Adoption: Our Call

Why Adopt?

We have had no problems conceiving our own biological children. Even after our miscarriage in January and dealing with all the complications of the molar pregnancy...we are cleared to conceive again if we choose.

So.

Why Adopt?

This is an intensely personal question that is individual in nature.

For us, there were a number of reasons that led us to adopt.

Some of the reasons, I'll admit, are purely selfish...I don't particularly enjoy being pregnant and we have always known we'd have more than two children.

Some of the reason were influenced from my family experience and having grown up with such a strong connection to adoption.

The majority of the reasons were born out of our relationship to Jesus. After the miscarriage we dealt with a lot of emotions and truly had a broken heart. The Lord was our comforter and we experienced his presence in our life like we had never before. The Lord used this time of softness and vulnerability in our hearts to reveal some changes that needed to be made in our lives.

We read the Francis Chan book "Crazy Love" after this time and a single question really made an impact on us:

• What am I doing in my life RIGHT NOW that requires faith?

I mean, sure, Jeremiah is a pastor, in full time ministry. Our very lives require faith. But was there really anything in our lives that required us to do something that we couldn't control.

Where we had to trust?

“God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn’t come through.”- Francis Chan

We followed up this vulnerability to the Lord's calling with a summer missions trip to Haiti.

After working in several orphanages there and falling in love with such beauties as these...



























We knew.

The time was now.

Time for us to step out in faith on our own adoption journey.

After all, our call as Christians is to...

Defend the cause of the fatherless. Isaiah 1:17

and...

To love an orphan: Is pure and faultless religion. James 1:27

To love an orphan: Reflects the heart of God. Deut 10:18

To love an orphan: Is our joyful response to the loving father who sought us when we were orphans. 1 John 4:19

To love an orphan: Is to love Jesus himself. Matthew 25:40

Orphan Sunday from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Memory Monday

Philippians 2:3

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourself.

Simple Pleasures...

Sunday afternoon naps with football on in the background (lulls me to sleep every time)...

Those few seconds when your stuffy nostril "switches" nostrils and you have both passages open...

Lots of heavy blankets to cuddle under on cold mornings...

Freshly cut fingernails on my kids...

Pumpkin spice lattes...

Having my husband home after a few days away (I love the absence makes the heart grow fonder principle)...

Adoption: My Foundation

It is no secret that I have had a unique front row seat of the miracle of adoption within my own family experience.

My first adopted sister, Lily, came home to us from Russia when she was only two years old. She is now an abnormally silly 10 year old full of life and laughter and spunk!













She loves for me to tell (and retell!) the story of the moment I first met her:

I had wondered in my heart and mind if I could really love my new adopted sister and brothers. I had seen pictures. Cute pictures. Cute kids. But would it be the same feeling as I felt for my biological siblings?

I was in charge of the rest of the house and younger siblings while my parents were in Russia finalizing the adoption of Lily, Isaac, and Jacob. We would hear updates and read emails during the time they were gone...letting us know how things were going.

Finally. The day came. We headed off to the airport to pick up Mom and Dad and our new siblings. I remember sitting at the airport with so many butterflies in my stomach that I thought I might throw up.

Finally. The plane landed. Passengers started to trickle in to the waiting terminal.

Finally. I saw them. All five of them.

I instantly burst into tears.

I instantly loved them.

Loved. Loved them.

I remember taking tiny Jacob's hand (he was so small then and wearing a backpack that was as big as he was!) and walking through the airport holding his hand and being overwhelmed with the feeling of love for him. I remember Isaac (who looked just like Frodo!) staring at me with his big brown eyes. I remember Lily, so little and adorable with her crossed eyes and tumble of dark brown curls.

What a moment.

A foundational moment that shaped me, my faith, and my views on adoption.

Adoption Update:Gods Provision

Once again, Gods provision and timing has been perfect.

Our home study, as of today, is finished and approved by our adoption agency. Notarized copies are in the mail to our agency and the USCIS office.

That means that we owe $1,300 to our home study agency.

Our first payment of $2000 for our Ethiopian Program fee is also due.

Making the total we needed $3300.

I'll give you three guesses for the price we got for our jeep that sold today, and the first two don't count.

Yes.

$3300.

Exactly.

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

Flashback Friday: Four Years Ago

Getting ready to greet our Ella McKay...who we thought was still two months away from making her appearance...little did we know that we would see her in just 2 more short weeks!

Thursday Thoughts

We are almost a week into this time change and I am still not adjusted. The kids are back to normal...but I am still not. It is all I can do not to fall asleep at the kids bedtime...and I am waking up way before I should!

We got our finished home study today!

Well...actually, we got a draft of it and saw a few corrections that needed to be made...but it should be updated and sent off to our adoption agency by the weekend.

That means...

With the exception of our passport photos we have finished everything we needed to do for our dossier. Still waiting on our fingerprint appointment from USCIS and then final approval...but that is it!

The jeep is 99% sold...as of tomorrow it will be gone. I am ecstatic because we really needed the money to cover the next part of the adoption. I am sad too. We got the jeep right before we got married...and it holds lots and lots of memories.

Silly, I know.

Jeremiah morphs into a college student for the weekend. He is going to Appalachian State to spend some time with a few of our college students and take in a football game with them. Let's hope he remembers that he is thirty years old now and way past his field sledding days.

Steve-O, Erin, and Michael...I am trusting you guys!

And, finally...some random fishing pictures for a random Thursday Thoughts...







































Happy Thursday!