What Does God Have in Store?

Thank you for continuing to check in on our adoption progress!
We are still staring at more paperwork :) You can pray that we will be able to complete it eventually and in a timely manner!
In the meantime, our local adoption agency, Colorado Adoption Center will call us if they find an infant match for us to consider, as we are current on paperwork and fees with them.

Our latest news is that there is a little boy in the Florida Foster Care System whom we are interested in. We're waiting to hear back on his current availability status and history. You can be praying for God's perfect will for this little boy's life regardless of whether or not he may one day be apart of our family. And you can pray that we will continue to be diligent in caring for and faithfully shepherding our four precious children in the meantime!We are excited to see what God may have in store for our family!
Thank you for your interest and support in our lives!

A new possible route

Sorry if you've been one to look here for updates on our adoption and haven't found any for awhile! We've been traveling all over the place this past month! We're back now.
This trip did involve some adoption work! While we were in Florida, we visited with another Christian Adoption Agency called, "Embraced By Grace."
Feel free to check them out: http://www.embracedbygrace.org/
We are very blessed to know several of the neat people who work for Embraced By Grace. One of which is our friend, Patti Parks. She was a bridesmaid in our wedding and we've known her for a long time. This seems like a perfect job for Patti. It is very comforting to hear her voice on the other end of the phone when we call with adoption questions!
We also know two of the other staff members. All of these people attend the church Joy's parents do, so we've got some previous connections. Knowing them does not offer us any shortcuts though. This will continue to be a vigerous process, but Lord willing, a sweet one that will be well worth the effort in the end.
*So our plans are to begin pressing ahead with this additional agency in the next few weeks. (tons more paper work!) This does not mean that all of our work with our local agency was in vain. To do an out of state adoption, we still need a local agency to represent us, and that is the current plan. Our local agency was begining to refer us all over the country, so when that began, we told them we knew of an agency that we'd like to consider working with. CAC is supportive of this, so that is an exciting praise.
While in FL, we completed a second interview with EGB. We were also blessed to be able to attend a wonderful Adoption Conference that happened to be going one of the weekends were there. That was encouraging and extremely refreshing! Here is some info about it:
Adopted 4 Ever

Conference Summary


One of the most profound aspects of Christian truth is that a holy God would adopt sinners into His family! Have you ever had questions about adoption? Have you ever wondered where the concept of adoption came from? The spiritual adoption of sinners is a picture of what the Bible actually calls His people to do.

Caring for orphans and needy children is a very practical outflow of sharing the love of God. There are scores of needy children in the world.

This upcoming conference will seek to emphasize both the doctrine and application of adoption as a true expression of everlasting divine love.


We will hear gifted men exposit the Scriptures concerning how you, your family, and your local church, can embrace this life-changing truth in very practical ways. The speakers will trace the love of God to the adoption of His children. They will also bring out how that love should motivate us to care for the needs of children that do not have loving parents or a family. These teachings on the comfort and hope of adoption will warm your heart and deepen your understanding of what it means to be a part of God’s forever family. Your appreciation for the Christian family and the church will grow as you discover how these divine institutions meet very real needs in practical ways.
There will be two workshops to offer advice on how a family can adopt a child and how a church can begin an orphan care ministry. There will also be a question and answer session to afford the opportunity to completely interact with the entire theme. Believers will learn more about their own adoption and will leave with praise and adoration for the heavenly provision of adoption that is found in Christ.


So, the evening we were able to attend was well worth it. We hope to listen to the remainder of the conference we missed!
If you feel led, please pray for God's provisions and direction regarding our adoption desires as we move ahead and while there are times that require waiting!

