Family of 4?

Many of you have already heard our exciting news!  But if you haven’t, let us be the first to share…. We are adopting!

This may not surprise some,  yet others may be wondering… why are they adopting?  After all, we already have a biological child, and we are likely able to have more.    Well, we chose to grow our family through adoption, for a few reasons.  We have always felt that adoption was a part of God’s plan for our family, we just were not sure of the ‘when’.   God talks about caring for orphans in His Word.  There are many ways to care for orphans, and adoption is just one of those ways.  God has blessed us with so much, that the question of “Why Adopt” for us, was more like a “Why Not?”.

After much thought, prayer and research, we have narrowed our adoption country down to Ethiopia.  Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, with the largest number of orphans due to poverty and health reasons.  We started the adoption process earlier this year with the help of a wonderful agency.  After completing truck loads of paperwork, 12 visits to our favorite notary, three home study visits and a few trips to get finger printed, we are thrilled to announce that we are number 16 on a waiting list of adoptive parents!  

So the big question from everyone has been, "WHEN"?  And of course, we don't know.  The next step is to receive a referral from our agency.  This could happen next month or a year from now.  There are a lot of changes happening with how the government is handling adoptions, both in our country and in Ethiopia, that could influence our wait time.  Once we receive a referral, we will travel to Ethiopia to meet our child and go to court.  We will most likely then come home for a few months, and then return to pick up our child and finalize the adoption.  I know… meet them and then leave them = heart wrenching.  But God is in the details and has an amazing plan in all of this.

We are excited, anxious, scared and hopeful. We realize that this will not be an easy journey.  But we are committed.  We are so early in the process, yet Carter has already lost sleep and gone through a whirlwind of emotions over the last several months in getting even to this point. We covet your prayers and welcome you to join us on this incredible journey we are about to embark on.  

Here are some things you can be praying for:

• Our child! Given the age range we are open to, our child is most likely born, but may or many not be in an orphanage yet.  Pray that they are getting food, that they have shelter, and are getting hugs from somebody.  
• Pray for the caregivers at the orphanages that our agency works with.  I can imagine they are overwhelmed with the number of children and lack of resources.  
• Pray for preparation on our part.  We have a TON of books to read and research to complete in preparation of adopting.  We know we will never feel fully prepared, but pray that we are diligent in trying.
• Here's the ugly one… patience!  This is a slow process with little foresight.  Also, changes in the process are inevitable, so pray for patience with any changes that come our way.