Leap of Faith

You may have noticed the change in our blog header... we have changed the name of our blog to...
Waiting on SEVEN.

Yes, it's true.  We are taking a complete leap of faith and following what God is calling us to do.  We were provisionally approved by AWAA for a concurrent adoption.  In these last few days I have spent numerous hours on the phone and online searching out agencies, timelines, costs, etc.  The way this all came about is just crazy and seems quite spontaneous....but we have no doubts this is right for our family.

(If you haven't read my previous post, you may want to do so before reading this one...may be a little easier to understand)


Many different agencies will tell you that you cannot adopt from the DRC if you have more than 2 children already at home.  When we first started the adoption process we didn't even consider the fact that those types of requirements could be waived in certain cases (and therefore didn't even look at the DRC).  When we decided to go ahead with a concurrent adoption we would have totally overlooked the Congo if it weren't for our social worker, Larissa. 


As soon as we told her we were thinking about a concurrent adoption she was thinking the DRC for our family (her family has recently accepted a referral from the DRC!!).  She did know one of our big concerns was the funding, but being a Godly women, she knew we should not put monetary concerns as our road block. 

Larissa quickly got me in contact with A Love Beyond Borders and from there we were hooked.  As I said in the previous post, we always knew we would SOME DAY adopt two children....just didn't know it would come this quickly.    God obviously had a plan for our family and the children we will welcome into our home!!!!!  How absolutely perfect will it be to have two African children to grow in our home together?!?!??  They will share some cultural background and will have each other to share their life experiences with.

Soooo....we have mailed in our application to A Love Beyond Borders for a baby girl from the DRC!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I still cannot believe it.  We are still unsure how the funding will come together but we are certain this is right.  We are certain this is God's plan for our family. 

A few details into what this is looking like for our family:

1.  ALBB agency does not currently have a wait list for the DRC.  That means we are (as soon as our contract is in their hands) #1 on their baby girl list.
2. They are anticipating (not set in stone but a good guess) that as soon as our paperwork is ready we will get a referral for a baby girl within 1-3 months.
3.  After we accept our referral our dossier will be sent, a court date will be set up, certification and paperwork will be done in the DRC, we wait for the USCIS to give us the okay to bring this child home, and then we travel to pick our baby girl up!  The process from referral to being home will be a 5-6 month time frame.
4. We are currently # 70 on the unofficial wait list through America World for our Ethiopian adoption. 
5. After welcoming home a baby girl from the DRC we will be changing our request for EITHER gender 0-2 from Ethiopia.
6. Nothing is official (as things continue to change with wait times in Ethiopia) but we are expecting a wait time of 1-3 years for a referral from Ethiopia. 
7. We will have at least a year between welcoming our two children home.  If we feel like we need more time, AWAA will allow us to keep our "spot in line" until we are ready to welcome our second child home.

To be honest, I am scared.  I have no hesitancies about welcoming these children into our home.  BUT, the finances are going to be tough.  We are willing to sacrafice so we can help these children.  I cannot even type the numbers we will need for both adoptions...but we are open, willing, and ready to face what is needed to make it work.


PLEASE be praying for our family and for the finances to come together.  I will be posting many updates...posts, timeline, info about the DRC, etc in the next few days!
Our inspiration today:

You are the helper of the fatherless. LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more. 

Psalms 10:14,17-18

On Thursday night after I wrote my last blog post, Bobby and I were sitting on the couch and Eli came up to me out of the blue and said, "Mommy, you should trust Jesus."  He had no clue what we were wrestling with.  I asked why he said that and he responded, "I just wanted you to know that."  I just love when God uses my children to open my eyes.  I pray each day that they continue to live their lives with faith like a child.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love from our family to yours!

Here we go again!

Well, it looks like God may be answering some prayers in a VERY different way than we had expected!  If you read my previous post you know that we have really been praying and hoping to welcome a little one into our family in 2012.  Of course we thought if that were to happen, it would be a child from Ethiopia. 

