Adoption has been on my heart since I was a little girl playing with baby dolls. I couldn't have told you why, but just always knew it was something I wanted to do. As I got older, and my relationship with God grew stronger, I became more and more affirmed that adoption was in my future. So of course, when Jason and I started dating I told him about this desire. He was always supportive of the idea, but didn't necessarily feel the same passion I did, and thought IF we did do it that it would be way far in our future. . .So I began praying. . .I knew that something this life changing wouldn't be good if I had to talk him into it, I needed the Holy Spirit to do that. Sure enough about 3 years into our marriage, God spoke to Jason's heart in a very clear way. I'll never forgot the moment I read his text message telling me he had a vision of what our future family looked like, and that he not only wanted to adopt but he wanted to do it soon!
So here we are at the very beginning of the process, and we couldn't be more excited! Unless God closes a door, and leads us in a different direction here is our plan. . . We plan to adopt a little girl from China! Right now China requires both spouses to be over 30 years of age, and because I am not quite there yet, we are in a waiting phase. But 6 months before my birthday we are able to start our application with our amazing agency, Lifeline Children Services, get all our paperwork done, and home study completed. So in October we are going to hit the ground running so that we will have everything done in time to send our dossier off to China on my birthday in April! We have had several people ask us why we are doing this, and here are the reasons. . .Simply, because we believe that as followers of Jesus we are commanded to take care of the orphans and widows. Secondly is because of Galations 5:4-7, "God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, "Abba, Father." Now we are no longer a slave but God's own child." We don't think there is a more vivid picture of the gospel besides adoption, and to be able to show a child a real life example of what God did for them is such an amazing honor, especially to a child who may never hear about the gospel otherwise. We know that this isn't going to be easy, in fact we know that its guaranteed to be hard, but God doesn't just call us to do the easy and comfortable. And my goodness, when I think about my relationship with Him, and how many times I have failed him, and hurt him, not just in my lifetime but on a daily basis, it's countless. He knew what He was getting into. He knew that I was going to break His heart time and time again, and STILL, He chose to send His send to a brutal death so that He could adopt me. He loves me as His own with a fierce and crazy unconditional love. Jason and I are human, so we won't be able to love our kids in this perfect way, but it is what we strive for. We want to give them the best picture we can of the love God has for them. Doing this for a child who doesn't have parents of their own to care for them is something we can't wait to do! We are SO thankful to know that we live in a community where our sweet girl. . .Penelope Joy. . .will be loved and cared for by so many! We fully believe that it takes a village to raise a child, and we couldn't be a part of a better village! We are excited for the months to come, and will keep everyone updated on our progress! Thanks for reading, and being a part of bringing Penelope home!
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AuthorI am a proud stay at home momma who unashamedly instagrams way too many pictures of her kids, loves decorating, Christmas, and coffee, and has a small obsession with Gilmore Girls. Archives
May 2017
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