Whew! Where do we even begin??? I've been actually pondering the thought of starting a blog for over a year now, but in the midst of nursing school, being a mommy, wife, taxi service, waitress, etc., I thought it just wasn't very good timing! Kudos to all of you ladies who can manage such insanity! Thankfully, adoption has pushed me into the blog world!
Yes, for all of you who do not yet know, Michael and I have prayerfully decided to expand our family through domestic infant adoption! What? You didn't know that we were at all interested in adoption? We didn't either! Well then, let me just bring you up to speed on how this story unfolded....
Each year for Christmas, our church always gives a "Birthday Present to Jesus," and this year, we were going to be giving money to the orphanage that we partner with in Haiti so that they children could eat three meals each day for three years. The founder and director of the orphanage was speaking at our church, and she was talking about how they are at capacity at the orphanage, and how frustrating it is for them to have to turn children away. Michael and I both turned to each other and simultaneously said, "We would take them!" It was at this point that we started praying about and discussing the possibility of adoption. Our thoughts were initially focused on international adoption, but that slowly transformed into domestic adoption after realizing that there are lots of little people right here in our hypothetical back yard that need a good home as well!
So...where are we now you ask? Getting advice from those who have gone down the adoption road before us, calling agencies, and figuring out that financial mumbo jumbo that goes along with adoption. We did have an adoption fundraiser garage sale in July, during which we were able to raise $700. It was a great start towards some of our initial fees, especially considering that we had horrible weather for the two days that we held the sale, and got rained out early both days! We are hoping to make a decision regarding an agency by the end of the month and then begin with the application process and home study.
If you are still awake and reading, you now know most of the story. I will have to post another time on what adoption specifically means to our family, and how the Lord was strategically working in our lives prior to that Christmastime service in regards to adoption without us even realizing it! God was...well...Calling the Schaadt's.
