Hi friends,
It’s been a little bit since perhaps you’ve heard an update from us. There’s a reason for that. Here’s the story.
A few weeks ago, we went in for our second official interview with our adoption agent. We absolutely love her. She’s wonderful & has such an incredible heart for adoption. She sat down with us and we started to talk over some fees. Great News- The Korean program is moving faster than it ever has! We could get our referral within weeks of finishing up our paperwork (not years). Great News- there are three waiting children right now, that can’t wait for their forever family! Great News- our paperwork is well on its way. Hard News- $3000 is due up front and another $25,200 in a couple of months (upon referral).
So, then we cried. And prayed. And thought about it. Here’s the deal- we knew that there would be these fees, we just thought they would come in about a year from now, not a few months from now. We are so grateful for Josh’s new job, but we hadn’t even received his first paycheck yet. We decided to take a few weeks to breathe. To process. To come up with a plan.
We feel like we’ve been going full force ahead- Not only were we jumping in with adoption, but Josh started a job, plus we are keeping our own business (thus had been working nights and weekends), and we had even started house hunting. Not to mention two very active toddlers, and all that goes along with that. So… we felt like we needed to take a step back and breathe. And here we are, a few breaths later.
That said, we still believe this is what the Lord wants us to do.
God is not restricted by finances. He’s not restricted by our fears or things that seem crazy or impossible. Not once in the Bible is God’s plan or call on someone stopped due to money. He is the provider, and he can see to it. I also believe that God uses His people to answer prayers and to provide. We may need to back up a little, we may need a little bit more of a “plan” but sometimes you just have to leap in and take a step of faith.
So, over the next few months we have some exciting things in store. We are planning on saving half and raising half the cost, and we have some super fun fundraisers in the midst of it. If anyone knows us, we love involving others in what God’s doing.
We’ve decided it’s easier if we break it into bite size chunks. Let me give you a breakdown of what the next steps in our adoption will look like, and we’ll be referring to these often. Basically, it breaks into five phases, each has a cost and a wait. We hope to have some event or fundraiser associated with each phase. We’ll get into that more as we go along.
- Phase 1: Home Study
- Phase 2: Referral
- Phase 3: Wait
- Phase 4: Meet Up
- Phase 5: Pick Up
This post is getting long, so I’ll stop there for now. We will have a post soon letting people know more details and what’s to come!!
Prayer Point: Ask that we could continue to trust God and step out in faith, even when things seem impossible. Ask for clarity and wisdom in moving forward. Please pray for our little one (Jireh) as he or she is probably already born. Thanks!
Sneak Peak: Here’s a sneak peak at what’s to come. The first two phases & upcoming fundraisers!
- Phase 1: Home Study ($3000, Goal: $1500): Portraits in the Park (April 24)
- Phase 2: Referral ($25,200, Goal: $12,000): Super Awesome Puzzle Fundraiser (May)
As we get closer to travel, we plan on having some other things such as a possible art auction, local eatery fundraisers, etc. We’ll keep you posted!