meeting will be our last required meeting. How crazy is that?!? I'm assuming we may need to sit down with him one more time to discuss in detail our plans concerning special needs. We still need to talk with him and share what research we have completed and what needs we feel able to take on. Researching needs, praying and talking through what we feel God's calling for our family may be has been difficult to say the least. It's heartbreaking to know that there are needs we feel unable to meet. However we know that as we pray and seek the Lord he will lead us to the exact child he has for us. That day seems so far away!

So, as you can see we are slowly checking off our long to-do list. Honestly it feels unending. As soon as we accomplish one thing there are ten more papers we need to compile. We need continued prayers dear friends. Here are some requests you can lift up in the coming days and weeks.

Prayer Requests:

#1- Prayer for continued perseverance with trainings (we have 10 hours of Hague training to complete), paperwork and document collecting. This process is long and it is easy to feel overwhelmed. We need to continue to stay on top of this paperwork.

#2- Continued prayer for financial contributions. There are some fairly costly items we need to take care of in order to complete our home-study. Once our home-study is complete we can begin to apply for grants but until then we are on our own. Praise God that has been so faithful thus far. Pray that He will continue to provide and that we would rest in His perfect timing.

#3- Please pray that we would have discernment as we make decisions concerning special needs. We are open to quite a few things right now however there are some we still need to research and pray over. 

#4- Pray for our daughter. Pray for her safety. Pray for her heart, that deep down she would know she has a family coming to get her.

Thank you all for the continued prayers. God is moving mountains and bringing us step by step closer to our daughter. We could not be more grateful!

Words of Encouragement

 I wanted to share a short devotion from John Piper that served to bring me encouragement yesterday. Hopefully it does the same for you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

God’s mercies are new every morning because each day only has enough mercy in it for that day.

This is why we tend to despair when we think that we may have to bear tomorrow’s load on today’s resources. God wants us to know: We won’t. Today’s mercies are for today’s troubles. Tomorrow’s mercies are for tomorrow’s troubles.

Sometimes we wonder if we will have the mercy to stand in terrible testing. Yes, we will. Peter says, “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4:14). When the reviling comes the Spirit of glory comes. It happened for Stephen as he was being stoned. It will happen for you. When the Spirit and the glory are needed they will come.

The manna in the wilderness was given one day at a time. There was no storing up. That is the way we must depend on God’s mercy. You do not receive today the strength to bear tomorrow’s burdens. You are given mercies today for today’s troubles.

Tomorrow the mercies will be new. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).

Home-study Orientation

Well we are now officially in the midst of our home-study. For some funny reason the home-study has always made me feel a bit nervous but after meeting our social worker (sw) Monday morning I feel completely at ease. He is super personable and what was supposed to be an hour long meeting was more like an hour long conversation. We talked about our mutual love of the San Francisco Bay area as well as the all important paperwork we need to complete as part of our home-study.

Once we got down to business our sw gave us a large 3-ring binder containing more paperwork (shocker...) but also a ton of helpful information. Before I explain what this process will look like for us let me first say that home-studies will look different for each state and will even be influenced by the specific country a family is adopting from. No two home-studies are exactly alike which can be a bit frustrating when it comes to finding answers to the numerous questions a first time adoptive parent may have during this process.

Anyway, our social worker walked us through the paperwork we need to compile (copies of birth certificates, marriage license, physical exams, police clearance, financial statements, employee verification letters, autobiographies, online trainings, reading lists etc). Our next meeting with our worker will take place April 29th and will consist of a number of interviews, one with Jon, one with me and then one with the two of us together. Those interviews will count as our next two meetings. The final meeting will serve as our actual home-study where our social worker will come to our house and make sure it meets safety requirements to house a second child.

Once all of those meetings are complete our social worker will condense all of the home-study information into a 14 page document which will be submitted as part of our dossier. Apparently 20+ pages is the norm but India specified that any home-study submitted to them only be 14 pages long. There are more steps before submitting our home-study but to be quite honest I'm not entirely sure what that will look like quite yet.

All in all the meeting was incredibly encouraging. In the course of the hour and a half our worker had some nice things to say about America World. He mentioned that he has worked with numerous agencies and America World is by far one of the best he has ever worked with. We continue to hear stellar reviews and comments from people concerning their experiences with AWAA. What a beautiful reminder of God's calling and leading. He certainly brought us to the right organization.

One Step At A Time

 "Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light for my path."

