Why now?

So, apparently I have not answered the question of, why now ... a friend told me she was waiting for this answer :)

I was going to answer it in parts ... things God has shown us during this process that have transformed us and the way we view life. I will still do that but to go ahead and answer the root question (for inquiring minds), of why now ... here is the basic answer in its most simple form ...

Because God told us to do it now.

Adopting now was not in our 'plans' for life. When we thought about adoption, we always thought it would be when we were a bit older and were done trying to have any more biological children. And we always thought we would want to space our kids out at least 2 years apart from each other. That was the 'plan'.

'A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.' Prov 16:9

But, we have always told God that it was His timing, not ours. And last December, surprisingly, He started speaking to me about adopting. We spent months praying. It was confirmed over and over again. And for those months, we wrestled with this. We kept trying to find a million reasons why this was not the right timing. And there were alot of reasons that we came up with :) ... but there was an internal battle that never relented. We were trying to fight what God was calling us to do. We were trying to be 'logical'. Trying to figure it out in our own mind and strength.

When we finally said YES to God, fully surrendered our plan and our family to him, there was an overwhelming PEACE. That kind of tangible peace that 'surpasses all understanding'. There is a deep confidence that comes when you follow Gods voice. Its a confidence that shakes things. Its a simple KNOWING that answers every question in your mind. Because while you may not understand how its going to happen, you know that if God said it, then He will provide everything you need.

And what we know is that God calls us to do things that we cannot do on our own. Things that just don't make sense to anyone ... not even us. He calls us to live lives that are bigger than we can imagine. Its not about comfort and convenience...its not about me, its not about Jeremy... its all about Him. And there is a baby, that is coming to this world ... a baby that God destined to be here for a special purpose at this time ... a baby that God is fashioning and forming in a womans womb ... a woman that has surrendered her comfort and convenience, her plans, for the sake of love ... and that baby has been destined to be in our family, since before time began.

And so, we too surrender our comfort and convenience ... our plans ... for the sake of love. We don't get to control when he comes, but we have the honor of partnering with God in raising this child ... we have the honor of being his parents on earth. And this little boy is a world changer ... and we are so blessed.

So, why now? Because we heard Gods voice and are following Him ... and now is the time to go find our baby and bring him home.

investments ...

One question we have gotten over and over when we have told people we are going to adopt is, 'Do you know how expensive that is? Do you know how much money that cost?'

Yes, we do know. Of course we do. But, here is what we believe and are understanding more and more as we continue to walk out this process ...

Wealth is not, should not be defined by what you have, but rather by what you give. When our standard for life consists in comparisons with other people, we will live completely unsatisfied, selfish lives chasing things that will never fill us.

One thing God has been giving us revelation on and opening our eyes/minds to during this whole adoption process, is the subject of investments. Where are we investing our time and our money? What are we giving ourselves to and for? What are we investing in? What are we doing with what we have been given?

There is no greater investment than in another human being. Its an investment that lives for eternity. So, yes, we do know how much adoption costs, and yes, it is a huge financial sacrifice. But giving sacrificially for another person is an investment that lives forever ... it is an investment that has an eternal return. And no, I do not think adoption is not for everyone, but what I do know is that we are all called to give our lives to something greater than ourselves and I also know that we will never feel rich if we think of wealth in terms of money. Our investments (time and money), reveal our heart ... because where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.

timing...

If you know us fairly well, you know about our amazing two daughters. Riley is way loud, crazy, intense, active, headstrong, stubborn, does not like sleep and never stops. Carsyn is the sweetest human ever created ;), but the challenges we have to walk through with her add an entirely new level of difficulty. Either of them alone, would be a handful, put them together and our life is pretty crazy at times. So, the obvious question that runs through probably 98% of the heads of the people that know we are adopting, is why now? Not many people choose to have 2 babies 18months apart ... even if they don't have any other kids or any slightly difficult situations to deal with.

And, I said I would keep entries short, so I can't answer this all now, but will over the next few days because we have been asked about this several times over the last couple weeks.

