I've, really felt a call to adopt ever since I worked with mom's at risk for child abuse and neglect when I was single and in my early 20's. It broke my heart to see some of the homes that these kids were raised in. There was always at least one young child on my case load that I wanted to take home with me to raise.
I always thought I wouldn't be able to have my own children and was happy to hear that my husband was open to adoption if we couldn't conceive. Go figure that while I was surrounded by friends and family who struggled to conceive, I got pregnant every time we tried. Don't get me wrong I was overjoyed and grateful to be able to have my own children, but a part of me grieved because I assumed this meant that I would never adopt.
Then in 2007, on the night before Thanksgiving, Dan and I somehow happened on a discussion of adoption. He said that he would be open to adopting a boy. I was floored. I called a friend the next day who had adopted two children because I just had to share my excitement with someone who understood my desire.
At the time we lived in a small 800 square foot two bedroom house. Needless to say when had no room for another child. I couldn't put another bed in that house. The bed's I did have fit with only an inch to spare. We were planning to move so we figured that when we got into a bigger house within the year we would start the process. God had other plans. We didn't move for another 2 years and by that time Dan had lost all desire to adopt as I was struggling to keep up with homeschooling, cooking and cleaning. He gave me a choice, to home-school or adopt, but not both. He didn't think I could do it and to be honest I couldn't. So I prayed about it and had a peace about homeschooling. I even felt peace about not adopting as a friend of mine and I were in a lengthy process of starting up a ministry at our church for orphans. At least I was doing something.
So what changed? I did. I went on a crazy diet called "The Gaps Diet" and my energy level increased significantly. For the first time Dan thought I could actually make it work. So in December of 2011 he agreed to adopt again. Then we thought he was going to get laid off so we delayed starting the process and I prayed about how we could raise money to adopt. In February God gave Dan a promising job at a company that he used to work at. I also started selling things on Amazon. I started with things that we didn't need and or use from home. I also learn from another adopted mom that you can raise money through Amazon via a blog. If you purchase anything from Amazon and use the link on this blog, I will get a portion of the proceeds. 100% of all our proceeds from this link and from selling on Amazon will go to fund our adoption.
I hope to set out our initial meeting as soon as we raise the money to pay the initial fees. Hopefully that will be soon.
Jill, my heart holds warm embers for adopting children. Praise God for your authenticity to share your story. My mom and dad fell for the 1970's lie that the world was over populated, they stopped at two kids. I watched my mom and dad adopt my friends in spirit, the ones especially who didn't have the nurturing we were privileged to have. They regretted the lie they bought but a new love was born to take in and embrace children around them. They carried into adulthood and when my mom went to be with Jesus friends mourned their mom had gone home to heaven. They have no shadow of doubt where she stood and the values she passed into them. I pray you and Dan get the same opportunity for blessing the endless power Jesus and His love to a child who needs it! The Lord bless each you to be equipped for the new adventure ahead, In His grip, Arianne
ReplyDelete