Category: ADOPTION

My husband and I started going through the paperwork for grants and we started to notice a common theme…a lot of them want you to have your home study completed and approved before they will  give out grants. The thing is, … to complete the home study it costs about $3,000.00

Everyone knows adoption is expensive so you try to have some type of financial plan in place to make things happen. Jason and I had that and it included working on grants first but then running into the “home study needs to be approved first” situation caused us to do more financial brainstorming.

Jason began looking into other jobs to take up with his financial experience until tax season because on top of his full time job he is also a tax pro at H&R Block during the tax season and my full time job is pretty busy so I took up an additional direct sales job ( that I LOVE!) that can be flexible with my current job and then Pinterest became our best friend. We started pinning like crazy, looking for adoption fundraising ideas , ( gofundme is a great tool but other fundraising ideas are even more helpful) while we are in the midst of still finishing paperwork, getting ready to move, working….lets just say life is BUSY even beyond getting ready for the adoption but that’s the season we are in and it’s okay. Anything good is worth working hard for! So back from my commercial… On Pinterest we found out about a site called “Fund The Nations” … LOVE their mission !!( check them out http://www.fundthenations.com/ ). Great causes affect people in positive ways but it takes money to fund those causes, so I love how this organization uses shirts to help fund individuals life callings and/or steps of faith. We will continue working on more fundraisers but we are hoping that at least this one will help us get past the home study.

If you would like to be a part of our journey and purchase a shirt , all of the information will be in the “Donate” section of the blog.

More adoption paperwork. More Filing out grants.

With a regular workday and the up keep you have to do for your own relationship , these are the times you request that there are more hours in a day.

I keep reminding myself that the work it will take to gain our baby will be worth it when we finally get to see his or hers face. But can I tell you the truth. The wait is hard someday’s so forgive me if I am not on my A game personality or shinning smile, yet God sends things to my husband and I to encourage us through it all.

The other day we were watching America’s Got Talent and a young man got up to sing. Deep green eyes , singing with all of his soul, telling his story through his words and the strums on his guitar.

They showed his life story and he said that he was put in foster care due to his parents not being the best and it was hard during the years of waiting for someone to come adopt him and love him. He said that he would smile at anyone that would come through the foster care doors for the hopes he would soon be adopted. He felt like unwanted luggage. Until one day…..he met the person who would adopt him and that changed his world completely.

The term “unwanted” hit me so hard. The tears were running down my face as I saw him hug his mom after his performance. She was so proud! She was crying, he was crying and I was crying and my husband was somewhere walking around the house LOL.

That story amongst others continue to give me the hope to press forward until our baby is here in our arms.

My friend who is going through adoption also encouraged me to write the good times down and the things that encourage me about the adoption process so I can reflect on those things when the roller coasters come because they will come.

It was time.

We filled out the  domestic infant application. Jason and I prayed over it before hitting the submit button and then it was time to wait.

It was probably a day later after all was reviewed and we got an email saying ” You are APPROVED!” Oh My Lord ! Jason and I were so excited !

Even though it is  the beginning we know it is the start to something great. Needless to say every store we walk in to that is even a little baby related my husband is taking pictures and writing notes to prepare for fatherhood. It is so sweet to see 🙂

It is always interesting to hear other peoples reactions when you tell them you are going to adopt. To be completely honest, our friends, work  and church family have been  so supportive and have been so excited for us. When it has come to family members … we have experienced a few that haven’t had the most encouraging things to say. We have experienced the “so why are you doing that?” type of tone or outright suggestions on how to get pregnant naturallyinstead, or the ” (us)we are having a baby” , “( them) YAAY!!” ” (us) through adoption” ” (them) Oh (tone drops completely)….well that’s nice…I will be praying for you” type of conversations, etc.

While at the same time there are those  family members and friends that are already planning the baby shower and the baby isn’t even here yet haha!

The reactions are not a downplay to anyone… its reality and something we know other friends that have adopted have gone through. Some people just don’t get it at first but they will come around. And if they don’t that’s on them because we are pursuing the path God has paved for us.

The journey of adoption always brings me to thoughts of the Bible and how Jesus was asked multiple times why he was talking to a particular person or inviting someone in that others cast away; believers have been adopted into the kingdom also when they give their life to God, etc. For Jason and I, this journey to adoption is more than just ” a thing to do” it is a calling. It is Gods plan and destiny for our lives and the way we are called to parent. If God would have lead us to the area of medicine to create another avenue for pregnancy then that is the way we would of gone but it wasn’t and we were okay with it. Even the many times we have been told, ” so many people adopt and then get pregnant, that will probably happen to you too”, its like if that’s Gods will then so be it but if not we are fine just with this path. When we give that answer back, it can still seem like a struggle for others to take in. When you step out on faith ( which within our personal testimony just within our marriage we have done multiple times) and you just do what God is calling you to do there is such a peace that comes from it that others may not understand and at the end of the day you have to surrender those people to God and KEEP moving in the direction God has destined you to go because if you divert from your path just because of the naysayers, you may just miss out on your greatest blessing. Over and over again we have seen Gods faithfulness when we have stepped out on faith and because he is the same God today as he was yesterday we know things will be okay 🙂

( check out James 1:27)

We have a heart for all children so if we could adopt a child from each sector, TRUST, we would! We felt the most lead to do domestic infant adoption and we know that foster care adoption will be the next step that we will take a time after this first adoption ( see in our minds and hearts we ultimately want 5 children to adopt…only God could give us a love so big but it is there for sure but of course we have to take one step at a time).  We are going through Bethany Christian Services for our adoption ( http://www.bethany.org/ )  and they are FABULOUS to work with! They are so on top of things and they make sure that any couple that gets involved in adoption is well informed. We love them!

I heard my first full run through of adoption at a training that was being given at work and I was overwhelmed. I came home and could hardly go into all the details with my husband without saying every 5 mins, “I just feel overwhelmed.”  I said” how in the world are we  going to jump through all of these hoops to get our baby!?”  All I could think about was prices and deadlines and requirements. Honestly it was too much at one time and my husband was doing his best to comfort me but I was still having a hard time resting in all of the information I received. I went to my PCOS ladies ( in the closed forum I spoke about previously) and I expressed my frustrations and worries.

{See if anything came of this whole experience of learning about this diagnosis, it was that being able to create life was a miracle. I could truly see Gods hand at work after studying the anatomy of a women and all that it takes to conceive. The truth is, even if you can’t conceive, women still have such a piece of themselves that are born to nurture. At least that’s what I felt it was for me. I was born to do and be a lot of things but nurturing and mothering was always part of my DNA .}

The women in the forum started to encourage me and remind me of the things I already knew. There was some little person out there waiting for us to come get them, who was going to be a blessing to us and we would be a blessing to them as well.

One of the other ladies also encouraged me not to look at the entire process but to take it step by step because looking at the entire process all of the time could be a bit overwhelming.

After that day, my husband and I started pursuing the adoption process confidently and didn’t let  fear get to us because we knew we were called to this 🙂