Adoption Update

I wanted to share an update and really launch our personal blog. Writing has ALWAYS been my creative outlet (thank you private school education for making me write a paper every other week for 5 years). I am using this to share our family’s journey through adoption, fertility treatments & also just our family memory book! When Lee and I got married, I swore I was going to make a family year book each year. 10 years later, I have not made one! Maybe I will just do a 1-10 highlight reel book and then start on year 11? TBD.

So we shared with our greater networks in November that we were adopting. Truth being we have been on this journey since the middle of June. That is when we began our paper work, home studies, interviews, and research. So this is really month 7 for us on this journey while maybe the majority of people in our life have only known a short while. We are grateful to the close family & friends we told when we started working with our adoption consultant & pursuing this way to grow our family. We have been asked lots of questions lately so thought this would be an easier way to share the information.

First, I always welcome the questions. It is helpful to talk about even if it isn’t easy so don’t hesitate to ask! We are currently just in the wait. There are no more forms to complete, no more “things” to do which is hard for me because I have no real control. I have no way to move the process forward. For a Type-A, control freak, typically high-achieving person, this is no easy task. When you are not a patient person, God gives you the tasks in life to challenge that patience. I.E here we are trying to adopt—probably the thing that requires the most patience, faith & trust. We have presented our profile 4 times now, and all were nos. The way the process works is our adoption consultant sends us Birth Mother profiles to review, then we may choose to present our profile to her, and then we wait to be selected. It has not been easy to hear no, not right now. No this child isn’t for you, it is meant to be someone else’s. I very easily get my hopes up, start planning how we would make the timing work, what would we need immediately, and then it is a no.

I do believe it is not a no forever. I do believe God has our perfect baby, the child meant for our family maybe hasn’t even been created yet, or we just have not found each other yet.

So that is where we are friends. In the wait. Some things that have been helpful to me in this season are to do a few things to prepare like clean out the baby’s room & closet. Organizing the items in there and making it functional have been therapeutic. There are days I cannot go in there, and other days I enjoy going in there. It makes me feel hopeful.

Some bible verses I have been clinging to lately are:

Psalm 27:14 "Wait for the Lord;be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord”

Romans 8:25 “But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience”

2 Peter 3:9 “ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”

Jeremiah 29:11 “ For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “ plans to proser you & not harm you, plans to give you hope & a future.”

If you are in the wait in any season of life, I hope these inspire you as well.

We covet your prayers as we walk this journey, we are working hard on getting fully funded without having to go into debt and appreciate your contributions as you can, & we are planning a really FUN fundraiser for in about a month that I will be able to share the details on by Sunday!

xoxo,

A