More on the "Why"

Everyone grows up looking at things a certain way. Either the way things were, the way things were taught to them...everyone has their paradigm through which they look at life. Adoption is the same way. It may surprise you how many people have offered me names/numbers of a fertility specialist. For many people when they hear the word "adoption" they also hear "we can't get pregnant".  And I don't blame anyone for that perspective because I know that is how many people have come to know about adoption. We enjoy our opportunities to expose more people to the heart of why we are going to adopt.  

The verse under our picture (on this blog) is Jesus telling us to love others as He loved us. He loved us first and after we accept His love we then have something to offer others. I engraved that verse in Trey's wedding ring because my promise to him in marriage is to love him like Christ loves me; unconditionally. And that is the same way we view our commitment to our future children. 

A friend shared with me an article where a pastor acknowledges that God tells all Christians to care for widows and orphans, but warns that not all should adopt. He addresses the truth that adoption should not be to meet the needs and/or wants of the parents, but adopting and parenting for that matter is a selfless act of loving someone in need. Please read it and expose yourself to what may be a paradigm shift. :)  Click here to read: Don't Adopt!

Where We Are In The Process

Our agency is called Covenant Kids (will refer to as CK) and has locations in Arlington and Plano. We chose them for several reasons. First we knew others at our church had used them and had good experiences. Also since the agency provides all the training and on-going support, we wanted a Christian organization that would be coming from a biblical perspective. And lastly they only required us to have been married one year rather than two.

In June our official process began...and let me say it is a PROCESS. Here is an overview of the steps and where we are in them. (This can take from 4 months-1 year, depending on how much free time you have.)

1. Application - Completed and submitted in June.
2. Training - Started in July doing several hours each month. We have completed 25 of 30 hours.  Training includes all kinds of things including learning "the system", meds for ADHD & depression, CPR, first aid, abuse and neglect, behavior modification, SIDS and shaken baby syndrome, and everything in between. 
3. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork - We are making our way through this part. They want a copy of every official document you have had in your life plus things you have probably not thought about in your life. Here are some examples: driver's license, marriage license, SS card, transcripts, auto insurance, home insurance, pet vaccinations, health insurance, home floor plan (drawn) with escape routes, driving record, fire inspection, health inspection, house rules/consequences/rewards, disaster plan, daily routine (weekday & weekend), personal referrals. 
4. Required Reading: We are required to read The Connected Child and The Whole Life Adoption Book and recommended to also read Beyond Consequences, Logic and Control. (The links provided will take to sites where you can learn what these books are about.)
5. Home study: This will not be completed until all our paperwork and training is submitted. We are projecting end of the year. Once this is completed, reviewed (which can take 30 days) and approved, we will be a verified home. 

We have already learned SO MUCH. There have been many times we wished we could bring a group of family and friends with us. If you want to know more, and we hope that many of you do because you are close enough to us that you will be an intimate part of our family or because God is leading you down the same road, please read a book! CK suggests The Connected Child if you choose just one. 

For more information on our agency and because they have links to many more resources, check out:  http://www.covenantkids.org/

Adoption

Since before we met, we both felt like adoption was part of God's plan for each of our lives. Less than 3 months into dating Trey brought it up to find out where I stood on the subject, because he knew it would be in his future. He told me that he thought it was the greatest way to impact another person's life. At that moment, well actually I had thought about it before, but I really hoped he would one day be my husband. For years I had been feeling God tugging on my heart in regards to orphans and hoped that I could adopt someday.
Even after we got married we wondered...who, when, where, how...common questions. In November of last year our church hosted a Focus on the Family seminar on adoption so we attended. There we learned that right here in Texas there are orphans waiting to be adopted. We just knew clear as day that this was for us. It was there that we found out siblings are not separated and need to be adopted together, into a family willing to take more than one child. We love our siblings and thought, wow we would not want to be separated either!
The when has been a process. In May 2010 I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. And my thyroid went down the tubes quick style! I was pretty sick. My doctor told me I needed to wait until my thyroid was controlled to try to get pregnant because a baby needs the right balance of thyroid hormone for development. During that time Trey and I started to consider adoption first. That is not the traditional way to do it but we started praying about it and God really opened our hearts and minds and we started to get really excited about it. We could wait until my thyroid issues are well controlled and try for biological children first but we truly believe it is God's plan for us to adopt first. Adoption is our Plan A! In the future we may go for that too, but we will take it one step at a time.

Thank you for your interest in our life! There is so much to share about what we are doing, where we are in the process and what God is teaching us through all of this. So I hope you will keep reading future posts. I plan to post links to great information along the way and hope you will learn with us!

For more info see: http://www.icareaboutorphans.org/WaitNoMore.aspx