9/20/2009
I realize that the posts have been non-existent since the end of May. Thanks to all you followers for sticking with us. I am writing today to let you know that at this point our adoption has been put on hold. On July 17 we found out that we are expecting our first child. After much prayer and discussion we decided that we could not work at our adoption, take on a new ministry
All this means is that hopefully soon after the birth of our child we will be able to pick up where we left off with our adoption and continue moving forward. Although we are thrilled with this unexpected blessing, we still long for our family to be complete by bringing home our children from abroad. Thank you for your support and words of encouragement. We would appreciate your prayers as we move forward with a new season of life and continued prayers as we wait to complete our family through adoption. position and have a child, so we made the difficult decision to put the adoption on hold.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Happy Mother's Day!
5/29/09
This post is very delayed but no the less we wanted to document this very special step in our journey. Currey graduated Mother's Day weekend. It was so special for us as we were able to celebrate with Currey's family and spend time together. A huge part of our journey is that we have huge support from our families as we proceed with our adoption. All of our parents are anxiously awaiting the arrival of grandchildren and it is such a blessing to have their support.
So on Mother's Day Currey's parents gave us a card letting us know that they would like to financially contribute to make the next steps of our journey possible. We were so surprised and feel blessed beyond measure. It was an unexpected blessing and shortens the time we will have to wait to bring our babies home. Our goal is to complete our next chunk of paperwork and our home study this summer. We are praying for God to stabilize Currey's income as we have to show that we are financially capable to care for children to successfully pass a home study. We continue to rest assured that God is faithful and will provide. We continue to be blessed as we continue our journey. When ever we get weary our gracious God provides affirmation that we are being obedient to his call and his hand is guiding our story. We are so excited to begin moving forward and feel blessed to be so supported!
This post is very delayed but no the less we wanted to document this very special step in our journey. Currey graduated Mother's Day weekend. It was so special for us as we were able to celebrate with Currey's family and spend time together. A huge part of our journey is that we have huge support from our families as we proceed with our adoption. All of our parents are anxiously awaiting the arrival of grandchildren and it is such a blessing to have their support.
So on Mother's Day Currey's parents gave us a card letting us know that they would like to financially contribute to make the next steps of our journey possible. We were so surprised and feel blessed beyond measure. It was an unexpected blessing and shortens the time we will have to wait to bring our babies home. Our goal is to complete our next chunk of paperwork and our home study this summer. We are praying for God to stabilize Currey's income as we have to show that we are financially capable to care for children to successfully pass a home study. We continue to rest assured that God is faithful and will provide. We continue to be blessed as we continue our journey. When ever we get weary our gracious God provides affirmation that we are being obedient to his call and his hand is guiding our story. We are so excited to begin moving forward and feel blessed to be so supported!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
A Prayer for Parents
5/3/09
In knowing that this is going to be a lengthy process we have decided that for each month of the journey we will have a specific prayer request for the season that we are in. For the month of May we ask that you would pray for the birth parents of our children.
I would be the first to admit that in this process I had not spent a whole lot of time thinking about them. And then I began my new job. Although the circumstances are different I am gaining a better understanding of the sacrifice that our children's birth parents will make. I had been at my job for 2 weeks and I was sitting in the court waiting room across from a couple and a woman. The woman was looking through a scrapbook that the couple had created. As I sat there I overheard that they were there that day so the mother could sign custody of her children to the foster parents. They were all tearful but the mother stated, "I am doing this as an act of love for my children. I want was is truly best for them and I know that is not something that I can provide." At this point I was overcome with emotion. The thought had never crossed my mind.
There are parents there that will be giving us custody of their children because they know that for whatever reason they won't be able to provide the best care. We obviously don' know the circumstances that will bring our children to us but we have a new sense of responsibility to their birth parents. We are being picked to love, teach, provide, laugh, cry, and hug. To read stories, take walks, see all their "firsts", make friends, help with heart ache, encourage, support and dream. We ask that you join with us this month as we pray for them, the decision they will have to make, peace with their choice, moments of joy with the kids and safe environments while we wait. We will never fully understand the depth of their sacrifice but we are eternally grateful for the precious gift they will give us. Thank you for your prayers during this journey.
In knowing that this is going to be a lengthy process we have decided that for each month of the journey we will have a specific prayer request for the season that we are in. For the month of May we ask that you would pray for the birth parents of our children.
I would be the first to admit that in this process I had not spent a whole lot of time thinking about them. And then I began my new job. Although the circumstances are different I am gaining a better understanding of the sacrifice that our children's birth parents will make. I had been at my job for 2 weeks and I was sitting in the court waiting room across from a couple and a woman. The woman was looking through a scrapbook that the couple had created. As I sat there I overheard that they were there that day so the mother could sign custody of her children to the foster parents. They were all tearful but the mother stated, "I am doing this as an act of love for my children. I want was is truly best for them and I know that is not something that I can provide." At this point I was overcome with emotion. The thought had never crossed my mind.