We signed an application today with America World to pursue a concurrent adoption.  The wait times for Ethiopia have increased in the last few months and it is projected that the wait times will only continue to increase at this time.  Not only do the wait times continue to increase, but we are #70 on the "unofficial" wait list through our agency.  Nothing is confirmed, but Bobby and I feel we are being realistic in thinking/preparing for a MUCH longer wait than we had anticipated (maybe into a couple or a few years).

That realization made us really start questioning what our role is supposed to be NOW in caring for orphans.  Our hearts are 100% open to welcoming a child SOON.  As soon as we decided to adopt we knew we'd either adopt siblings or adopt two children at some point.  We really feel that for two adoptive children to grow up together would be very beneficial for them and their experiences/loss/etc.  BUT we never considered the fact that could mean another adoption BEFORE our Ethiopian adoption.
God quickly showed us that sometimes we just need to ignore the excuses and listen to what He is telling us.  Both Bobby and I feel that we are ready and willing to bring home a child NOW. 


On Tuesday I spoke with our family coordinator from AWAA and our social worker who did our home study.  We were first throwing around the idea of adopting through the foster care system, as that would mean hardly any extra costs.  Larissa (our social worker) informed us that the wait for an infant/toddler through foster care is very long and a rare situation.  She suggested if we were wanting domestic, we look into a domestic infant adoption (which typically means $20-30K). 


Obviously our only hurdle at this point is the funding.  I was up all night asking God, "HOW? There is NO WAY we could afford another adoption right now.  Our hearts are there and we are willing, but it's impossible." I woke up with a reassuring feeling that God has led us down this path.  He equipped us both from a very young age to work with children and be parents.  He has led us into a ministry of caring for orphans and He is using us to bring hope to fatherless children.  The numbers are overwhelming and large, but He is MUCH bigger.  If this is the road He has laid before us we are willing to suffer a little.

Wednesday morning I got a call from Larissa telling us that the adoption agency her family is using for the DRC (Congo) is looking for a family for twin girls.  Unfortunately I was in meetings all day but as soon as I got home I pulled their picture up and almost fell over.  We know now that these girls are not meant to be our daughters, but I cannot explain the feeling that came over me!  I couldn't stop the tears from falling and my heart from racing.  There is just something about those black babies that gets my heart just a pounding!!!  God definitely has given me a heart for Africa and this confirmed those feelings I knew all along. 

 

Though nothing is signed and set in stone, Bobby and I are leaning at a concurrent adoption through the DRC.  The agency we have been talking to for the DRC tells us we would be #1 on their list for a baby girl....and the baby could easily be VERY young.  But, the process through the DRC is quite different than Ethiopia.  We would more than likely receive a referral within 1-2 months after we submit our paperwork.  BUT, for this program we would not travel there for another 5-6 months (AHHH...I can't imagine seeing our baby's face and waiting another 5-6 months to meet her!). 

I wanted to share this info with all of you so you could pray for our family through this tough decision/process!  Pray that we get some guidance in our decisions and that if this is where we are meant to be that we will figure out a financial plan to make an adoption work SO QUICKLY. 

Just as He has rescued us, we are called to stand in the strength of His unconditional love to embrace the homeless children of the world.  He is calling us to redeem lives crushed by the circumstances of their birth.  He is calling us to save them, to lift them out.  And then, like the Father has carried us, we must carry them in love, with the strength of His mercy....and bring them home.
 --Jan Beazely "The Strength of Mercy"

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." Prov 3:5-6

Love from our family to YOURS!

James 1:27 Ministry

We just returned from a great, fun, warm, sunny camping trip over the long Labor Day weekend!  We were able to get away for three days with some great family and friends!  I brought a pile of paperwork to get done and books to read and I am glad to say that I didn't touch ANY of it!  It was truly a nice weekend relaxing in the sun, fishing, and just letting the days go by! 

Over the past couple of years Bobby and I have really tried cutting back on commitments and appointments...simplifying our life...but it seems with three growing children, owning a business, teaching, church activities, etc we are always running from place to place or are busy planning for one thing or another.


We really  plan to place a large focus in our life not only on our personal adoption but on being advocates for orphans in our church and community.  We know God has called our family to adoption and also know He has called us to make a difference in our community/church.

