Update on our Adoption

One of these days I'll post an actual update because we have an update and not just because I feel like it's time to say, once again, "We're still waiting."

At this point in our adoption, we're just waiting for a call from our agency to tell us that they have a referral for us. The other day, I looked at my phone and saw that I had one missed call - from our agency. Since there's really no other reason for them to call at this point, you can imagine what I felt. I'm pretty sure my heart skipped a beat or two and then sped up trying to recover for it! My excitement didn't last long, though, when I realized that they hadn't left a message. Come to find out, they were just letting us know about a change with our program coordinator. One of these days that call will come - and it will be real! It could be today, next week, in 3 months, or next year - it's really that much up in the air. I tell you, by the time this adoption is over, if I don't have faith and patience mastered, I never will!  

I decided one more step I could do to be ready was to go ahead and get the girls their passports. Feels good to check something off the list (even though it was a frustrating let's spend 4 hours doing something that should only take 15 minutes kind of thing)!

Ready to be world travelers. Check.

Speaking of the girls going with us to Bulgaria, there's been a little adjustment in our plans. We (or I should probably say "I" because Andy has always been the more practical we'll-see-if-they-can-go-when-it-comes-time-to-pay-money-for-the-trip one while I've been the it's-a-once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity-that-you-can't-put-a-price-tag-on one) have always planned on the girls going with us on one of the two trips that we have to make. In the beginning, after reading books and talking it over with case workers and adoption educators, we made the decision that the first trip would be the best one for them to go on. It would involve daily visits with our little boy, finalizing some paperwork, and not much else. We were continually told that the second trip, when we would be bringing him home with us, would be an important time for us to bond with him and have one-on-one time without other "distracting" parenting responsibilities during the in-country waiting time and the travel home. Made sense to us, so we went along with it. Recently, though, through having conversations with a family who just returned from their first trip to Bulgaria and reading about the accounts of others who have just returned, we've changed our minds. We will be going alone on the first trip and take the girls along with us on the second trip. From listening to some first-hand experiences, we've discovered that the first trip is actually much more involved than we thought. There's also the huge "unknown" aspect of not knowing what to expect concerning the city, the accommodations available in that city, the orphanage, the flexibility of those in charge (some let you leave with the child, some only offer supervised visits within one room, some could even have a problem with the girls coming to the orphanage and not allow it at all). It's an emotionally draining time (having our first interactions with him and also having to leave the country without him) and physically tiring (jet lag and following visiting schedules that are not very flexible). On the other hand, the second visit is much more relaxed and on our own than we first thought. We will basically spend as little as 30 minutes picking him up from the orphanage on the first day, and then we're on our own and he's ours; we'll just have to stay in country for about a week while the paperwork is finalized. Our time will be spent in the capital, so we'll know what to expect and be prepared for. Our days will be flexible, and we'll set our own agendas. We can spend plenty of time just hanging out in the hotel, throw in some sightseeing and shopping, and spend the time bonding together as a family of 5. It can be a scary time involving a lot of new things, especially the traveling part, for our little boy, and I just think that two silly, sweet girls who are excited about their new brother will be a big help, especially because it offers our little boy the chance to imitate and follow his new siblings into new situations. 

Well, consider yourself updated! Of course, I'm hoping for a real update to give you sooner rather than later! Please keep praying for us and for our little boy!

What's Going on with Our Adoption

I keep getting this question (and I'm glad that people want to know!), but I'm not sure I have too much of an answer. Here's what I do know:

1. We're still waiting. Surprise! I'm pretty sure whenever we do get our referral, you won't have to check the blog because you'll hear us celebrating! As little as we have to go on as far as specific timing, it seems that it is very likely that this will be our year - to at least get a referral and make our first visit (which happens pretty quickly after the referral is received). It also seems that it might not actually be our year to bring him home because with as slow as things are moving over there the time in between trips is stretching into 3-5 months (as opposed to the 1-2 months we were initially thinking). We're thinking there's a pretty good chance that our referral could come any time between this summer-fall, but really it's mostly based on some educated guesses. It could happen next month and just as easily as it could happen next year.

