Filed under: adoption
We are rolling along with our adoption. Though nothing exciting has happened in the last 2 weeks, we thought we would update you all anyway. We value your prayers and want to keep you up to date so that you can pray specifically.
Our last update was about the home study. That is finally finished. We received the actual document in the mail last week. A copy was also mailed to our adoption agency and to U.S. Immigration Services. We are moving along with the paperwork as best we can at this time.
Our next paperwork step is to begin collecting all of the documents for our dossier. This will include every bit of information about us that you can imagine. My understanding is that this is required by the Ethiopian government, but we really don’t understand it all yet. We just do what we’re told! 
We also mailed off our application to LifeSong for Orphans. We are hoping to receive a matching grant through Highview ’s adoption ministry. If this goes through, we will then begin raising funds for our adoption. Please pray with us that this application is processed and approved quickly.
In the mean time, Charis and I have stayed busy. The Southern Baptist Convention’s Annual Meeting was held in Louisville this year. So, we spent the last week experiencing that part of our denomination’s life. It was a new experience for me, and one that I was not sure I was looking forward to. However, between connecting with old friends and watching history in the making, we had a great time and were encouraged with the forward steps of the SBC.
It was also great to welcome Charis’ parents into our home. They were in town for the SBC, but we had a great time hanging out with them…and letting them explain to us what in the world is going on!
Finally, this past weekend, our friends Michael & Adrian Johnson came to Louisville for a short visit. We showed them around town and introduced them to a couple of the great Louisville Originals we have here. And, on Saturday we made the trek to Petersburg, KY to check out the Creation Museum. Pretty impressive stuff…and some great things to think about!
That’s all for now. Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to remember this whole adoption process in your prayers. We are excited to see how God is going to provide all that is needed to bring our baby home. And, please pray even for that child that God would have be a part of our family. Pray for his or her safety, warmth, nourishment, and love.
Filed under: adoption
Thank you all for your prayers yesterday. The home study went great. The worst part of the home study is the build up to it. It is always nerve-racking when someone judges you. But, this really was not bad at all.
The social worker came to our home and interviewed each one of us separately. She asked questions about the respective makeup of our families, what our parents were like, and what our marriage is like. There was nothing to it. Now we just have to wait for her to finish writing it and to turn it in to our adoption agency.
We have also come to another big conclusion lately. We met with some friends a couple of weeks ago who adopted their first child from Ethiopia. It was great to talk to them and to hear about their experiences. But, also they re-introduced us to adoption agency we had looked over before.
Arise Adoptions is a small, local agency that only places kids from Ethiopia. Arise seems to be reliable, more affordable, and faster than any other option we have looked at. We love that is it Christian. We love that it is local. And, we love the community of support at Arise. So, we are excited to move ahead with our application. Pray they accept us!
So, I guess that is another big announcement in this blog post: we are adopting from Ethiopia. I don’t think we have posted that on here yet. We have had that in mind for a long time, so it is almost assumed for us now. But, don’t think we have posted it on the blog. So, Ethiopia it is!
Finally, we continue to be amazed with how the Lord is providing for our adoption. On Sunday, some friends of ours gave us a very generous gift for our adoption. As it turns out, their gift is exactly what we need to cover our application to the U.S. Immigration office, our fingerprinting fees, and our application for Arise! What a gracious God we serve!
Please continue to pray for us. Now that the home study is complete, we can begin moving forward with the adoption agency and with grant applications. These are both very important for moving forward in this process. Pray for speed and favor with everyone involved. Thank you!
While I type this blog my sweet husband is making homemade pineapple and ham pizza. When he lived in Zimbabwe he learned how to make several dishes from scratch, and this one we both love.
But that is not why I am writing. We would like to thank you for praying for us yesterday as we took another step in this marathon adoption process. We truly appreciate your prayers. Please know that we need them every step of the way.
Our first home study meeting went great! Whew! The social worker just asked us several questions about us, why we want to adopt, and how we think adopting a child will change our lives. We also scheduled one more home study meeting. This one will happen on June 10, and will be a bit more in depth.
Until then we are working on adoption agency paper work! Please continue to pray for us as we check things off the list. So far, so good!
We sent in our application tonight! William spent the morning rolling change from our piggy bank (instead of reading for his final book review) to make this BIG step!
We officially decided to go with Wide Horizons for Children as our adoption agency. Wide Horizon’s is a large and experienced adoption agency. Several of our friends have used this agency over the years, and they have been very pleased with their service.
We hope to bring you more information soon, but until then please be in prayer as we make our way to May 18 — our home study date!
Over the past few months, William and I have been praying about adding to our little family. A couple of months ago, we finally determined to begin walking down the road to adoption.
William and I have always talked about adopting for several reasons, the most obvious of which is my own adoption experience. I was adopted as an infant into a wonderful and loving family. William and I recognize God’s grace in my adoption, and we long to share that same love with a child in need of a family.
Our desire has been fanned into a flame by the passion for adoption within our church. We worship with almost 100 children that have been adopted from countries all over the world, many of whom would otherwise never have heard the Good News of Jesus Christ. What an amazing sight it is to see families embracing as their own children with faces very different from theirs! And, what an amazing picture it is of the body of Christ embracing God’s heart for orphans!
Our primary reason for wanting to adopt, though, grows out of our own relationship with God in Christ. We too were once not part of His family. We were separated from Him and very different from His family. Worse than orphan children, we were not lovable. We ran from Him and rejected his desire for our lives. But, he loved us anyway. He made a way for us to be part of his family. He called us to Himself. He welcomed into his home. He made us His son and His daughter, and He blessed us with all of the privileges that accompany those positions.
We have been so blessed by the grace of God in our lives.
We recognize that we have a long road ahead of us, so we are posting this on our blog to ask you to pray for us. These steps we are taking are not easy ones, and we are relying on the Lord to see us through this process. Already, it has been incredible to see just how generous His provision is! What a mighty God we serve.
The process begins a home study. Ours is scheduled for May 18th. This is our first big step, so please pray with us that everything will go smoothly.
Thank you for walking with us!