It is hard seeing the support, resources, groups, ministries so many of my adoption "friends" have in their towns/churches.  Sadly, the support is very minimal in North Dakota and churches have yet made the move in joining the church movement in helping orphans.  Bobby and I have prayed and prayed about this need in ND.

We are extremely happy that our church has accepted our desires in bringing an adoption/foster care ministry to our church!  We will be announcing our ministry this Sunday during our church service and will be launching the ministry on Sunday, September 18th!!!!!  We are very excited to see how God will work in our church and community and how we can be used to make His plans a reality!

Please keep us and our church family in your prayers as we launch this ministry!  As of now we are the only family currently in the adoption process and we have one family who currently does foster care.  We pray that we will have others join us in this ministry who see the need, have a heart in this direction, and want to make a difference!

We have found many great resources for adoption ministries through Show Hope, Christian Alliance for Orphans, Orphan Sunday, Hope for Orphans, Tapestry, and a variety of videos on youtube and vimeo (click to see my adoption video playlists if you are in need of resources!). To announce our ministry this week we plan on showing these two videos (pause playlist to view):

Love from our family to yours,

Black and White

Our family was able to get away for a short trip to Polson, MT last week.  It was a great time visiting friends and family in the town which brought us so many happy memories! 

The 12 hour drive was actually quite relaxing and was great time for Bobby and I to get some of our training done...on the way we read "Black Children White Parents: Putting the Pieces Together" by Tonya Moore.  Reading this book opened us up to great conversation and helped us realize some important issues we need to start thinking about (hair/skin care, cultural differences, our judgmental society, answering tough questions, etc)

We've just started the whole adoption process and I've already been asked numerous times how I feel about having a black child.  When we started this process we didn’t have any concerns about this issue as we knew we were called to Ethiopia and know we won’t have any issues loving or accepting a child of another race. 

Living in Dickinson we believe the biggest issue for us will be incorporating the child’s heritage in our life.  Being there is not much cultural diversity in western North Dakota and we do not have any African American friends or family, we will need to work extra hard in finding some good role models for our child(ren).  By reading books such as this, I feel we will be able to learn more about the black culture and what it will take from us to incorporate African culture in our life.   We look forward to teaching our children about various cultures and how to be accepting of others no matter the color of their skin or where they come from.

I can only hope that our community will welcome our adoption with open arms, but realize there will be some who do not favor our choice of a mixed race family and racism will be an issue throughout our lives.  We hope to show others the love we have for ALL people and hope that our family can be an example for others in our community.  

I know this topic will be addressed over and over again and will be the topic of many blog posts in the future.  I would recommend this book to EVERY white parent adopting a black child or even grandparents and close relatives!  I believe that by continually educating ourselves and living our lives through love, we can be effective parents of any race!

The fact is there are millions of orphans around the world waiting for a forever family.  We do believe and acknowledge that the perfect situation would have all children in a healthly home with their biological parents.  BUT, there are millions of children from various countries/races without their biological families.  There are MILLIONS of children waiting to be adopted in Ethiopia and God has trusted us in raising one of those children. 

Love from our family to yours!

The Paper Pregnancy, Paper Chasing, Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork!

Well, summer is officially here!  The weather in ND this year has been terribly wet and therefore we have spent many days indoors when we'd really like to be splashing in the water, or scrapping more knees on the cement.  We did manage a few days of nice sunny weather, and the kiddos know that means the swim suits are on and we're outside for the day! 

 

I remember the days when I was first pregnant with Eli...crazy hormones, many people giving advice, and reading every article or book on pregnancy I could find.  Well, fast-forward five years and we are now experiencing a different pregnancy...one that is often referred to as "The Paper Pregnancy."  A lot of the emotions/motions I went through five years ago have returned! 

Last week we received our dossier paperwork and for those of you not in the adoption process, I can't even explain the time and energy that goes into this!!!!!  This is just a glimpse of our pile we will be working on for the next 3-4 months or so:

To my close friends and family, please know that we have not forgotten you:)  These next couple of months are filled with trips to the courthouse, doctors, social workers, post office, etc!  I have told myself that I cannot get too consumed in the process and need to stay connected and in touch with everyone!  In a memoir I'm currently reading "From Ashes to Africa," it reiterates the point that the sooner we get our paperwork done, the sooner we will be on the waiting list for our baby girl (or sibling group!).  That fact alone is hard to push aside....

