Adoption... counting the cost

Adoption is not easy, if anyone says it is they are crazy, it is however worth every bit of struggle.  We have had a lot of highs and lows since our journey began.  We have filled out a mess of paperwork, and that part isn't over yet.  We have cried, we have laughed, and sometimes we have cried and laughed at the same time (ok so that was more "me" than "we"). Restarting this blog has caused me to reflect over the last year.  It seems unreal that a whole year has gone by since we officially started this journey.   There are days when we wonder how we will be able to take the next step, wonder how we can pay the next fee,  but God has been so very faithful to us.  He has surrounded us with very loving and faithful friends and family, who have been willing to give of their time, their energy, their heart and many times their hard earned money.  I hope each and every one of them know that we do not take it for granted.  We are truly blessed.  I have found myself feeling very humbled by these many times throughout this process. I had one such moment this past Sunday, we had a team of people helping us sell tickets, and they were making their way through the church, working hard to make this next event a success. As I watched them come and go to our table, I felt once again overwhelmed at their kindness their love for us and our daughter, but mostly their love for God. 

Our next event is this Friday, with lots of help and some generous donations, we have put together a dinner/ silent auction. We have a wonderful speaker from Hope For 100, Tim Clark, he is a former missionary, and also worked for CPS, mostly he is a man with a heart for God and a heart for orphans. We are praying and believing for a great night.  Not just for financial blessings, but that hearts will be touched, and the seed of someone else's adoption journey will be planted.  That is our heart, that every child have a home, that not one child fall asleep with an aching heart or an empty tummy, that they be clothed and fed and wrapped tightly in the arms of a family who love them. 

So the lessons are:
 *Yes adoption is hard... but also an overwhelming blessing
 *You have to ask for help, this is also very hard, but when you do, you find an amazing gift from God, you
    find friendship.
 *Trust God, when He says do something... He is always faithful, He will not leave you to "go it alone".

I will try to remember to tell you more about our baby girl and our family tomorrow :)

Getting you up to date.

It has been a long time since that original post.  We have come so far on our journey.... We not only completed our homestudy, but we moved back to Texas and updated it again.  We chose an agency, found our little on on a waiting child list.  She is from China and is now 3 1/2 years old.  Our oldest daughter is profoundly deaf, so we knew when we started this journey we wanted to adopt another deaf child. We have gotten our I800A approved by the US government. We have pre-approval from China, and have completed our dossier. our log in date (LID) should be any day now.  Now we wait.  We wait as China reviews our paperwork and gives us final approval, and approval to travel.  We have been told this process can take 5-7 months, we are praying it goes quickly.  Our daughter is blessed to be in a foster home, where she is loved and cared for, although she has not yet been taught any form of sign language.  We have been told she communicates with gestures to her foster parents.  This child is already knit together with our family, she is my daughter, and my heart aches for her.  I want to hold her in my arms and wrap her up in our love, and in the love of her heavenly father.  For now we will be content to work and raise the funds we will need to complete this journey. I will post more later... Thanks for sharing this journey with us....

The Beginning (Originally posted on another blog, June 3,2010)

I am not sure exactly when my heart started to open to adoption.  I believe it has been a long time coming.  I sat through many sermons and heard countless stories, every one tugging at my heart.   I would be overwhelmed momentarily with a desire to do something.  This feeling grew each time I heard someones story, or read verses like James 1:27.  These little twinges grew into massive heart ache.  My heart hurts for every child who has no one to call Daddy and Mommy.  I believe God has so gently led my family to a place where now our heart cries for those who spend their days crying for love.  In the beginning all I could think was, "My kids are almost grown".  I thought of all the things I did not have, I saw all of my failures and imperfections.  The bottom line was, I was scared, scared to try and fail, scared to be judged.  As I walked through the pre-decision process I took my thoughts to my husband.  I shared all my fears with him.  He, like me, at first saw all the things we are not.  He saw the need, he understood the desire, and agreed it was a good thing.  The issue was... was it for us? Were we called?  Somewhere along the way, something clicked in us.  We realized through studying Gods word, through seeking out verses about the orphan, or caring for others, that adoption clearly lined up with Gods heart.  His word tells us over and over again to care for the orphan and the widow and the alien... I am new to blogging but will try to add a list soon of all the scriptures we have found pertaining to adoption, or the care of those who are helpless.  We truly believe after reading all those verses, that we don't even need to ask, "Is this Gods will for us?".  I only need to ask myself "Will I say yes?".  I have never done anything in my life that feesl more right.  I have never found a cause I believe is closer to Gods heart.  I don't know what this journey holds for us.  I have no idea how it will end but we have chosen to say yes.  I have a renewed faith that says, that in saying yes, God will walk thought this with us.  We have begun our homestudy and I will tell you more about the child we are looking for in my next blog.  There is so much story to tell, so much history to share with you.  For now I will leave you with this challenge.  If you are reading these words, then God has called you to care for the orphan and the widow.  Here is what I ask;  We are like most families, we do not have a bank account overflowing with money.  We are stepping out on complete faith believing that God will help us meet each goal.  Trusting that through our families hard work and Gods favor and blessing that He will see us through to our miracle.  So I ask you to open your heart, allow yourself to think "Maybe there is something I can do".  Right now things seem very scary for us, but I am asking you to take a leap of faith with us.   Right now when it seems there are a million roadblocks ahead, a million huge mountains to climb, leap with us.  If you need to sit back and watch awhile, let God show you what a willing heart and childlike faith in God can do, then follow us a while.  This is His miracle, we are just lucky enough to get to be a part of it.