We're in the "adoption pot" now

An update...our meeting to read over our completed Home Study report went well on Friday afternoon. Just some minor things to fix. So these will be corrected and the finalized copy will be sent out to other Adoption Agencies, mostly nation wide, this week, we're told.
We have a few hours of "adoption training" to complete and we're scheduled to do this the week after we return from our 3 week trip down South to visit family. The fun part of this is that our agent says that we will be added "to the pot" that adoption agencies can search through to make a match for a newborn as early as this week (even w/out all our hours finished, as we are technically certified now anyway).
So, we are "standing by!" and waiting for a phone call telling us of a baby in need of a family! The hope is that we'll have a new baby in the house possibly by December!
This weekend Caroline and Elisa helped Mom go through our bins of baby clothes in the basement and we set aside a few blankets and 3 outfits for each gender...we want to be ready to go pick up our new little bundle! We're getting excited over here!
Please be praying for the birth mother, wherever she is, that she would have peace about her choice for adoption and that the Lord would give her the strength she needs, both mentally and physically, to finish out her pregnancy and complete the delivery uneventfully.

Home Study Update

Next Friday we are set to go proofread our Home Study Report at the Adoption office! Once this is read and our approval is given, then we'll be waiting for a match!

Home Study is Complete!

Tonight was our final part of the Home Study! We can hardly believe it all went by so fast already. We weren't planning on being able to wrap it up until the end of next week, but our circumstances and schedules changed. Tuesday night we emailed our Social worker to let her know we needed to reschedule and here we are two days later all finished! She even offered to come back to our house rather than us traveling a little way to her for this final visit. Very nice!
We honestly think this Home Study was fun- we told her so again tonight. It was a blessing to have her be our SW.
Now she will type up our report and let us look it over. Then... we've got one day of training with the Director of the Agency and then...we wait for a phone call telling us there is a baby who needs us. Its so exciting!
We've still got to apply for grants and work on some fundraisers for the rest of the adoption process, but now that the Home Study is done, we can move forward with this. All of our funding options require a completed Home Study report. So, we'll be waiting on the funds to work out- that's a BIGGIE. We are trusting that God will provide in His perfect timing. So, let the waiting continue! :)

#2 Done

Happy to report that Home Study visit #2 is done and went very well again last night! The 3rd and final part is schedule to happen 2 weeks from now, and then...we'll be "waiting for a call!"
This could be days, weeks, or months, but we trust that God's perfect timing will be just that, PERFECT.

In the meantime, we're still working on: the $$$ and means, searching for a bigger vehicle, and casually rounding up our baby gear :)

Please continue to pray for smoothness in the adoption process and for funding details to work out.
It is neat to wonder where our baby is...what his or her birthmother is like and what she is doing.
We anxiously await for God's direction and provisions.
Thanks for checking in~

#1 DONE

Tonight was our first of three Home Study meetings...and it went REALLY well! Thank you for praying for us to be calm & comfortable- we were. And the kids were amazing and SO fun to watch participate. At first we were guarded and so were the kids. Only Caleb talked and was super friendly. The others weren't so sure for the first 30 mins.
We began promptly at 6 pm and our SW didn't leave until about 8:45! The kids had LOTS to tell her and show her and she was sweet and did a nice job listening to them tell her about everything under the sun and more! :)
We learned tonight that she is a Christian, which is a huge plus. She has adopted 2 of her 3 children...and she has been enjoying her work for 22 years. We like her. And, we think she likes us too. A nice fit for all.
We've got our second visit scheduled for next Tuesday!

Get ready to Home Study!

Now we are really starting in on some action- our first of 3 Home Study meetings is tomorrow! We are excited and not really too nervous. It is a bit strange knowing that we are about to open our home to a social worker whom we do not know yet and who is going to analyze our family! All in the name of adoption though :) Whew, no pressure, right?
We've prepped the kids and reminded them of their manners and our expectations for the millionth time...it is what it is, right? It will be fun to see how they interact with her and what they will say. We'll let you know how it goes. Most likely by this time tomorrow we will be done with #1 and have just two more to go. We will have given her a tour of our home and shared our life stories...
There will be one of the three meetings where we will go to her office. I don't know if the children will need to be present then or not.
She told me today about being ready to give her the "tour" of the house, but she said that this isn't a cleanliness inspection, its more about safety and the overall environment. I can't help but clean and organize a little bit extra though :) Perhaps I'll even pick up some fresh cut flowers for the fun of it.
So, at this point in the adoption process, we have already completed our paper work stack and have had all of the known required background checks done. They told us last week that the references were being checked...so thanks to those who served as our references!
Please continue to be praying for God's guidance in this process.