- Psalm 119:105

Have you ever tried to walk around in the dark with the aid of a lamp? Lamps don't produce much light, normally just enough to keep you from tripping and allowing you to see only the next step or two ahead. Even though this adoption process is still in the very beginning stages I am starting to see that same provision from the Lord.

When we stepped out in obedience we knew God's call but we in no way had the resources to accomplish His plan. It has only been a couple of weeks and we have seen God's provision all over the place. Just the other day Jon and I were talking about finances and what we would need to pay the homestudy fee and lo and behold God stepped in. Through the extra income of my part time job and the faithful obedience of His children (our sweet friends and family) He took care of that need. It started out as a trickle and then a big wave and as it stands now, we have what is needed to complete the next step in the process, no more, no less. Isn't God amazing?!?!

Terms and like such as...

For our friends and family who are unfamiliar with international adoption here is a small list of some phrases that will pop-up in the coming weeks and months.


Paper Chase (a.k.a. the paper pregnancy)- This refers to the beginning process of adoption. Once a family has been accepted into a country program the paper chase begins. This time period normally lasts between 3-6 months as the adoptive parents assemble all the needed paperwork for their dossier. Some of the paperwork included in this process is background checks, fingerprints, home study completion, health screenings, financial statements etc. Aside from travel fees this is one of the most expensive times in the adoption process.

Dossier- This just refers to the collection of all the paperwork completed during the paper chase. Once finalized this packet will be sent to our agency, checked for accuracy and then mailed to India where it will processed.

Home Study- This takes place in the initial stages of the paper chase. Once an adoptive family is accepted into a certain program than the family arranges the start of the Home Study process. Our organization (AWAA) is approved to provide home studies in our state so we will work with them. The home study process involves more paperwork as well as a social worker coming to our house and asking lots of questions to assess our ability to "provide a loving home, our motivation for adopting internationally, and our expectations of our adoptive child." (AWAA, Home Study Information). Honestly this process seems the most daunting to me but from everyone I have talked with I hear that the social workers are very much on the side of the adoptive family and are their biggest advocate. The social worker's desire is to help these families prepare for their new addition in the best way possible.

Waiting Period- Once your dossier is submitted to the country from which you are adopting most of the work on your end is done (accept raising support) and now comes the waiting period. This is the period between the completion of the dossier and the referral. There is no telling how long we will end up waiting.

Referral- Wooooohooo....this makes me excited! This is when you receive the information of a particular child that your family has been matched with. There are two ways that our family can be matched with a child. When our dossier is submitted to India we will be assigned to a particular orphanage. If there is a child there who meets our criteria we could get matched through that route. Our family coordinator also has access to the India waiting children's database. She could locate a child through the database and match us that way. A referral will contain the profile of your child, medical history and...a picture! Once we receive a referral we will then contact a doctor who specializes in assessing international adoptions who will then review the child's information. After reviewing the information the doctor will explain what exact needs this child has, any areas of concern to consider and what care for the child would look like. Once our family sees all that information and we decide to accept the referral we will complete acceptance paperwork which will then be returned to AWAA. After the referral is accepted more paperwork needs to be done on the India side of things. Once all the t's have been crossed and all the i's dotted we will finally get word to travel.

So there are some common terms used in the adoption process. For those family members reading this, are there any other things you may have questions about? Currently we are just now beginning the paper chase so as this process continues I'm sure we will be able to explain in more detail what exactly this process looks like.

Step One- Initial Paperwork

We sent in our first stack of paperwork last week and after explaining that process to a few people I thought it might be helpful to blog about what each step entails as I try and keep friends and family in the loop. This may also give a little insight into the whole international adoption process, mountains of paperwork and all.

After being accepted into the India program we received a lengthy email including tons of information as well as 10 or so attachments which all needed to be signed and returned along with our first program fee. Included in the whole assortment of papers were documents such as:

• India Program Family Service Plan
• India Post Adoption Agreement
• India Program Disclaimer
• India Homestudy Agreement
• Client Rights and Responsibilities
• America World Adoption Agreement 

That list isn't even complete. We pretty much signed our lives away when we sent in those documents and the first check. This may sound weird but up until the paperwork was signed and mailed I felt overwhelmed, scared, and uncertain just to name a few of the emotions. I was so tempted to doubt God's call. I kept thinking about finances and wondering how in the world we could afford to take this on. The weight of the decision we had in front of us seemed immense. However once all that initial paperwork was placed in the mail I honestly felt at peace. First gigantic step of faith has been taken...here we go!!

God uses a Village...

