When you adopt through Christian Homes and Family Services, you are required to attend their orientation. We traveled to Arlington TX to attend a two day orientation. Thankfully, we had family in the area that were wonderful hosts! It was great to visit with family and save a little on our weekend expenses!
We met several staff members from CHFS and other potential adoptive families on Friday. We underwent a crash course in the "administrative" aspects of the adoption. For some reason I wasn't worried going into the weekend about the paperwork-there is a part of me that enjoys documentation, paperwork, etc. However, when people say adoption paperwork is overwhelming THEY ARE NOT KIDDING! We have to complete at least 20 documents (some of these are 10 pages or more) as well as providing at least 15 "proof of" documents before we can even be approved to schedule a home study. WOW. I thought I could have this paperwork done in 2 weeks...I was definitely wrong!
Saturday was the day that impacted both of us the most. This is the day in which we heard from those who were adopted (these women were in their 20s and were able to share their stories), birth mothers, and adopted families. I never realized what I really thought about the adoption process and those involved until I attended. Through CHFS and the people associated with them, God revealed to us what He can do through an adoption: encourage a mom who is contemplating abortion, show God's love to the broken, mend hearts by having a common love for a child, and so much more. Every single testimony touched our hearts, and we were so thankful that God showed us what adoption can really be about. He calmed our fears/questions about open adoption and helped us realize what we can expect. He also helped us realize that we need to trust Him with the unexpected. Adoption can be an awesome way for God to work and show His love and grace to everyone involved. It can also be a way in which Satan can take advantage of sensitive situations and fragile hearts. As we go through this process, we pray that we can recognize and embrace God's faithfulness. We ask that you join us in prayer.....we are going to need it!
Hopefully we can get this paperwork tackled soon. Several people have already asked how they can support us in our adoption. Our next post will focus on some of these questions....
Have a great week!
Wow. Never thought I would ever start a blog. EVER.
Goes to show you how my brain works...in attempting to set up this blog, I evidently set up my Google profile instead. Huge call of love to my sister-in-law Bev for helping me get this set up!
When people found out that we were adopting, several people asked us to write a blog or a newsletter because they wanted to be kept in the loop. Since Christian Homes and Family Services wants us to do outreach through social media, everything seemed to fall into place!
Joel and I have always discussed adoption. With Joel having Type One diabetes, adoption always seemed to work itself into our conversations even before we were married. Joel was very familiar with adoption through his family and friends, but I wasn't as familiar with the process. I joined our adoption/orphan care ministry "Handprints" at our church to find out more of what adoption would look like....but I even said "I will be a part of this ministry as long as it means I don't have to adopt." God has always had a sense of humor!
We had actually decided to pursue having biological children. However, in November 2012, Joel told me he wanted to adopt. I immediately had a hard time with it-I wasn't ready and knew it. I told him I needed some time to think about it because I didn't know how to handle it. A week later, I was attending a church retreat with our youth group. Through the events, God put adoption on my heart. I felt like God had reached into my heart, broke it, and put his blessings into it. I sobbed myself to sleep that night praying for God to give me peace. I knew he was telling me that adoption is what we should do, but I still wasn't ready. Now I feel convicted that God has blessed our adoption and will remain with us always.
What is ironic is that God had always revealed His journey and His path to us no matter what we have decided (which is why the description of our blog is "He holds us in His hands"). Now looking back over the past five years, I see God's hands over our lives as he was preparing us to adopt. Especially for me, the trials and spiritual struggles that I experienced was just a way for Him to help me grow and become open to adoption. Joel's experiences in his life and through our marriage has made his love for God, me, and others grow.
If you had told me that 1) we would adopt 2) I would ever talk about my spiritual life or God like this 3) I would be blogging about it.....I would have told you that you were CRAZY. But here we are, in His hands, looking to start our family with His blessing.
This is our Beginning.