I read this post yesterday on a blog I subscribe to:

• Stay connected with your real life friends. In the throes of adoption, it becomes all too easy to seclude yourself to the world of adoption blogs and groups. It is so important to continue to nurture relationships with your real life friends though. Even if it feels like they don’t understand what you’re going through, focus on all of the things you do have in common rather than the things you don’t. And just a hint, don’t talk about adoption all the time. It gets old for other people.

What great advice to those of us who are paper chasing, and waiting in our adoption journey!

As crazy as it is, two years ago I didn't even know exactly what a blog was, or how it worked.  Now, the blog world has become a vice for me!  I had no clue that I would get emotionally invested in others lives who live across the country and I've never met face to face!  However, the connections I've made with families I've "met" through blogging is so wonderful!  It's so great to see how God is working in others lives and how hope is being brought to orphans around the world! 

Thank you to the SEVEN people who are currently writing letters of recommendation for us.  We are thankful beyond words in the wonderful people God has placed in our life! 

Love from our family to yours!

Fields of the Fatherless

Just finished reading Tom Davis' book, Fields of the Fatherless and MUST write a post encouraging others to read it as well!  If you are currently adopting, thinking of adopting/foster care, or want to know more about caring for the fatherless, this book is a MUST! 

“Instead of self-concern, we need to be more concerned with loving our neighbors as ourselves.  Instead of conforming to what every other Christian does and what society wants us to do, we must lay down our lives and allow our actions to speak louder than our words... 
The definition of evil in the world is when good men and women see injustice and do nothing...
God puts the poor in our lives so we will reveal compassion.  It's a test for us and a promise to them.  Are we passing or failing?...
God wants us to remember our bondage, remember how He has saved us, and in that remembrance, He wants us to reach out in love to the fatherless….
Because He has poured out such love and care for us, we are to go find "the least of these," and do the same."
Tom Davis in Fields of the Fatherless

The book reminded me of the night I knew adoption was for us...   That single night of habitual reading before bed has forever changed my life!  It's amazing how quickly my feelings toward adoption changed and how I KNEW God was speaking directly to me and my family!  One question I've often pondered in the past is ,"Am I living the live I was made to live??"  After reading this book, I feel a sense of relief, knowing this is EXACTLY where I am supposed to be! 

To be honest, when we started REALLY thinking about adoption I felt like we were simply growing our family by adding another child.  Little did I know that God had so much in store for us!  He was creating a compassion for orphans and a whole new ministry for our family.  How great it is to hear little Eli or Ayla praying for their sister or for children who don't have mommies and daddies.  (It's also super fun to see Ayla tell EVERYONE about her new baby sister---and the first response is ALWAYS a quick look to my belly!).

What an HONOR it will be to welcome one of His children into our home like He welcomes us! 

I cannot wait to see where this journey leads us. 

I CANNOT wait for the process to speed up and to have my baby girl in my arms...

Fundraising update:
Shirts are being ordered TODAY!  I am placing one large order and there will only be so many of each size!!  Let me know what size you want before they are G-O-N-E! We are also in the process of planning a support dinner.  Dates, times, details should be finalized sometime this week:) 
Love from our family to YOURS!

Love for the Afflicted

Well, we got through mom's 50th birthday party.  It was a gloomy day outside so we spent the day celebrating indoors...but the real celebration began around 7pm when Jesse made it home (my brother who is currently serving through the Peace Corps in Honduras...we haven't seen him since last June)! 

Here's a small glimpse into the day full of laughter and YUMMY food!

Six of the eight girls were here to celebrate!!! (Missed you Aud, Corliss and the lonely boy, Jerry!)

After the party our family went over to mom and dad's house with Cain, Ally, and Jesse...we sat around giggling at the kiddos wrestling and running around.  It was a night just like any other night hanging out with the familly...a night full of comfort and love.