2. Things ARE moving over there! A family using our same agency just returned from their first trip and shared a letter with us about their experiences. Another family from our church is actually in Bulgaria right now making their first visits to their two little girls (in two separate cities). Some of the information shared has been helpful (which airports need longer layovers because they're hard to get through, money issues, etc.) and encouraging (very helpful and informative translators/guides, positive attitudes from the caregivers, good experiences with the children), while other information raises even more questions. Each of the experiences with the three children has been very different. In one case, the orphanage was very strict - not even allowing the couple to take pictures or videos of their new daughter - and the visits were restricted to a playroom within the orphanage. In another, the orphanage let the couple's new daughter leave with them during the day to go around the city and hang out in their hotel! They faced hardly any restrictions at all. The third child actually lives with foster parents, and they opened up their home every day so that the visits could occur there. It just all leaves me wondering more about where our little boy is and what our visit will be like.

3. Things have changed in Bulgaria, and we're all waiting to see what that means.There is a new Minister of Justice (the former MOJ is now the Vice President). The MOJ is responsible for appointing Deputy Ministers for various departments, including international adoptions. The new Deputy Minister for adoptions is believed to be someone who will act in the best interest of the waiting children and families. She is also an adoptive parent, so hopefully she'll be more sensitive to adoption issues. Our agency's attorneys in Bulgaria know her and have met with her. The information that we've been given is that she seems very positive and has said that she will do her part not to be an obstacle in the adoption procedure. 

Not-Too-Much-of-an-Update Update

After hitting a little snag, we've updated our immigration stuff (I think). I tell ya, it's always a pleasure dealing with our government (can you tell that was written with the sarcasm font?). Actually, we've sent them everything they've requested, twice, been fingerprinted for the fourth total time for this adoption, but are still waiting to receive the official document that says we've been renewed, which in turn will have to be sent with some other forms to Bulgaria to renew our status with them.

I'm pretty optimistic that we'll get everything from CIS though because after 2 1/2 weeks of mulitple unreturned phone calls from the only officer who we're allowed to talk to about our case and finally getting one (conveniently on the day I found out his supervisor's number and left a message with him) only to have all my questions answered with, "Well, I can't tell you that, but..." how else should I feel? It's such a joy to think about how we'll most likely have to do it all again in a year! (you read that with the sarcasm font too, didn't you?). Anyway, not too long after this experience, I read this blog post and just had to laugh. It's comforting to know that we're not alone in this experience, although I guess that's pretty much a "misery loves company" attitude. It's just easy to get the "maybe we're not supposed to be doing this because everything is so much harder for us than it is for everyone else" kind of doubts. Then I read a post here that offered the following comforting thoughts: 

I have been asked quite a few times lately about adoption in general, about getting started, and about what to think about ahead of time. My biggest warning isn't about birth order, agencies, country programs, fear of social workers, or even attachment. Know why?
Because the Enemy strikes at your heart.

He knows your fears… he put them there.
("For GOD has not given us a spirit of FEAR, but of power and love and a sound mind." 2 Tim 1:7)

He knows your weaknesses and exploits with half-truths.
("Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" Ge 3:1)

He wants you down, depressed, sad and deflated.
(The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead. Ps 143:3)
He wants you dead.
(Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1Pet.5:8)

In adoption, there is loss and redemption. There is pain and there is joy.

I have said it before, but when you step out in obedience to God, you engage the enemy. Be ready and expecting the attack. Be in prayer. Ask friends and family to pray for you too. Pray for strength, wisdom, and fierce resolve. And make sure you journal your experiences. Someday you will look back on this and see a very clear picture of God's divine protection and providence in your life!

So, here's me asking for your prayers; here's me journaling; here's me getting excited thinking about what God has planned for our family - because it's going to be so much greater with Him doing the planning than if I was in charge!

Adoption Update

I've been putting this post off for quite a while, despite the many requests and questions about how things are going. It's hard to get excited about writing about waiting, waiting, and more waiting, which is what we're still doing. I heard from our program coordinator yesterday, and the MOJ is slowly (but surely?) plodding away. They're meeting, on average, about three times a month.

We do have some things to work on at the moment. It's time for us to begin working on our CIS I800A  renewal. We need to update our home study before we can file for an extension, so we're in the process of finding a local home study agency and getting that done. Also, at the end of the summer, we'll have to complete our yearly declaration for Bulgaria to let them know that we still want to adopt. Welcome back, paperwork.

