We are currently waiting for our home study to be finished. I've been told we are VERY close to being done! YAY! Jason recently switched jobs and that put a small halt to adoption things as we were waiting for insurance/employment information. Last night we were able to give our case worker the rest of the paper work that he needed.
One to do list done . . . on to the next. Now we start getting together everything we need for our I600A and dossier. Yippee! Lots of stuff Momma doesn't understand but one item at a time is conquering.
The cost of the adoption is always looming over our heads but we believe that God is still going to provide. He's taken us this far and we are so excited! We are so excited to see how God is stirring the hearts of people around us to give of themselves! Many families are stepping out in faith by opening their homes and giving of their resources in order to care for orphans and the gospel is being laid out in the process! Last week we were asked, "So are you adopting for tax reasons?" HUH? I'm not sure I heard you right. Um, no we are not adopting two human beings into our family so that we can get more money back on our tax returns. Oy. So, we were able to share with them why we are adopting. Pretty cool how God set that up and I was able to share about what it says in the Bible about caring for orphans! Hello!
It's tough to be patient as we wait for things to get done. Whether it's getting through the paperwork to do list, waiting on others, and waiting on God. But the journey is great and we feel so humbled and honored to be a part of what HE is doing!
Please pray!
-pray that Satan would not be allowed to attack us and that if he is, that we would realize it and respond with resistance and truth. That we would continue to grow deeper and deeper in the Lord and that HE would be our shield.
-pray for paper work and adoption to do list to get done smoothly and stress free and for patience. (wait, did I just ask you to pray for patience? Now we're in for it!)
-pray for MONEY! sorry I am so blunt when it comes to talking about the cost of adoption but come on, really. It's STINKING expensive. Okay listen up. The AVERAGE cost of an ABORTION is between $300-$500 (or so I've read). Why does it cost so much more to ADOPT? Like $20,000-$60,000 more depending on how crazy you are and how many kiddos you are adopting. Messed up. Anyways, you can pray that God would continue to provide what we need to move forward in our process!
Thank you to everyone who is praying for us and for supporting us in this journey!
And BTW, if God is tuggin' at your heart strings about adopting let us know! We are lovin' our agency and our home study case worker and we would love to pass on the info!
Some stats that I stole from Janel's blog a while back. I'm still shocked every time I read it.
We are facing an orphan crisis in our world. Will we, the church, step up in the name of Jesus and take care of these precious ones?
-The United Nations reports that the number of orphans around the world waiting for help is more than 140 million.
-There are more than 46 million orphans in Africa.
-There are more than 71 million orphans in Asia.
-There are more than 10 million orphans in Latin America.
-There are more than 120,000 orphans in the United States.
-A child dies from malaria, a completely preventable disease, every 30 seconds. 1 in every 20 children in Africa alone will die just from this disease.
-Every 14 seconds a child loses a parent due to AIDS.
-Every day, almost 16,000 children die of hunger. That’s 12 million every year.
-If 8 percent of people who profess to be Christians adopted, there would be no more orphans.
-In the United States alone, if one family out of every 4 churches adopted a child there would be no more orphans in our country.
(Statistics taken from www.cryoftheorphan.org and http://147millionorphans.com/ and http://joiningthejourney.blogspot.com/ and http://www.focusonthefamily.com/)
2 comments:
Um, I' can't believe someone asked you that! Pretty sure it'd be easier and cheaper to birth children, if that was truly your motivation.
Also, those stats still amaze me. <3 you!
Jessica,
My husband and I have talked about adopting, a lot a lot. We are kind of intimated with the whole process, hoops to jump through, home study, waiting, money, etc. That's a lot. We want to adopt and we feel a calling on our lives to adopt. Those stats are frightening to me. I just think of how many children that do not have a mother or father to just kiss them goodnight and tell them that they are loved. My heart aches for them. I would be interested in your agency (again, there are so many and I am lost on that decision as well) and any info you could give me. I look forward to following along your journey. Have you thought about fundraising or setting up a donation button on your blog? I have seen other people do that. I will pray for your family during this journey of adoption. Thanks again!
Amy
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