Wednesday, February 2, 2011

New at this

So, I've wanted to start a family blog for awhile, and this seems like the perfect time to start.
I think we are ready to share the news that we are beginning the process of adopting a child. Adoption is something I have felt called to for many years, however, we kept adding biological children every two years or so, and that was keeping us very busy. But adoption has always been on my heart, even though the daily issues of raising four children kept pushing my desire to the side. Now that our "baby" is 4, we feel like it's time to act on what God is calling us to. I'll be honest and tell you that Kevin has been hesitant to go with this, since he doesn't feel he has been called to adoption, but he trusts that God has spoken clearly to me, and is "diving in" with me. He has such a committment to me and our family and we are confident we can make anything work, together. He is such a wonderful husband and father, and it's no wonder to me that God wants to share him with other children who desperately need his love and committment!
Right now I don't have a lot of info to share with you, we are just beginning this. I have read a lot of books, prayed  a lot, researched, looked at many websites and there are so many choices and decisions to make, so we're taking it slow. We aren't even sure if we want to adopt internationally or through foster care. We have realized that we don't feel called to adopt an infant, so we are looking at "waiting children" or "older children"(older than an infant), and "special needs children". Now, the definition of special needs varies a great deal from medical issues, to emotional issues, to just being a child older than 8, or a child of a minority race. We do not feel like we can handle any major health, behavioral, or emotional issues, so don't worry that we'll be taking on more than we can handle. And we know that God has the perfect child for our family already picked out, we just have to trust that He will direct us to him/her.
We are currently attending MAPP classes, which are parenting classes held by the State of Florida, that help to inform prospective parents of some of the issues that the foster kids may be dealing with, and how to handle them. We will be attending an information meeting this Saturday on international adoption, held by Bethany, a Christian adoption agency that I have done lots of research on and feel very confident is a great choice for international adoption. We are looking at waiting child programs in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and The Phillipines through Bethany.
I will tell you that I feel like international is really pulling at me right now, however, with that comes costs of over $20,000, compared to foster adoption which has no cost, but also comes with an adoption subsidy (monthly payments to help with costs of raising the child), plus the children get free college tuition to most state universities, and free medical care-if needed. If you know Kevin, you will understand that seeing those comparisons-there is really no choice for him (if it's free it's for him), and he is really against going into debt for anything, so convincing him that those high fees will be worth it may be tough!
So, we would really appreciate your prayers as we seek to discern the right path for us-although I don't really think there is a wrong path when it comes down to it, but we want to make the best decisions for our family. Also, any advice or experiences you may have about adoption would be helpful as well. I'm sure you understand this is a huge decision, but we are all very excited to see where the Lord brings us, and trust in His wisdom to make this a truly amazing experience.

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