That's the specifics. The real update is on what I'm learning through this journey. This whole process has definitely strengthened my faith and my relationship with God more than any other experience in my life. Recently, I was reading through Habakkuk (obscure place I know, but I'm going through this awesome study right now) and some things really jumped out at me. Here's what Priscilla Shirer writes about it:

We don't know how long Habakkuk had been calling out to God, but when it appeared that He was not answering, Habakkuk pointed an accusatory finger at God (read his prayer in Hab. 1:2-4). Habakkuk became increasingly discouraged and started to lose confidence that the Lord would answer him. God finally spoke up and answered the prophet in verse 5 - "Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days - you would not believe if you were told." With these words, God gave Habakkuk a spiritual vision. The prophet received encouragement to look around and observe. While Habakkuk waited on God to answer, God was already answering! . . . Even though the prophet wasn't seeing God respond in the way and timing he expected, God was speaking and moving. He always is - even in His silence.

 Wow, how nice of her to write this whole book just for me! She continues to point out:

Habakkuk's second prayer is completely different from his first. After seeing his circumstances through new eyes, his level of anticipation increased.

Along with this, I'm making David's prayer my own: "In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch." Psalm 5:3

There's my challenge, and I'm assuming that it just might be yours too! Aren't we all "waiting" (read complaining) about God not doing things according to our plans and timing far too often?

Latest Adoption Update

I haven't done an adoption update in a while, so here you go. I was anticipating December to be my month of good news about our wait time. We had heard that Bulgaria was supposed to be working on an updated waiting list. I was sure hoping that would mean we wouldn't have to wait as long as we were thinking. Well, no such luck. Apparently, they are working "hard" (comparatively speaking!), and are now caught up to 2009 dossiers. They hope to get through 2009 referrals this year, and if they are still on track, get through the 2010 dossiers in 2012-13. We filed our dossier with them in August of 2010, so the earliest referral we're hoping to receive will be sometime toward the end of 2012. I'm trying hard not to be discouraged. I'm meditating on the story of God promising Abraham a child from Sarah and how long it took for that promise to be fulfilled. At this point, it seems like it's something so far off and distant that it will never actually happen. Hopefully, one day I'll be able to look back on this all and laugh about how perfect God's timing was and how little I knew!

Christmas

. . . is about adoption . . . 

"But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons."  Galatians 4:4-5 

Jesus didn't leave the comforts of heaven to be born in a stable and die a cruel death just so He could experience life on earth. He did it for you; he did it for me, so we can become part of His family. 

It's hard work to adopt. Things have to be given up, sacrifices have to be made, your privacy is invaded, you can even get hurt, but all this is worth welcoming someone new into your family. Jesus did that for you! Are you ready to become a part of His family? Are you ready to tell others about the family you're in? This Christmas, let's celebrate our adoption.

National Adoption Month

November is National Adoption Month, and November 20 is National Adoption Day. If you are considering adoption as a way to grow your family, why don't you take some extra time to pray about it this month. If you are not considering adoption at this time in your life, why don't you give it some thought and prayer.

Will you accept the challenge to do something to help adoptions this month? You may choose to set aside some time for some serious prayer this month, or you may choose to donate some of your time, money, or supplies to help the cause of either domestic or international adoption.

Our family is planning some special activities this month to help us celebrate our adoption and the country we are adopting from. Want some ideas? Here's a neat little calendar I found with an idea for every day of the month.

Timing

I like to have a plan. I don't live and die by the plan, and it's okay if the plan changes . . . as long as I'm the one in charge of the changes. So far, our adoption has not been very cooperative with my plan. What was originally a 9-18 month wait (which I initially - and naively - thought began as soon as we applied to our agency instead of to our country) has turned into already being one year into it and being told that we have at least two more years to go.

Needless to say, this has drastically changed my plan. Aside from just wanting to have our future son with us as soon as possible, the more practical side of how the timing is not going according to my plan has been causing me to do a lot of worrying and fussing. I keep thinking about how much older my girls will be in two more years and that big of a gap in their ages does not line up with my plan at all! My mind has been busy trying to come up with another plan to fix the timing. Every type of thought ranging from "Maybe I should have a baby now before our adoption is complete" to "Let's look at the waiting child list" have been serious considerations in my mind as I try to fix my plan.

Last week, something changed. God spoke to me. I've heard people say that my whole life, but I've never understood or experienced it before. In the past, I've made decisions that went against everything I wanted because I knew through various other ways that it was what God wanted me to do, but I've never heard him speak to me before. I've even doubted others' stories because a part of me didn't think that kind of thing actually happened anymore. But it does happen. It did happen. It wasn't an audible voice. It wasn't a thought going through my head. I didn't see lights or fire or angels. I didn't hear harps playing or thunder booming. For lack of a better explanation, I heard the words in my soul, and I felt his peace in my heart. He was telling me to wait; to trust. There is a plan, I'm just not the one in control of it. In that split second, my fears, worries, questions, and doubts about the timing and my plan disappeared (and so far they haven't come back!).

