During the first few months of this whole process, I definitely thought that the paperwork and getting all the correct forms together would be the hardest part . . . . that was definitely not true!
We are definitely in the hardest part right now! Not so much the waiting, but the waiting for the right child/circumstance, which means using discernment and having to say "no".
Last night Marion, our legal assitant, called with a case of a younger mom (21) who is pregnant again with her 2nd. She is unsure of the father of the child, and the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy are not good- one of the potential fathers is involved in drugs and crime, and the other possible father doesn't want to nor can care for the child. The girls mom is giving her a hard time about adopting her baby, but yet they are all very poor with minimal education. Despite the opinion of her family, she has decided from the beginning of the pregnancy to put the baby up for adoption to a loving and stable family with children.
The situation for us seems so much like we wanted, but yet the detail of the process - that we would have to be down in Alabama (where the mom/baby is located) for 7-10 days - throws a whole different perspective on it. It would take us several days to a week to plan what to do with our kids and yet we have to tell our attorney this morning.
Please pray- that since we can't take this child due to planning, that God give this child a loving Christian home and keep him/her safe from the circumstances of his biological family. Pray that God keep our hearts positive through this process. Pray that God gives me patience.
Psalms 38:15 -
But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
Is. 40:31-
but they who wait for the Lord, shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Watching the children play ~
(This is from about 2 months ago)-
It is spring and just gorgeous out! Just about every afternoon I take my kids outside to play. Our street is full of kids, so there is usually quite a crew that gathers to play in the cul-de-sac right in front of my house. Today there are are only 4- my 3 kids and the little boy next door. Our neighbor next door is an African American family. They have a 7 year old son named "TJ", and she recently had a baby last November whom was born early with a treatable heart condition. I was able to reach out to them during his birth and get to know them a little better.
TJ and my kids are just sitting there in the street playing happily together. Having such a great time.
While watching them, 2 thoughts came to my mind . . . 1. This could be what my family will look like in the near future. I didn't mind that at all. 2. Kids are just amazing- how they are just so innocent. You very rarely hear a child talking about how another child looks, or the color of their skin. I love that about kids! Too bad adults aren't the same.
We continue to pray for the sweet child God has for our family, and the birth mom.
It is spring and just gorgeous out! Just about every afternoon I take my kids outside to play. Our street is full of kids, so there is usually quite a crew that gathers to play in the cul-de-sac right in front of my house. Today there are are only 4- my 3 kids and the little boy next door. Our neighbor next door is an African American family. They have a 7 year old son named "TJ", and she recently had a baby last November whom was born early with a treatable heart condition. I was able to reach out to them during his birth and get to know them a little better.
TJ and my kids are just sitting there in the street playing happily together. Having such a great time.
While watching them, 2 thoughts came to my mind . . . 1. This could be what my family will look like in the near future. I didn't mind that at all. 2. Kids are just amazing- how they are just so innocent. You very rarely hear a child talking about how another child looks, or the color of their skin. I love that about kids! Too bad adults aren't the same.
We continue to pray for the sweet child God has for our family, and the birth mom.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
In God's timing ~
Yesterday I was in the impatient mode.
Our legal assistant, Marion, called about 2pm yesterday to let me know that she did show our profile book on Monday. This particular husband and wife has been married for 17 years and already had 4 kids of their own and just couldn't afford another child.
They ended up requesting to see another family profile book that had less kids.
The baby to be adopted was 1/2 African American and 1/2 Caucassian.
Marion was able to match them with a family want to adopt for a second time. Their first adopted child is the same ethnic mix.
After I hung up the phone, I was a little dissapointed- thinking maybe I should change our book a little, you know, to make it more appealing that a family choose us.
Then I began to think back the last few months, to the few we had to say no to, simply because it wasn't right for us at that time.
God showed me that " all things work according to His perfect goodness and His perfect plan!". I also am so thankful that their are other families out there willing to adopt children in need!
Our legal assistant, Marion, called about 2pm yesterday to let me know that she did show our profile book on Monday. This particular husband and wife has been married for 17 years and already had 4 kids of their own and just couldn't afford another child.
They ended up requesting to see another family profile book that had less kids.
The baby to be adopted was 1/2 African American and 1/2 Caucassian.
Marion was able to match them with a family want to adopt for a second time. Their first adopted child is the same ethnic mix.
After I hung up the phone, I was a little dissapointed- thinking maybe I should change our book a little, you know, to make it more appealing that a family choose us.
Then I began to think back the last few months, to the few we had to say no to, simply because it wasn't right for us at that time.
God showed me that " all things work according to His perfect goodness and His perfect plan!". I also am so thankful that their are other families out there willing to adopt children in need!
Choosing an attorney/ agency . . .
Looking back, it is neat to see how God put us with our adoption attorney we are using.
Back in November, I had an attorney group in mind that is pretty well known in the Upstate. However, after reading through their information we realized that they were much too expensive for us to use! I was dissapointed but after researching local attorney's and agencies, I see God had a different plan.
I began calling different local attorny's and agencies that I had either heard of before, or that someone referred us to. We ended up receiving information from 4 different ones.
One evening in mid-November, Dan and I sat together with the information from each attorney/agency in front of us. We carefully read through each packet, and ended up with 2 different adoption attorney's in front of us that we liked. One was Ray Godwin and the other was a guy in Columbia that someone referred to me. We ended up choosing Ray.
About 2 weeks prior, I met Carlee's class at lunch time to have lunch with her. Her teacher was talking to me casually and I mentioned our adoption to her. She began telling me about a little girl in Carlee's class that was adopted and her mom taught there at the school as well.
At that time I was desperate to talk to anyone who had been through the experience, so I went home and emailed her. I never received a response back. Come to find out my email didn't show up in my sent box, which meant she never got my email. So, I decided to send her a new one. She immediately emailed back and told me to call her.
Karen's story was touching! And come to find out, after our one hour phone coversation, she used Attorney Ray Godwin and had such a great experience!
I knew then that we had chosen the Adoption Attorney group that God wanted us to use.
Ray has been been working adoptions for 20 years. He and his wife, Laura who works along side of him at Night Light Christian Adoptions, adopted two girls themselves.
Check out his website: http://www.scadopt.net/
Back in November, I had an attorney group in mind that is pretty well known in the Upstate. However, after reading through their information we realized that they were much too expensive for us to use! I was dissapointed but after researching local attorney's and agencies, I see God had a different plan.
I began calling different local attorny's and agencies that I had either heard of before, or that someone referred us to. We ended up receiving information from 4 different ones.
One evening in mid-November, Dan and I sat together with the information from each attorney/agency in front of us. We carefully read through each packet, and ended up with 2 different adoption attorney's in front of us that we liked. One was Ray Godwin and the other was a guy in Columbia that someone referred to me. We ended up choosing Ray.
About 2 weeks prior, I met Carlee's class at lunch time to have lunch with her. Her teacher was talking to me casually and I mentioned our adoption to her. She began telling me about a little girl in Carlee's class that was adopted and her mom taught there at the school as well.
At that time I was desperate to talk to anyone who had been through the experience, so I went home and emailed her. I never received a response back. Come to find out my email didn't show up in my sent box, which meant she never got my email. So, I decided to send her a new one. She immediately emailed back and told me to call her.
Karen's story was touching! And come to find out, after our one hour phone coversation, she used Attorney Ray Godwin and had such a great experience!
I knew then that we had chosen the Adoption Attorney group that God wanted us to use.
Ray has been been working adoptions for 20 years. He and his wife, Laura who works along side of him at Night Light Christian Adoptions, adopted two girls themselves.
Check out his website: http://www.scadopt.net/
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