It's official - We're home study approved! That means we can put a big ol' check mark by the first step in our adoption process.
I do have one thing to say about the home study...
Having the interview and home inspection with a 4 and 5 year old in the house is NUTS! The visit lasted about four hours and the kids were jumping off the walls. Plus, the kids had to be interviewed, and if you know Selah and Judah, you can probably guess how this part of the visit went. I won't go into detail, but at one point the following thought crossed my mind: "We're trying to bring a child into our home, not have the two we already have removed!" Regardless, we survived, and this part of the process is complete!
The simple answer is - get matched with a birth mother. However, there's a little more to it than that. We are currently applying with agencies and attorneys and researching ways to get our info out to prospective birth mothers. We had a beautiful book made about our family that includes pictures and a letter to expectant moms. Getting those into the right hands is our goal now. All that being said, we would so appreciate your prayers as we navigate these decisions. We have worked hard to save money for this adoption, and our desire is to be good stewards with the resources God has blessed us with. At times, it's overwhelming trying to decide who to apply with and what direction to go. There is soooo much information, multiple tiny details to consider, and lots of fees involved.
Also, will you start to pray for our birth mother? We don't know who she is, where she's at, or what her situation is, but we do know that God is orchestrating things already to cross our paths (how cool is that). We know that adoption comes from a place of brokenness, and we want to cover our birth mother in prayer, even now. Will you partner with us in that? Pray for her health, heart, and mind. Pray for the precious baby she's either already carrying or will carry soon. Pray for peace and assurance in the decisions she's making. Our heart is for her, and we pray that we will have the opportunity love her well.
The Elephant In The Room..
I have dreaded this part of the post, but it's time to put it out there and swallow my pride... Adoption is expensive. It sucks, but it's something we can't control. We are looking at an adoption budget of around $40,000 (I know - cray, cray). We've been able to save half of that on our own, but that leaves about $20,000 that we need to raise via grants and fundraising. To be honest, we have been discouraged and hesitant about fundraising. However, as expensive as it is - as hard or impossible as it may seem - We are also convinced that one of the purest and most undefiled demonstrations of the gospel is to move towards hard places and broken people, not away from them. Yes, adoption comes from a broken place. Yes, the financial and emotional costs are hard. But also yes, God can be glorified through brokenness. God can reverse destinies, and God can move mountains! He's done it over and over again throughout history, in the lives of our families and friends, and even in our previous adoption journey(s). We're not going to let fear or pride hinder us from being obedient. All that to say... Fundraising officially kicks off today. There are some potential specific fundraisers in the works, but our Paypal donation link is active - check it out here: Paypal Donation. We are also applying for every grant we can and are committed to work hard, save as much as possible on our own, and bust our butts fundraising.
If you are able, we would definitely appreciate your financial partnership. But even more than that, we are grateful for those who can partner with us in prayer - that's worth just as much or more than any monetary gift.