Things are moving!

For those of you checking in...
Last week we were able to submit our money to pay for our Home Study! This is exciting for us, as it has happened quite a bit sooner than we were expecting.
So our Adoption Agency received the money on Thursday. We played phone tag for a few days and I just got off the phone with them! At this point we have been told that we may get to hear from our Social Worker as early as some time this week. From then we can set up the Home Study and get things moving. They are currently checking/contacting our references and going through our paperwork.
*Please pray for patience as we wait excitedly.
*Please also be praying for wisdom as we continue to search for a larger vehicle. We have been out test driving and shopping over the past few weeks. We know what we need and what our requirements are for a vehicle, we just need to wait for the right one to come along.
This past weekend we drove a little over an hour south of home to check out a used Suburban...we had cash in hand, but the mechanic we hired found too many "no goes," so we came home w/out the Burb.Sad, but relieved to know we had been protected from buying a lemon!
*Please pray for our diligence at home as we focus on Bible Study, Family Worship, and our own Spiritual Disciplines.
*Please pray for the woman who may already be pregnant with the Child who will join our family! Pray that she will have peace about decisions she needs to make and for her salvation
*Pray for the soul of this (most likely) still unborn child, that he or she will know the Creator someday

Waiting...

Just a quick update...our forms and photo books are all completed. But we are choosing to be "on hold" for a bit, as we work on the financial side of things. We have been working do to the "Dave Ramesy" thing for several years now...we are in a good position and all, but we feel the need to continue at it for a bit longer before we jump into adoption. We need to purchase a bigger vehicle, and we'd like to pay cash, as to not gain a car payment again...its been nice to not have had one for several years now. Our mini van is just nearing 100,000 miles and we need more seating! While it is disappointing to be on hold, we trust that this is a wise move in the long run and for the best for our family. Lord willing, it will be only a matter of a few months before we feel we can precede again.
If you would like to pray for us, please pray that we will be diligent in saving up and fundraising for the adoption and that God would continue to grant us much wisdom and direction.
Thanks so much! We know He will provide in His timing.
Love,
Our Family

Let the Forms Begin!

This past Saturday Ben and I had our first meeting with our Adoption Agency! We were very comfortable and feel good about our decision to work with them. They are a small, but well established private Christian agency- just the fit we were looking for.
They received our application a few weeks ago and were ready to meet with us to discuss the process and what it will look like for us. We also discussed "Why" we desire to adopt and what our "preferences" are for adopting a child(ren).
The WHY is simple- In His Word we read that, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." We want our family to be obedient to this and bring in a precious child, that would otherwise have no family, into our family. We desire to make a difference in a child's life. We believe that Children are a blessing from the Lord. (Psalm 127:3)
We also gladly recognize that God has enabled us to provide well for our current family and that we are capable of providing for yet others that He might add to our family through Adoption.
 
As far as Preferences, we don't have any! We are open to single child or even a small, young sibling group. A Boy or Girl, Black or White skin, Blue or Brown-eyed...all children need a loving home with a Dad & Mom to raise them! It struck us when we were filling out the "US Census" many weeks ago, as one question in particular stood out: "What is your Race?"  Well, you could answer that one in a couple of ways. We do know what they really mean, "What is your ethnicity/heritage?" (ex- Hispanic, African American, Italian....) but think of it this way- we are all in the HUMAN Race! The color of our skin doesn't matter. We have the same basic needs  for living whether we have "red, yellow, black, or white" skin. 
So, we have no idea Who God will send us to adopt, but we are looking forward to finding out! 
A super exciting note is that our Agency specializes in placing newborns!
We are currently working on fulfilling our list of documents to collect and papers to have signed & ready for our Home Study. This means, photocopies of Driver's Licenses, Marriage Certificate, Proof of various insurances, fingerprinting & background checks! What fun :) Then we will begin our Home Study.
 