When I returned home and hopped into bed I was overwhelmed with emotions.  Our children are loved, spoiled, cuddled, safe, carefree children just like most of the children I know.  While we sit and celebrate birthdays and time with family there are MILLIONS of children around the world who have never celebrated a birthday or know what family feels like.  There are children who wait day after day for someone to take them in and for a place to call home.   

My heart just aches and aches for those children. To know we won't have our baby girl in our arms for 1-2 years feels not fair!!  Are we crazy to think this single act of love will make a difference in the world?!?!  God's love for the afflicated is shown over and over again...how can He use us to make a difference?  While I ponder these issues and wonder what more we can do, I can't help but try to be an advocate for those children who fall asleep every night without a mommy or daddy.

I put together a video to show others a small glimpse of what the Bible tells us about caring for orphans and how EVERYONE can make a difference some how (push pause on the playlist before before starting to video):


Bobby and I have no special training for this task before us...all we have is the direction our Father gives us...and someday we will have one more child to roll around with, rock to sleep, and love beyond measure. 

Love from our family to yours!

Exciting and Challenging

We are very excited to announce our acceptance into America World Adoption's Ethiopia program!!!!  We got the phone call yesterday and now have a stack of initial paperwork to get signed and sent off.  After the initial paperwork is processed, the "Paper Pregnancy" will begin (also known as the Dossier --pronounced doss-E-A).  We are excited to start this process but are told it is a time consuming, exciting, overwhelming experience!!!!!

On top of the paperwork side of things we really need to get going on raising funds.  People are SHOCKED when we tell them the costs of international adoption range from about 25-40K!!!!  Our adoption will probably land around 30-35K.  Intimidating.....YES.  Challenging....YES.  Do we have those funds just sitting around....NO.  BUT, we know this is all in God's hands and we hope to find some fun ways to raise money, along with donations that others feel led to give. 

I've heard from people in the past that they feel people shouldn't adopt if they don't have the money.  Honestly, this erks me beyond belief.  The Bible clearly states we should care for orphans (there are numerous verses in the Bible relating to orphans and the fatherless!!!).  Everyone can help in some way....weather it's through prayer, financial support, foster care, adoption, etc!  The need to care for orphans is ASTOUNDING and to answer the cry is doable for everyone in some way or another.

Here is a link to show where our 30-35K will go:
Ethiopian adoption costs

This week I ask that you pray specifically for our fundraising efforts.  This past weekend our basement flooded and we had to rip out all the carpet and move everything out.  What perfect timing....Bobby's busiest time of the year (therefore we will have no basement or garage for a couple of months) and right when we are trying to save money toward our new "baby" girl.  All I can do at this point is chuckle.  I've been questioning God lately and the possibility of raising $15,000-$20,000....and He threw this our way.  I know it's just a fork in the road to see how we can handle things and to prove His power in all situations.  We truly believe that the funds will come and that He will play His part in this process He has called us to.

We are trying to come up with a fun, wearable saying for t-shirts....if you have a good idea, we'd LOVE to hear it!!!!!!  We plan on selling shirts and Ethiopian coffee, and will possibly do other fundraising efforts as they come available and are needed! 

Thank you EVERYONE for your support you've shown already....your thoughts and prayers are felt!

We're off to a play date and then planning for my mom's 50th and Owen's 1st birthday parties!!!!!!  My brother Jesse will be in town Sunday night and I haven't seen him for a year....you can only imagine the excitement in this house!!!!!!!!!!!!


Love from our family to yours!

Why Ethiopia??

One of the first questions we get asked when we tell people about our adoption is, "Why Ethiopia?" 

God definitely called our family care for one of His.  When we started this journey we had many discussions and prayed a lot that we would be led to the country where one (or more!) of His children is waiting for us.  Ever since I was little and first thought of adopting, I  always imagined holding an Ethiopian child (looks like God was planting roots a long time ago--He is at work in our lives even when we don't know it!).  When we started this process I was worried that our family or Bobby would suggest a domestic child (not like that would be horrible or a bad thing, but my heart was to go internationally).  However, right from the start Bobby stated that his heart was to take in a child that lives in the "orphanage world" and our family and friends were more supportive than we could have imagined! 

