It's official...we are expecting...kind of.

It's official...we are expecting...kind of.

What kind of sentence is that, right? The blog has been on the back burner while Jonathan and I have been settling the details of the next stage of our lives--that next stage being a new baby! I suppose it isn't the traditional settling of details, which is where the "kind of" comes in to play. We are proud to announce that we will be welcoming our next baby via adoption! Now, I know there are a million questions out there and I was extremely hesitant to even make such an announcement at this point, so I am going to try to concisely anticipate the most frequent questions and provide answers. I suppose that is naturally the next place to start.

Let's start with the most common question I have fended in the recent weeks. I suppose it is the most frank, too.

"Why would you do that?"

Well, the short answer is "because it is what the Lord is calling us to do." The long answer is more multifaceted, but something like...When we became Christians we were adopted into the family of God. We were welcomed, cleaned, provided for, and given access to a heavenly Father who loves us with reckless abandon despite our shortfalls. We want to do as we see our Father doing, which is welcoming orphans into His family with great joy. Additionally, Scripture says that "religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (James 1:27). ALSO (if this wasn't reason enough)...we believe that if we are going to be pro-life, we must be willing to open our home with joy to the beautiful children that exist because their very courageous mothers chose life. In 2008, there were 35,888 abortions performed in Georgia alone. That is a lot of babies in need of a home. I could go into far more detail about why, and if you want to have a conversation about it we would certainly welcome it, but I did use the word "concise" earlier...

Next question..."Why now?"

Before we were married Jonathan and I had discussed adoption as something we wanted to do one day. "One day" seemed vague, vague enough that we could potentially avoid it all together and not be disappointed in ourselves. However, the Lord had different plans.

About 6 months ago I started on a journey of preparation with the Lord. This also happened in a different way in the time before Josiah's conception. I suppose I am just one of those people that needs some lovingkindness before being fully ready, which is okay. Anyway, the idea of adoption went from "one day" to a possibility, which led me to discover all of the buried fears I had about adoption. I emailed a friend who had recently adopted after having a biological child, and she was gracious to lend an ear to my very candid fears. I also read a fantastic book that I would highly recommend to all Christian individuals called "Adopted for Life" by Russell Moore. Then, we saw "Blind Side" and I walked out saying, "That is the Kingdom work I want to be a part of." So...with a little audio/visual support and the Lord truly working in my heart to allay my fears, I reconciled that I was, indeed, equipped with "what it takes" (+ the Lord to fix what I wasn't) to adopt. My beautiful husband didn't have to do this, which, is also okay. We were undecided as to where to go from there, so we contacted the state, thinking we would adopt through them. After 2 letters with informational dates we were unable to attend and the impossibility of actually contacting someone on the phone, we felt as if the door was shut for now. Through a random series of events I can't even put my finger on...I began to browse the website of an agency our social workers frequently recommend at work. I had heard of them before, too. We began to investigate our options, still unsure of what the Lord was calling us to next. Our only stipulation was we really wanted Josiah to remain the oldest child in our family. Then, the very last week in January the clouds parted and we were given one unified, clear heart and mind for adoption as the next step on our journey. It just clicked one day and we knew it was right. It was kind of like the day you realize your spouse is "the one." From there on, the journey began...we further researched our options and knew we wanted to work with our agency. We also decided that domestic infant adoption was the route that matched our family dynamic right now. So...here we are, chugging through March and about to dive into a lot of paperwork, hoping the Lord would be so kind as to bring our baby home in 2010. I think I've given up on "concise."

Next question, "Why not just have your own?"

If the above answer isn't sufficient, I want to make the statement once and for all: this child IS our own. Though our baby will be carried in the womb of a very courageous woman for 9 months, at the point our baby comes home, he or she will absolutely be our baby. There is no doubt in our minds or our hearts that this is a different means of having children, but it is in no way a lesser means or does it provide lesser children. I am just as excited as the day I took a positive pregnancy test, and fully love our baby to come just as I did Josiah---simply because he or she exists!

Next question, "How long will it take?"

This is a question that I don't have an answer to. Our caseworker keeps reminding us, "people make the choice, but God makes the match." Only the Lord knows when our baby is coming home. We are looking at roughly 2 more months of classes, paperwork, and home study. Barring any complication that we are unaware of (terminal illness, criminal past, etc) we will officially be "approved" as a ready family. After that, we will have a profile that is shown to expecting parents desiring to make an adoption plan. The birth parents choose the adoptive parents, so it really depends on that. I mean, I think we are a pretty awesome family, but they have to think that, too. There are other factors such as our compatibility with the birthparent/baby profile. The average wait time from the point all paperwork is done and ready is 9 months. It could be 2 weeks. Very rarely is it more than 1 year. So...like I said earlier, we are asking the Lord to hasten the day He brings our baby home and hoping to bring our baby home in 2010. We would certainly love to take our baby for annual holiday visits with the extended family!

This wasn't as concise as I was hoping, and in fact I am just stopping Q&A time despite the fact I can think of at least 3 more questions that I have answered more than once. Might I mention it is Spring Forward night and I am typing at 12:34am "winter" time. Right, so without further ado...I invite you to celebrate with us the coming of our next child. We have hearts full of joy and hope you will join us in celebrating this new leg of the journey.