Please join us in praying for this child, whomever he or she may be, that God would sustain them and provide for their needs while we wait to be together. It is likely that this child may even already be in his/her birth mother's womb and is daily being "knit together" as they grow.
We also look forward to see how God will provide for the adoption expenses. We know there will be an amazing story to tell in the end of His provision!
 
Psalm 139:13-16
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

We're going to give it another try

Well, we've certainly had no trouble growing our family in the "traditional way." We've never known a thing about infertility! Our children are all very close together in age and that seems to draw out comments from many strangers no matter where we go. "Wow, you've sure got your hands full," they say. "F-O-U-R!??"--(in our heads we say, "Who us? You're kidding? Thanks for the help in counting our children.") We smile.

Almost three years ago, we started filling our paperwork with Project 1:27- a way to adopt through our State's Foster Care System. We both went to some classes and orientations and began to write out our life stories. Then we learned of a little surprise growing in my belly. Our 4th child was on her way and our youngest, Joshua had just celebrated his 1st birthday. Adoption for our family was going to be put on hold for the time being. We were excited once we got over the initial shock of another pregnancy. :)

Forward three years later...

We've often talked of adopting some day. "Some day. Some day!"
The kids pretend to adopt multiple babies at least weekly. They "drive" themselves to the "adoption agency" and Caroline usually comes home with 6 or more adopted babies in overloaded stroller and says that her "husband is at work, but he'll be happy about all the babies they get to take care of." Its pretty cute to see them get into this little game. The boys participate too.

In January of this year Haiti suffered from a terrible earthquake. This once again brought talk of adoption for our family, as it did for many families out there.
We've always been open to adoption, but the process just seems soooo overwhelming. Why is it such a mountain of a process? Why is it so expensive? We do know why, but still, it seems it would be more "do-able" or less daunting if someone would just come to us and say, "Will you take this child into your home?" as they presented us with a little child. We could not say "no." Decades ago there was something called the "Orphan Train" that basically did just that. Now, of course we agree that the government can't just hand out children to everyone, but the cost and the process is looking like its impossible at times to adopt. How will we pay for this? When will we find the time to complete the required classes and tackle the mounds of paperwork?
We know that with God all things ARE possible. He will see us through this if adoption is His will for us....
Since January, Ben and I have attended a few adoption meetings at a local church that has an Adoption Support Group. Its not that we need convincing to adopt, we just need help tackling the process of adopting. Where do we begin?  We've spent countless hours searching the Internet for tips on adopting and we've looked into various agencies with not much more to show for it all than frustration. So far no agency has seemed like a good fit for us. There are always reasons.
So, last night, the kids and I were eating dinner (Ben had received a phone call so we started eating w/out him). Caleb said frankly and seriously, "Mom, we need a baby in our family again. I really wish we could adopt for real." The kids all chimed in in agreement. I agreed too. Please don't think this is a "flippant" decision we simply made at dinner one night. Our family has discussed this constantly for several years. This time it was another gentle nudge. We want to be obedient to the Lord's leading. He wants us all to care for "the Orphans and Widows..."
I told Ben about our discussion at the table when he sat down. He simply said, "Well, I guess we should try pursuing it again, we keep coming back to it over and over and over." Then we talked about what we would need if we adopted and we thought of needing a new vehicle, because our mini van is currently "full." Other than that though, there's nothing really stopping us at this point. We've even got some ideas of how we can work and save for a new vehicle...
Today I called the Colorado Adoption Center (our latest find). They are going to get an application out in the mail to us today. Here we go again! It's exciting!