In the days following, other things have reinforced the message that I'm supposed to wait on God's timing. The account of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar was brought to my mind. What a perfect example of how things got messed up because people took things into their own hands instead of trusting in God's timing. On top of that, here's one of the points from today's sermon at my church: "Jesus lived with the confidence of the Father's timing in his life, and I should too."

So, here's the new plan. It's not me trying to change my plan into Plan B or Plan C; it's not my plan at all. My plan is to wait because that is God's plan. God has called us to adopt. He has made it clear that it is to be at this time in our lives and from this particular country. He knows who our son is going to be. He knows when our son will become a part of our family. For the first time in this process, I can honestly say that my plan is to wait on God's timing. Whenever it is - I know it will be right.   

Potpourri

Potpourri: a miscellaneous collection [my thoughts, in this case]  
 
We have internet!! I've seriously been on blog withdrawal - for both writing mine and reading others.

We are all unpacked and settling in to life in Georgia. I still forget sometimes and expect to see NC license plates when I'm out. Other times, I hop in the car and take off before I realize that I don't know where I'm going - thank heavens for a GPS!

 Emma Lee is already working on having a more southern accent. She now makes "down" into a 3 syllable word.

Our place is nice and cozy (except the first day/night when we didn't have an air conditioner that worked and it stayed at a solid 80 degrees! Fortunately, they took care of that really quickly.) I think we'll be pretty comfortable here for a year or so while we scope out where we want to live permanently.

October 13th marked the official one year mark of our adoption process. I had fully intended to do a one year post, but that was pretty difficult to do without a computer or internet. :) Here's a quick update for you though - things are pretty much the same right now. We are just playing the waiting game. We do have a number, and we are officially on the waiting list. They have also been having more (two in the last two months) meetings to match children with families. (Why, why, why, they don't do more than that I'll never understand!!!) They are also working on getting a more current idea/list of families waiting for children. The hope is that they will have that by December, which will give us a more certain idea of the timeline we're looking at (right now they are saying about 2 years). Of course, I'm hoping it will shorten our waiting time. It also means more paperwork (and I'm guessing more money!) for us in the future because they are requiring you to submit a yearly update of your dossier in order to stay current, and our agency suggests getting that in 4 months before the expiration date.

We are getting out and about in Macon. We attended the chick-fil-a breakfast for dinner night and all wore our pjs for free food. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture) It was crazy! Before we got there, I was having those "are you sure we were supposed to wear pjs" along with the "what if we're the only ones in pjs" kind of thoughts. I didn't need to worry though, the entire placed was packed (and I mean packed! - we had to wait for a table) and those in clothes were definitely the ones out of place! :) 
We also drove about 30 min south of us to Perry for the Georgia National Fair. It was great!! Along with the traditional (at least for the NC state fair) fair things like insanely priced rides and food with an unimaginable amount of calories and all kinds of (smelly) farm animal and petting zoos (wait a minute - why do we like this so much?? . . . who knows - but we do!) and pig racing and fireworks, they also had a free circus and a Sea Lion show that the girls really enjoyed. We were there from 3:00-10:30! Yay for older kids who don't need naps and can stay up late and then sleep in the next morning!! I only got pictures of the first half of our time there because my camera battery died. I think I need to get a back-up because I'm constantly forgetting to charge it. The rest of the time I bugged Andy to take some pictures with his phone, and a few of them turned out okay. We had a perfect ending to a great day doing our traditional family Ferris Wheel ride, which just so happened to be timed perfectly with the fireworks show.

In other news, after two weeks of sleeping on the floor in either sleeping bags, air mattresses, or regular mattresses, the girls finally have a bed!!

Rejoice

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:4-9

God  has once again given us the peace that He is in control of our adoption and that He will provide all we need in His time. We received another adoption grant in the amount of $4,000 this week! Also, thank you to those of you who continue to surprise us with checks in the mail! I was adding up the totals, and we've received $12,165 dollars from friends, fundraisers, and grants in the 11 months since we began our adoption process. Adding this to what we have already paid, we have covered over half of our total adoption expenses! 