What I will say for today is that our life is not about our comfort and our convenience. And when you choose to follow Gods voice above all others, He is going to have you do things that make no sense to anyone....not even to you. You will be stretched and taken to a place of feeling completely inadequate to handle what He has called you to do. You will come to recognize your need for Him, and also His desire to fill you. And as you take that step of faith and follow His lead, you will learn a new level of freedom, and experience a new depth of grace and love ... you will learn how strong and faithful God is, and you will see how He really does provide 'all you need according to His riches and glory' (phil 4:19). Life will take on a new level of JOY and FREEDOM and FUN as you willingly give yourself to Him.

And over the past few months as we have prayed and asked God for clarity, vision, direction and confirmation, He has shown us so much about life and transformed our way of thinking and living in such an awesome way. He has taken us to a new place of faith and trust and love and redefined the 'american dream' in our lives. So, over the next few days, I will write a little bit more about why we are doing this now and how we have already been affected by this whole process.

adoption consultant

We are using an adoption consultant to help us with this whole process. The group we are working with is called Christian Adoption Consultants. We have an awesome consultant that is helping our family specifically. If you want to get a better idea about exactly what Jer and I are walking through right now, or get any more info, check out her page ...

http://fathersheartadoptions.wordpress.com/

home study

Yesterday we had our final home study interview. It went great. We are on target to have home study completed at the end of this month!

Riley showed the lady doing our home study around our house. She gave her 'the tour' ... and she pointed out where 'black beau' sleeps. The home study lady did not know that we had a black cat, and since we are adopting an African American boy, thought riley was saying that this is where our 'black boy' would sleep when he came to our house ... which was a chair.

I did some fast explaining that no, no, our baby will not be sleeping in the corner of this room on this dirty chair...and, no, Ri did not say 'black boy', our cats fur is black and his name is beau... and he likes to nap in that chair ...

;) haha

Keep praying for our little boy and his birth mother. Pray God would bless her abundantly for the sacrifice of love that she is making, and that our son would feel Gods presence and love and joy even as he is growing and developing in the womb...

Thanks again for all of your support and prayers! It means the world to us!

Its Time...

When I was 14, I knew I would adopt one day. It was just something that was in my heart that I always knew would happen. And I knew I would adopt an african american boy, and an asian girl. For over 2 decades I have known that, and it has been as natural as knowing I would get my license when I turned 16 or knowing I would go to college after I finished high school. It has been a part of me, engrained in my heart for as long as I can remember.

And God partnered me with a man, whose heart is gold. He is selfless, and giving, and his passion is his family. Adoption has been a beat in his heart as well. And so, for years, we have prayed about the timing of starting this adoption journey and have tried to remain very sensitive to Gods voice about His desire for our family.

Last December, God began to speak to our hearts about adopting our next child. The timing was unexpected and definitely not what we thought Gods timing would be. It seemed like too big of a thing for us to take on at this point... but we have learned that is how God works! He calls us to do things that are impossible in our own strength...

So, after months of prayer and seeking His face about this next HUGE step for our family, we felt the confirmation and the 'go-ahead' and the supernatural PEACE to begin this journey of bringing our third child home to us! And here we go :)

This is a blog we will keep to give updates about the journey. I am going to keep entries short and sweet, and try to be consistent with it. We are doing a domestic infant adoption, and will be bringing home an African American baby boy some time in the next few months. We have not yet been matched with a baby. At this point, our home study is almost complete and we hope to be presenting our info to adoption agencies around the country as of Sept.1. Once we begin to present to agencies, realistically, we could get a call that we are matched with a baby at any time. So, yes, we could have our son very soon!

Adoption is costly, time-consuming, and requires such sacrifice, but what we have learned and how our family has grown in this short period of time, already is invaluable. Our hope is to share on this blog little bits and pieces of what God is teaching us and how we are growing as a family through this journey, as well as to keep you updated on the process and let you know when we have our son!

Thanks for your prayers and support for our family!