Our BIG News (and why we started a blog!)

I have always loved to read others' blogs - some people have such a wonderful way of phrasing things just the right way and writing something that speaks to my heart. Reading blogs is something I do when I really don't feel like cleaning, cooking, or going to bed at night! I've always envied others' blogs, knowing that if I attempted my own, things probably wouldn't come out the same way I hope that they will or I may have trouble explaining my thoughts as well as others do.

So why start a blog? Well there are several reasons, but the reason that is at the top of the list is that we have big news, and some of you that live farther away may want to follow our journey. So what is our big news???

We are adopting!! Yes, that's right - we have officially started the adoption process with Bethany Christian Services and plan to adopt a baby from Ethiopia. Now, some of you may be thinking...um, don't you have a 2 year old who is really a handful at times and didn't you also give birth just this past summer to another child? Well yes, that is true...our daughter Avery is 2 1/2, and our son Easton is 6 months. So are we crazy?? Maybe. :) Does adoption from Ethiopia take awhile? Yes. Are we trying to live a life that is led by the Spirit? With all our hearts!!

And so here is the story of how our adoption journey started - this will be part 1 - part 2 will be some questions answered that we may receive regarding our adoption.


Part 1 - Our Adoption Story...

Adoption is something that I knew very little about growing up. I did not know hardly any adopted kids, and the ones that I did know were in families who were unable to have any children of their own. It is not something that I even considered as a way to grow my family until the past few years actually. God first put adoption on my heart a very long time ago when Todd and I were dating. We were talking about family sizes, as he wanted a smaller family (coming from a family of 4 kids) and I wanted a larger family (coming from a family of 2 kids). He then made the comment that he still wanted a smaller family, but if he was to even consider a larger family, he didn't want them all to be biological children. I thought that was an odd comment but we didn't pursue it further at the time.

So fast forward to our married life a few years ago...our best friends from highschool tell us that they plan to adopt and they eventually do adopt 2 children from Ethiopia (at the same time!). In my head, I'm thinking, wow, that is really nice for you to do - you know, saving those kids and all, but honestly you have 2 of your own little kids and your adding 2 more little ones? You really must be crazy and well, these friends of ours are pretty laid back people, so I suppose they can handle that, but there is no way that this Type A could EVER do something like that! I would go insane, I'm sure of it, and I'm sure God would never call ME to do something that crazy - b/c I'm sure that God would want my life to be as neat and orderly as possible. I don't really like messes and kids just creat mess and chaos (why did I think I wanted a big family when I was a teenager??) and so a family with nice equal spacing that comes from my own womb would be a much nicer, neater, less chaotic, SAFE way to grow my family (not to mention less expensive - lets be honest, adoption is very expensive and it certainly wasn't fitting into my budget currently - maybe in about 5 years, but not now!)

Next step - we attend a church in town called Living Water Community Church. We LOVE it - never have I felt so at home in a church, never have I been SOO very sad to miss a church service or wanted to go back SO badly! We love the people, the community, the love, the acceptance, the GRACE that is found there. This summer/fall our pastor began preaching a series of sermons about Discipleship and God's Spirit working in us. Well it just so happened that at this same time, God was putting adoption on my heart - so while I was taking care of my 3 month old, I began praying about adopting another child and praying that if God wanted us to do this, that He would give my husband this same idea - that Todd would be all for it and be content with even being done having biological children if it meant continuing to grow our family through adoption. I began praying for Todd's heart and my own as I had many fears, uncertainties, and some barriers that needed to be broken down before I was ready to give my heart over to this.

Well as Todd and I began talking about adoption, He began placing a seed in both of us that just continued to grow and grow. I began reading anything I could on adoption - books, blogs of others who have adopted, international adoption vs. domestic, talking with others who have adopted, etc. It was addicting and just like that, my passion grew like wildfire.

In the process God began breaking my heart for His children and giving me such a passion for orphans around the world. You know how when you are little your parents tell you to eat all of your food b/c there are starving children in Africa? I've tried using this on my 2 1/2 year old; she doesn't get it yet. :) But how many of us "really get it?" We know it to be a true fact - that there are millions around the world, literally starving to death, and there are at least 145 MILLION (conservative estimate) orphans in the world - that is 145 million kids that DON'T have someone to kiss them hundreds of times a day, tuck them in at night, pray with them, LOVE on them constantly like I do with my own kids. And why has this major injustice never just completely broken my heart? I mean, I of course felt really badly about it, and it made me so very thankful for the home/parents/country I was placed in, I would feel compelled to give an offering at church on sunday for a specific need or sponsor a child. But it never made me give up any of my own comfort or TRULY sacrifice for them.

As God put this on our hearts, He made it very clear that Ethiopia was the country we were to adopt from, and not only that, but we were to start the process NOW, not wait until our baby is at least a year old, and not wait until we have all the finances in place for this $30,000-$40,000 adoption, but start it now, and TRUST Him that His plan for us is greater, that His resources are vast, and that this LEAP of FAITH will be a wild ride, but He WILL provide what we need each step of the way.

So...we JUMPED!! And we met with a social worker from Bethany, began filling out paperwork, and have submitted our formal application. Our application has been accepted by the Ethiopia team from Bethany, and we have almost completed our homestudy paperwork and hope to have our first homestudy interview in the next couple weeks.

Needless to say - we are very excited, a little overwhelmed, but very excited!! We invite you to share this journey with us as we follow God's call to adopt a child from Ethiopia!