So how did God lead us to Ethiopia??  Even though I had Ethiopia in my mind, I told God I would be willing to go wherever He saw fit.  Of course we both felt an inkling from the start that Ethiopia was for us, but we still wanted to look into other countries.  Little did we know that every country has their own requirements and stipulations for adoption (age of parents, number of kids at home, travel requirements, etc).

When we first started looking into countries, our first thought was Uganda where our church supports awesome missionaries at New Hope Uganda.  That idea was pushed aside when we realized that couples adopting from Uganda were required to stay in the country for 5-7 weeks at the time of adoption. 

Then when we started talking to America World Adoption and various other agencies, we were told we'd be a good fit for Ethiopia or Honduras.  As my brother Jesse is in Honduras through the Peace Corps, we felt it would be fun to do alongside him. However, the same requirements as Uganda are required and travel times  of 4-7 weeks don't fit in our family/work schedules at this time in life. 

It was on May 5th, 2011 after we had been looking into Ethiopia that we came across "Lucy Lane's Gotcha Day" video:

Watching this video with tears pouring down our faces, we knew that God had Ethiopia planted in both of our hearts.

This country that is about twice the size of Texas has an estimated 4.3 million orphans.
**For more numbers and facts about the need in Ethiopia click on the "About Ethiopia" tab**

There are varying numbers from different sources but it is estimated there are 147-163 MILLION orphans in the world (including children who have lost one or both of their parents).  Every 18 seconds another child becomes an orphan without a mother or father. That alone is too much for one person to fathom.  Of those orphans, 43.4 million live in sub-Saharan Africa, 87.6 million live in Asia, and 12.4 million live in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In the United States there are over 500,000 children in the U.S. Foster Care system.  Of those children approximately 120,000 are waiting to be adopted. On average, those children waiting for adoption have been in foster care for almost 4 years.

Imagine...
There is One who infinitely loves each orphan and knows them by name. 
If only 7% of the 2 billion Christians in the world would show hope to a single orphan, looking after the child in their distress, there would effectively be no more orphans.

Number of caring adults it takes to make a life-long difference for an orphan: ONE!

James 1:27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress

Hosea 14:3In you the orphan finds mercy.

These numbers have been taken from the following websites which have more information on the need for foster/adoption parents: Christian Alliance for Orphans and Show Hope

~Love from our family to yours~

Do you REALLY mean it?!?!

So the title of this blog sums up a lot of our life in the past few months: a calling to adopt, getting a new job, and starting a BLOG!  Just four short months ago God totally changed my heart toward adoption.  Wait...back up...I have ALWAYS thought about adoption and it's always been something I've wanted to do AT SOME POINT IN LIFE.  After having Eli, Ayla, and Owen I was determined to convince Bobby to have another child...he had different plans.  He was adamant that if we had another child it would be through adoption. 

After having three kiddos, I didn't know if adopting was still in our plans and something I could do (how could I ever love a child as much as these three?!?!).  Bobby had obviously been praying that my heart would be changed because one February night as I was reading "Choosing to See" by Mary Beth Chapman (when I picked the book up I didn't know what I was getting into!!), I had a huge overwhelming feeling come over me.  I remember getting up out of bed around 11pm to turn on the computer and start researching Show Hope....and the obsession began!  Bobby laughed at my random (not to God!), sudden change of heart.  It was like a switch turned on and I suddenly had NO FEAR of adoption and knew God was speaking directly to my heart! 

So, here we are four months later, still enthralled with orphans/adopting.  We have been to Denver and back for an AMAZING conference through Show Hope and Empowered to Connect.  We have narrowed down our search for an agency and have decided on Ethiopia!  The process has already been exhausting, overwhelming, and emotional.  We started off with just a thought and are constantly learning new adoption jargon, facts, how to's, etc.  It is my desire that others who have even a tiny inkling of looking into adoption will be inspired by us.  I have read that 48% of people consider adoption at some point, but only 2% of people go through with it.

We started from scratch and are just beginning.  I'm excited about this journey and hope this blog will help our family and friends understand our hearts and be a part of this journey with us.  In the next week I will be updating this blog with things that have inspired us, facts about adopting, the monetary commitment, etc. 

Enjoy this ride through our hearts and lives!