Our God is a God that does really big things. And adoption is definitely one of those really big things.  For a young couple doing ministry in rural Kentucky to fly halfway around the world to pick up a little girl and bring her home into her new family is a nearly unthinkable reality.  When God moves like that, it's amazing to watch His power on glorious display.  It's also humbling to realize how little your effort can accomplish without Him.

If you're reading this blog, you're already invested in some way in our adoption.  Most likely you're already praying for us and following the tiny first steps of our journey with the same joy and anticipation that we are feeling.  And, you probably realize that this is something that can't be done alone.  The wonderful thing about God is that He uses us in His incredible, huge, amazing plan.  That's why I'm writing this post...how can God use you?

God has called us to this and we're ready to obey Him.  But despite His incredible blessings in our lives, we don't have the $35,000 or so that is required to complete this process.  Rather than an obstacle to God's plans and purposes, that's actually an opportunity.  If we had the money, we could fool ourselves into thinking that we could handle this ourselves.  But, since we don't, we're reminded once again that we have to rely on Him; it's an opportunity to trust Him and ultimately, give Him the glory.

This is an opportunity for you, too.  We need your help, to give out of all that God has given to you to help make God's plan and purpose through this adoption a reality.  We prayerfully ask you to consider supporting this adoption financially.  There's no obligation of course...that's not the point.  Instead, we're asking that you allow yourself to be used by God to demonstrate His faithfulness in our lives.  This is a beautiful picture of why God calls His people into community together...so that He can use us to demonstrate His love to one another.

We have set up an online fundraising site that is a convenient way both to give and to track the progress of the Lord's faithfulness. That link can be found below, and there is also a link to the site on the right side of this page as well.

Help Bring Our Little Girl Home

We are also in the midst of setting up an account with our agency which will allow people to send tax deductible donations directly to our agency. As soon as we have that in place I will post that information.

Please also consider spreading the word by posting the links to the fundraising page on your facebook or blog. We cannot do this alone, but nothing is to big for our great God. Every prayer prayed, every amount given, great or small, helps us take one step closer to fulfilling the plan God has set out for us.

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

- Ephesians 3:16-21

Waiting Children? What does that mean?

In my last post I mentioned that we had been accepted into the India Waiting Children's program with America World. For those who may not completely understand what that means I would love to share briefly about what this decision will look like for our family.

Any child included in such a program (at least for the country of India) is a healthy child 7 + years old, sibling groups, or younger children with "special needs." The idea of special needs concerning international adoption can be very different than what we might typically consider special needs in the United States. Special needs encompasses a wide variety of issues from something as simple as a poorly placed birthmark, low birth weight to more severe needs that would require surgery like a cleft lip or palate, heart conditions, and club feet. Then there are permanent disabilities such as missing limbs, blood disorders, hearing and vision impairments...the list goes on and on.

So where exactly do we fall in all of this? Jon and I feel led very strongly to a child with some sort of special need. At this point in time we cannot say exactly what that will look like. We have already begun praying and asking the Lord to make his will clear. Along with prayer we have also started reading quite a bit of material to learn about the multitude of needs that are out there. We long to be obedient to the Lord no matter the call but right now we have no specifics. If you feel led please join us in praying for guidance in this area.

We had not originally planned to go this route, but God doesn't always work the way we think he will.  Choosing to adopt a child who is "different" may not make sense to some, but as a Christan it stirs my heart. Were we not broken before Christ came and healed us? Our helplessness may not have been visible on the outside but we were a mess, yet God chose to love us despite our brokenness and sin. Through his Spirit working in us, God has given his Church a heart for the world and for our family, that looks like this. James states that, "religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." This isn't about a physical deformity or a category of care, it's about living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We've Been Accepted!

Is this really happening?!? I mean, I had hoped this day would come but it still seems so surreal. Last Thursday we submitted our adoption application to America World along with our application fee, family photo, and letter of intent. Today we got the news...we have been accepted into the America World family as part of the India waiting children program!! I intend on writing more on how this finally came about but for now I just wanted to share this awesomely exciting news. God has heard our prayers and has opened the door to bring our daughter home! Praise Him for granting our family the chance to show those around us his amazing faithfulness as we begin this adoption journey!  Stay tuned for more news as we bring you along for the ride. Pray for us dear friends.We have so many mixed emotions knowing that now this is actually happening. We are thrilled, terrified, anxious, thankful, and that is in no way a comprehensive list. This is gonna be crazy. God make your glory known!