 
A special thank you to these two wonderful organizations who have generously provided grants for our adoption! 


"Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I will say rejoice!"

Adoption Update

It's been two months since we sent everything to Bulgaria - right in time for the Minister of Justice staff to be on holiday for two months! They should be back in their offices now, but I'm not too optimistic that we'll be hearing anything from them anytime soon. A referral won't likely be coming to us for at least a year - maybe up to two. I'm trying not to dwell on the timeline too much.

Whenever I get discouraged about how long it will be, I turn my attention to the internet - trying to learn things about the culture and history of Bulgaria. It is truly a beautiful country. I've also read up on some missionaries who are serving there to help me get an idea of the spiritual condition and how to pray for the country. One family talked about how even though Bulgaria now has religious freedom, most religions are considered a sect. When this family arrived in Bulgaria in 1997, there was an article in the paper stating that Baptists eat babies. Another article ranked about twenty dangerous "sects" and Baptists made the top of the list. Although things have progressed since then - in terms of reporters being held more accountable for what they write - still, less than two percent of the population of Bulgaria claim to be Christians.

Here's a video of the Bulgarian national anthem along with pictures of the country.





English Translation (first verse and chorus)


Proudly rise the Balkan peaks,
At their feet Blue Danube flows;
Over Thrace the sun is shining,
Pirin looms in purple glow.

CHORUS
Oh, dear native land,
Earthly paradise!
For your loveliness, your beauty
E'er will charm our eyes.

Real

I lost my partner in adoption today...

but for a very good reason!
Welcome home, Eli!!!

This just makes it all seem a little more "real."

Next Step

We submitted our dossier today, so we're officially on the next step!

Now, we wait.

Where We Are

I think I'm long over due for an adoption update. We've been working hard trying to get our dossier all sent off. I had it all completed last Friday. The first step was to send it to our agency and have them double check to make sure everything was right. Since Andy was in Greensboro Mon and Tues, we just decided to have him hand deliver it. I was 100% sure everything was there and right, but I guess that's why we need an agency. Apparently, Bulgaria is a stickler for everything having your full legal name - forms (which I knew), signatures, notes from the notary - everything. So, although we don't have to completely redo all of it, we do have to print out another over 100 pages worth of forms, re-sign them, re-notarize them. Then, we'll be done with stage 1. I'm still hoping I can get that done today, and then it's off to stage 2. We have to take all the documents to Raleigh to get them apostilled (authenticated). You can't make appointments anymore, but if I drop them off before 10:00 I should be able to pick them up at 4:30 on the same day. After that, finally, we'll be able to send them to Bulgaria. I'm so glad that this is the last paperwork we'll have to do for a while!

On a more positive note, we had a huge answer to pray on the financial side. Along with turning in our dossier, we are also supposed to turn in our next payment - $3,500. We didn't have it - we didn't even have a third of it. Last week we had a phone interview with an adoption grant organization. The interview went really well, and they had an amazing prayer time for us at the end. We were supposed to hear back from them in 2-3 weeks, but they called us back in 3 days and let us know that they are sending our agency $3,000 - just in time for our payment! Praise God! 

I'll leave you with two prayer request. While Andy was talking with our program coordinator this week, he found out that the timeline on our adoption is much longer now than we had anticipated. She told him that it could take up to another 2 years. I'm trying not to be too discouraged because if nothing else, I do know that we are not following Bulgaria's timeline but God's. If He has a little boy for us sooner than 2 years, He'll make it happen. I know that if He has us wait 2 years, there's a reason for it, but I'm praying that God will speed things up!!

Pray for not only our little boy, but for the other 7,000 children in Bulgarian orphanages waiting to find love. Here is a video of some of those children.  

Approval

Yesterday we received our approval letter from the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services to adopt a child from Bulgaria! The letter says, "After reviewing your Form I-800A, the home study, and all the other evidence that you have submitted, as well as the results of the biometric fingerprint record checks conducted on you . . . USCIS has determined that you meet the eligibility and suitability requirements as the adoptive parents of a child who will be adopted under the Hague Convention." Now we can finish compiling the rest of the documents we need (we had to wait because some of them have very short expiration periods) and send off our dossier to Bulgaria.

We've been on this journey for just over 7 months, and it seems like we've hit some type of snag at every point along the way. Here's hoping (praying!) that the next part is much quicker and smoother!  We've also applied for several different adoption grants, and we should be starting to hear the replies from some by the end of June. Thank you all for your continued prayers!

