In search of a full quiver: How we got here
So, many people have asked about our adoption journey--from the outside it most likely seemed like a sudden decision. In reality, it was light years away from that. God laid adoption on my heart about 4-5 years ago. My family was blessed to be surrounded by family and friends who blazed this path long before us. Through witnessing these stories, God softened my heart towards the plight of children awaiting adoption; specifically children who have lived through trauma and have been removed from their biological family for reasons outside their own control.
I approached Jason about 4-5 years ago and asked what he thought about adoption. I had always wanted a larger family, but for him this was a bit much to process--you see, Jason is an only child. We were stopped dead in our tracks after the birth of our second child because I became seriously ill with an autoimmune disorder and having our own was no longer an option. My heart immediately leapt at the thought of adoption. Jason's....not so much. He initially scoffed, and I'm pretty sure he may have literally asked me if I was nuts.
Fast forward about another year. More and more people in our sphere of friends were traveling this path of adoption that my heart SO longed for, so I asked again--and again his answer was a resounding NO! At this point I asked him if he had prayed about it. He was honest and admitted that he hadn't, but was also very clear that he wasn't interested in the least. I gave it another year to two. This was right about the time we made the decision for me to leave my full time job, sell our dream home and acreage and become youth leaders (eeeeekkkk!). As we were discussing this MAJOR life change I kinda threw in, "Well, you know, if we ever chose to adopt this would be the perfect time! I'll be back home for a few years." It was at this point that I saw the first shimmer of hope...I got a maybe!
After living in the parsonage and me being back in the home full time (during this time my disease went into full remission and I am doing better than I have in nearly 10 years) I started sending Jason adoption bios on kids I would find on social media or TARE. Right after Christmas 2016 he called me into the living room and said, "Let's talk about this adoption thing". EEEKK!!! His heart was ready!!!
Needless to say I already knew exactly what needed to be done, where to do it, how to begin, when to begin, etc--we started our training in February. We spent hours and hours in classes, filled out unimaginable amounts of paperwork, reorganized our home to meet state standards, went through countless inspections and then finally the homestudy...by April we were licensed.
Once we were licensed, we began receiving daily/weekly emails about children in our age range who were either almost legally free for adoption or who were completely legally free (meaning parental rights are revoked or relinquished and there is no one else seeking to adopt). We had a few matches early on. The way it works is that your homestudy can be chosen with a few others to be considered for a best match with a child awaiting adoption. Once you are selected as one of the top families you go into what is called staffing---the people associated with that child meet with you either face to face or over the phone to get more info on you and share more info on the child. Then after they meet with all the top families they choose THE ONE. We did this about 3-4 times before we were finally chosen. During this time we also delved into respite care a bit and got to get our feet wet before our official adoptive placement was made. I'm skipping several steps here but you get the gist.
Once we were chosen as THE FAMILY we sent our family life book for W to view and then followed up in a few weeks with a face to face visit. It was so very scary, and exciting, and fun all at the same time! W even got to spend the night with us at the hotel one night during our first visit. After that it was a series of short visits here at our home and then finally placement.
Before we can legally adopt, W has to live with us for 6 months. You can read about our first month together HERE. This is just a formality. He is a legally-free child so we are not awaiting any court rulings or revocations of rights etc. He is ours, our family, our child--the only things left is a court date sometime around February 2018 and a simple name change!
Thanks to everyone who helped and supported us on this journey. It is unlike any other!
Month TWO
Month THREE
Month FIVE
Month SIX
I approached Jason about 4-5 years ago and asked what he thought about adoption. I had always wanted a larger family, but for him this was a bit much to process--you see, Jason is an only child. We were stopped dead in our tracks after the birth of our second child because I became seriously ill with an autoimmune disorder and having our own was no longer an option. My heart immediately leapt at the thought of adoption. Jason's....not so much. He initially scoffed, and I'm pretty sure he may have literally asked me if I was nuts.Fast forward about another year. More and more people in our sphere of friends were traveling this path of adoption that my heart SO longed for, so I asked again--and again his answer was a resounding NO! At this point I asked him if he had prayed about it. He was honest and admitted that he hadn't, but was also very clear that he wasn't interested in the least. I gave it another year to two. This was right about the time we made the decision for me to leave my full time job, sell our dream home and acreage and become youth leaders (eeeeekkkk!). As we were discussing this MAJOR life change I kinda threw in, "Well, you know, if we ever chose to adopt this would be the perfect time! I'll be back home for a few years." It was at this point that I saw the first shimmer of hope...I got a maybe!
After living in the parsonage and me being back in the home full time (during this time my disease went into full remission and I am doing better than I have in nearly 10 years) I started sending Jason adoption bios on kids I would find on social media or TARE. Right after Christmas 2016 he called me into the living room and said, "Let's talk about this adoption thing". EEEKK!!! His heart was ready!!!
Needless to say I already knew exactly what needed to be done, where to do it, how to begin, when to begin, etc--we started our training in February. We spent hours and hours in classes, filled out unimaginable amounts of paperwork, reorganized our home to meet state standards, went through countless inspections and then finally the homestudy...by April we were licensed.
Once we were licensed, we began receiving daily/weekly emails about children in our age range who were either almost legally free for adoption or who were completely legally free (meaning parental rights are revoked or relinquished and there is no one else seeking to adopt). We had a few matches early on. The way it works is that your homestudy can be chosen with a few others to be considered for a best match with a child awaiting adoption. Once you are selected as one of the top families you go into what is called staffing---the people associated with that child meet with you either face to face or over the phone to get more info on you and share more info on the child. Then after they meet with all the top families they choose THE ONE. We did this about 3-4 times before we were finally chosen. During this time we also delved into respite care a bit and got to get our feet wet before our official adoptive placement was made. I'm skipping several steps here but you get the gist.
Before we can legally adopt, W has to live with us for 6 months. You can read about our first month together HERE. This is just a formality. He is a legally-free child so we are not awaiting any court rulings or revocations of rights etc. He is ours, our family, our child--the only things left is a court date sometime around February 2018 and a simple name change!
Thanks to everyone who helped and supported us on this journey. It is unlike any other!
Month TWO
Month THREE
Month FIVE
Month SIX
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
6 God sets the lonely in families,ahe leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
Psalm 68:5-6
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