Picture Made By Elisabeth

Faith

My God,

I bless thee that thou hast given me the eye

       of faith,

   to see thee as Father,

   to know thee as a covenant God,

   to experience thy love planted in me;

For faith is the grace of union

   by which I spell out my entitlement to thee:

Faith casts my anchor upwards

   where I trust in thee

   and engage thee to be my Lord.

Be pleased to live and move within me,

   breathing in my prayers,

   inhabiting my praises,

   speaking in my words,

   moving in my actions,

   living in my life,

   causing me to grow in grace.

Thy bounteous goodness has helped me believe,

   but my faith is weak and wavering,

     its light dim,

     its steps tottering,

     its increase slow,

     its backslidings frequent;

It should scale the heavens, but lies grovelling

     in the dust.

Lord, fan this divine spark into glowing flame.

When faith sleeps, my heart becomes

   an unclean thing,

   the fount of every loathsome desire,

   the cage of unclean lusts

   all fluttering to escape,

     the noxious tree of deadly fruit,

     the open wayside of earthly tares.

Lord, awake faith to put forth its strength

   until all heaven fills my soul

   and all impurity is cast out.

(The Valley of Vision)

Bye Bye Debt

Today marks a huge day for us as a family. We have officially paid off every penny of our credit card debt!! Praise the Lord! Praise Him that He provided a job for me. Praise Him that He granted me the health to complete that job. Praise God that He burdened my husband to lead us to take care of this debt in the first place. In the end this entire journey is all about God's glory anyway and I don't want a day like today to go wasted. I'm just incredibly thankful for God's provision and I wanted to take a moment to rejoice in that!!

Reminders

This was the front cover of our bulletin at church today. When I caught a glimpse of it I almost started to cry...What is wrong with me?!? Good grief.

Well at the end of this month CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority) will be meeting to work on some issues concerning Indian adoptions. I have already prayed quiet a bit for this meeting and would like to ask anyone reading this to join in with me. Here are specific requests you can begin lifting up to the Lord. These requests came straight from AWAA.

- For the adoption meetings February 19—21^st. For CARA, agencies and RIPA’s (Recognized Indian Placement Agencies) to find solutions and processes to continue working together and for productive meetings and good relationship building

     - For the program to reopen quickly  

     - For more children to be registered for adoption.

 

     - For more RIPA’s to be able to complete adoptions, for more families open to children with medical needs or older children.

I am not expecting to hear any news concerning India until March but I guess there is always a chance. AWAA will be sending delegates over to India to take part in these meetings so I will hear first hand if there is any news on that front. Please join me in praying for God to move mightily in the country of India. There are 30 MILLION orphans in India and although bringing one home seems like a drop in the bucket I pray that our journey will spur others on to take on the Lord's heart for the fatherless.

Wondering in the wilderness has never felt so sweet

I haven't posted much since news of the India program's temporary closure. I went through quite a bit of wrestling as the Lord pruned and taught me more about himself and in turn showed areas of sin in my own life. This pruning, growing, waiting period of time has been painful and hard but there is a sweetness about it that I cannot deny.

In December only a few weeks after hearing of the closure the Lord used a Sunday school lesson to speak volumes into my life. It was a simple message concerning the fall of man in Genesis. Let me share a small portion of that lesson.

"The main reason people sin is because we don't trust God. We don't really believe that He is going to provide, which is why we go out looking for things ourselves...

We grab for things because he think God is going to hold out on us. With our fists clenched around the things of this world, we scream, 'How can I know? How can I truly trust that You are for me.'

God could look back at us in fury for doubting Him again. Who are we that we should demand God demonstrate anything? Yet we see Him answer this through the apostle Paul in Romans 8:32: 'He did not even spare his own Son but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything?'

God's answer to our wandering hearts is found in Jesus. If He will not withhold His only Son to bring about our good, how much more can we be confident that He will give us all things that work together for our good?"

I remember crying as I read through that lesson as God so graciously showed me how I was doubting Him. I so often believed that I knew what was best. I was angry over this wait because deep down I knew that my timing was best. I was upset that things weren't going "according to plan." There was such a beatiful release that took place in the wee hours of that morning. There was a surrendering that needed to happen and since that night I have not struggled with anger and paralyzing doubt.

Now sure I have my days when things are tough and I struggle to remember the truth that God is good and that he is working everything out for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes. I am beginning to say that wholeheartedly realizing that even if God were to completely close the door on an adoption from India I can still trust his goodness and know that he will guide us to the next place. I am more willing to listen and obey than I was at the end of last year and I praise God for his work in my heart. So we continue to wait but I thank the Lord that he has made this time sweet. I am utterly grateful.