There are parents there that will be giving us custody of their children because they know that for whatever reason they won't be able to provide the best care. We obviously don' know the circumstances that will bring our children to us but we have a new sense of responsibility to their birth parents. We are being picked to love, teach, provide, laugh, cry, and hug. To read stories, take walks, see all their "firsts", make friends, help with heart ache, encourage, support and dream. We ask that you join with us this month as we pray for them, the decision they will have to make, peace with their choice, moments of joy with the kids and safe environments while we wait. We will never fully understand the depth of their sacrifice but we are eternally grateful for the precious gift they will give us. Thank you for your prayers during this journey.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
How We Got Here
4/21/09
Like all journeys, ours had a beginning. Although we feel this chapter of our lives is just beginning, it actually began several years ago.
Honestly, for as long as I can remember I have wanted to adopt. Early on in our relationship Currey and I began to think we could spend our lives together. We were 4 hours apart in college and spent 3+ hours on the phone a night. As we began discussing our future I brought up my desire to adopt. I felt it was only fair to let Currey know my desires but was fearful we would not be on the same page. Currey agreed with enthusiasm and shared my dreams of expanding our family through adoption.
Since that time we have married and we've moved 4 times. Currey has finished his undergrad program and will be graduating in 3 weeks with 2 masters. We've traveled, worshiped, made friendships, changed jobs, gotten dogs and enjoyed each moment we have together.
But we began to feel like we weren't complete. We were ready to grow our family. Last summer (2008) we began researching agencies and realized that although we felt ready we were not in a place that we could start the process. Although we were heartbroken we knew that God's timing is perfect so we have spent the last year preparing for this time. We realize that there is nothing that can completely prepare us for this journey but we anticipate an exciting ride.
Like all journeys, ours had a beginning. Although we feel this chapter of our lives is just beginning, it actually began several years ago.
Honestly, for as long as I can remember I have wanted to adopt. Early on in our relationship Currey and I began to think we could spend our lives together. We were 4 hours apart in college and spent 3+ hours on the phone a night. As we began discussing our future I brought up my desire to adopt. I felt it was only fair to let Currey know my desires but was fearful we would not be on the same page. Currey agreed with enthusiasm and shared my dreams of expanding our family through adoption.
Since that time we have married and we've moved 4 times. Currey has finished his undergrad program and will be graduating in 3 weeks with 2 masters. We've traveled, worshiped, made friendships, changed jobs, gotten dogs and enjoyed each moment we have together.
But we began to feel like we weren't complete. We were ready to grow our family. Last summer (2008) we began researching agencies and realized that although we felt ready we were not in a place that we could start the process. Although we were heartbroken we knew that God's timing is perfect so we have spent the last year preparing for this time. We realize that there is nothing that can completely prepare us for this journey but we anticipate an exciting ride.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Our Journey has Officially Begun!
4/2/09
We are THRILLED to announce that we have officially begun our adoption journey. We chose our title because honestly we have been dreaming of Africa and our sweet babies for such a long time. We have talked, prayed, read, sought counsel, read and talked some more, dreamed and planned for what seems like forever. Ironically enough we decided to begin our paper work the same weekend that I decided to leave my job. I think that when we were home for Christmas and were with so many friends and their sweet children, we realized we wanted to start actively working toward this goal.
So here is where we are. We have submitted our initial paperwork and have been approved by our agency. This is not a home study, just approval that we meet the requirements of the country we want to adopt from and agency we want to work with. Unfortunately we have more funds to gather before we can move further but we know that God is faithful. He has given us dreams and we know that he will provide so that it becomes a reality.
We know that our journey will have it's share of ups and downs and we want to remember each detail. We want to be able to document the progress for ourselves but also for our children to know our thoughts and our prayers as we wait to bring them home. We invite you to be a part of our journey as we follow the Lord's call and expand our family through adoption.
We are THRILLED to announce that we have officially begun our adoption journey. We chose our title because honestly we have been dreaming of Africa and our sweet babies for such a long time. We have talked, prayed, read, sought counsel, read and talked some more, dreamed and planned for what seems like forever. Ironically enough we decided to begin our paper work the same weekend that I decided to leave my job. I think that when we were home for Christmas and were with so many friends and their sweet children, we realized we wanted to start actively working toward this goal.
So here is where we are. We have submitted our initial paperwork and have been approved by our agency. This is not a home study, just approval that we meet the requirements of the country we want to adopt from and agency we want to work with. Unfortunately we have more funds to gather before we can move further but we know that God is faithful. He has given us dreams and we know that he will provide so that it becomes a reality.
We know that our journey will have it's share of ups and downs and we want to remember each detail. We want to be able to document the progress for ourselves but also for our children to know our thoughts and our prayers as we wait to bring them home. We invite you to be a part of our journey as we follow the Lord's call and expand our family through adoption.
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