Fundraiser Sucess

We had our yard sale adoption fundraiser on Sat. I really had no idea how much work is involved in a yard sale, especially one that is not taking place at your own house. Fortunately, we have a pretty amazing lady as a friend who helped . . . a lot!! You're awesome, Casey Taylor! It was so cloudy and we felt a few drops of rain occasionally, but thankfully the rain held off! I'm sure that had something to do with all the praying going on!

One thing for sure, you can meet some interesting people at a yard sale. We met quite a few who gave us some laughs after the fact. We also met a few really sweet people. One lady bargained me down $5 for her items. As I was bagging her purchases, I explained that we were doing this as an adoption fundraiser. About 30 min. later, she came back and explained that she hadn't known the reason for the sale and felt bad for talking down the price and handed me $15.

We made just about a thousand dollars to split with the Hambricks, so I'm definitely thinking that it was worth all that work! Thanks to everyone who donated items for our sale. We ended up having a HUGE amount of stuff! I'm also pretty sure that we owe Jenn and Jeremiah big time as we had to leave early and left them a couple hours before the sale ended. Thankfully, they're good friends and will (hopefully) still talk to us after that. :)   

A Round of Thank Yous!

I know it's a little bit after the fact, but I was trying to wait until I had a total to give you. Thank you to all who supported our last adoption fundraiser by placing an order. We raised close to $450 for our and the Hambrick's adoption! An extra special thank you goes to Shawna Johnson, Lindsey Bullard, Rachel Robbins, and Ada Farmer for putting on the party for us and contributing some of their sale's profit! Finally, a big thank you to Patricia Shipe for hosting the party in her lovely home.

*Also thanks to Jenn for remembering her camera. I hate it when I forget mine! 

Slowly but Surely

We got our biometrics appointment today - May 3 at 8:00 am. I'm so excited to finally have an appointment, I don't even care that I have to get up early enough to be somewhere at 8:00 am! We are slowly but surely getting everything needed for our dossier to be completed and compiled. I'm so ready for this part to be over because the next part will be being matched with a child! I think that will make it seem "officially real."

Baby Steps

With a hop

and a skip

we have moved two steps up!

Two steps closer to getting our referral. Two steps closer to traveling to meet our little boy. Two steps closer to bringing him home. Two steps closer. They are baby steps, but I'll take them!

Why Adopt?

 I recently read through a sermon from John Piper about adoption. It pretty much sums up why we made our decision to grow our family through adoption. The following is a summary (along with a few thoughts of my own) of the parts of his sermon that really apply to the decisions that we have made. You can find the entire sermon here.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. - Eph 1:3-6

Adoption is part of God's plan and for His glory (Eph 1:5-6). God's rescuing us from our sin was not an afterthought. In the same way, adoption has always been a part of our (God's) plan for our family. We are not adopting because we can't have our own biological children (obviously); instead, we feel that it is something that God has called our family to do. This isn't because we are great and extraordinary people. Andy and I are not adopting because we are wonderful or because we are seeking the praise and approval of others. We are adopting for God's glory; just as our adoption into God's family is for God's glory.

Adoption is through Jesus Christ. "We were not cute little orphans that God was attracted to; we were enemies in rebellion against God" (Rom. 5:6; 5:10). Our adoption into God's family is not based on our being worthy or cute or attractive. "It is based on the free and sovereign grace of God planned before the world and bought for us by the blood of Christ." We love because we have been loved. Following God's example, our adopted son is loved freely without meeting any conditions. We will not wait to love him until he obeys us; we will not wait to love him until he responds to us; we will not wait to love him until he loves us; we love him now - before he even knows us or even realizes that we exist.

"We are adopted by God that we will rejoice that God made much of us." Again, it comes back to God's glory. Every believer knows that without Christ our best is merely filthy rags. We do not accomplish things in our own strength but through His. Similarly, in adopting our son, our aim is not to "take a child's low views of self and replace them with high views of self. Rather our aim is to take a child's low views of God and replace them with high views of God."

Finally, adoption must occur with our eyes wide open. (This really relates to adding children to your family through whatever means because certainly problems with children are not unique to adoption.) We understand that there will be pain but there will also be joy. We know that "the grace of God is sufficient for every new day no matter how difficult. . . . His mercies are new every morning and there will be mercies for every weight and wonder on this new path in our lives."