We are adopting from China!
How did this come about?!?!
Seven years ago after Jenna was born, we decided that we were done having kids. Three has been a good number for us, and we have been content with that. Especially now that the kids are older and all in school, life seems relatively easy! We can sleep in when we want to, go out without having to get babysitters, the kids can make their own meals, pack their own lunches, do their own laundry......LOVE IT!
Three weeks ago we went to a Winter Jam concert with our kids, where several different Christian bands were playing. At the concert we heard about Holt International, an adoption agency that is in need of families to sponsor children who are waiting in orphanages all around the world. This is a very small commitment of $30 a month and we went ahead and chose a child to sponsor until her adoption goes through. This got me thinking of the families that adopt these children and change their lives forever. During the concert I just really felt drawn to this idea of giving a child a family.
I prayed about it and asked God to continue to bring this to my mind if it was something that He wanted me to really consider. At the time I assumed I was just having an emotional reaction from watching the amazing videos of adoption stories all around the world. Throughout the following week, there were a few things that did bring this back to my mind and I still felt my heart being opened to becoming a mommy to an orphan, even though adoption has never been something that I have been interested in.
I talked to Chad about how I was feeling and expected him to say "Absolutely not! We are done having kids, remember?" He was immediately open to the idea, and agreed that there is more we could be doing with our lives to impact the world and use the time that God gives us to really make a difference. I was shocked that he was open to it, so then we decided to really pray about it and see what happened. We researched a TON of information online, read adoption stories, looked into Holt International a little further, and found out that they only have about 5 offices in the United States. One of them is right here in Omaha less than 10 minutes from our house! For some reason even this small thing was so encouraging.
We attended an informational meeting at the Holt office and absolutely loved everything we heard. We listened to the differences between the adoption programs in various countries that Holt works with, such as Ethiopia, Uganda, Haiti, South Korea, Thailand, and China. Afterward, Chad and I looked at each other and we both felt the only country that made sense for us was China. Again, the fact that we both felt the exact same way about everything was a great confirmation for us.
After a little more researching, deliberation and prayer, we decided that we want to adopt a little girl between the ages of 3 and 6. We both feel total peace and excitement about this and couldn't wait to get started! The application has been submitted and paperwork is well under way.
More to come.....stay tuned.
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