Dear Friends and Family,
What a journey this has been so far. Who could have imagined that just under a year ago God would have called us to adopt. In many ways it’s not all that surprising though, after all we’ve opened our home to children ranging in age from 1 to 19 for the last 6 years. We have been trying to serve God right where we are and this includes our home and family. This is also why the last year has been such a mix of emotions for us. God called us to these boys. Victor and Jesus. Two beautiful boys, part of a larger sibling group of six. Our boys… who should have been here by now.
When Renee (Jeff’s sister) and Zach explained that a match had been made in their own adoption journey, but that it relied on the rest of the siblings being adopted, we both knew in our hearts that we were supposed to adopt those boys. We had even had a conversation about Victor and Jesus the week before when Kristen saw their faces and story on our adoption agency’s monthly newsletter. Immediately following the joy we felt for Renee and Zach, the first thought in both of our minds was We should adopt those two boys. Of course we didn’t tell each other at the time, and we certainly didn’t tell anyone else. Sure enough, God kept tugging, and nudging, and poking. After all, He had been training us for this our entire marriage. We answered the call within a couple weeks and officially started the process in July of last year. We thought that surely our process would only take a couple months. This was God’s plan after all right?
We are deeply sorry for not reaching out and thanking everyone for their love and support earlier than this. Last summer and fall, many of you provided financial, emotional and spiritual support, as well as gifts of time, clothing, toys, and beds, and deserve a sincere thank you. We even had a high school kid (who we don’t really know), who was friends with another high school kid (that we do know – thanks Daniel) donate a whole bunch of wonderful things that he didn’t need anymore. To everyone that has supported us so far, thank you so much. It has truly been a blessing, and such a humbling experience.
Soon after we started our adoption journey things went downhill so quickly we had no idea what hit us. Between social workers, agencies, and psychologists who all agreed this adoption was a horrid idea (after taking our money), we felt we were getting pounded on all sides. For months we weren’t sure if this adoption was ever going to happen. Talk about a test of faith! In a flash we went from obedience to doubt. Lawyers got involved, things continued to get messy, and we went from agency to agency to agency. Down, down, down. But we never gave up, and continued to believe that we had been called to adopt these boys. Just as quickly as it went south, God righted our ship, pulled us out of the storm, and introduced us to Bonnie.
Bonnie is crazy, in a good sort of way, and what a blessing she was. We still think she was transplanted from 1988, and it must be cold where she came from because she never took off her crazy ear muffs. Believe it or not she works for an agency called “Little Bit of Heaven.” What a sense of humor God has sometimes! Next thing you know, our homestudy was complete, we passed our inspections, and things were moving again. On Monday, April 19th 2010 our ‘official’ documents were finally sent to Colombia. Praise the Lord. This adoption really is going to happen. Finally.
We continue to pray tirelessly for our boys, that they would be loved, that they are in good hands, that God will watch over them, protect them, have mercy on them, and most of all that He will bring them home quickly. Their room is painted, and their beds have been made, just waiting, for months. It’s time.
In just a few short months we believe that we will travel to Colombia to pick-up our boys. We can’t wait. Thank you again for all your support and prayers. With your help we have just over half of what we need financially to finish journey. We know that we’re not quite there, but we have faith that the rest will come. Please continue to pray with us and support us in whatever way God calls you. Please pray for things to move quickly.
For many of you, we are in this together, and we will need your love and support for years to come. Thanks to those who have supported us so far, and thanks to those whose blessings and support will come. What an amazing journey it’s been, and what an exciting journey we have in front of us.
Warmest regards,
Jeff, Kristen, Ava, and Grace
*** UPDATE***
A few days after writing our “update letter”, God surprised us once again. For the past year a boy, Elighe, has been a part of our life. He is a very energetic, very smiley, adorable 17 month old. He is this biological son of Whisper, a former student of Kristen’s and the teenaged girl we tried adopting several years ago. We have been providing Whisper with a safe place for Elighe while she attended school. What started as babysitting quickly turned into Elighe staying for days or weeks at a time. We always thought in the backs of our minds that one day Whisper might need us to take him permanently. But we had no idea it would be so soon.
Just weeks after our paperwork was sent to Colombia, we received a visit from Whisper’s case workers. They wanted to talk to us about getting permanent custody of Elighe. Whisper also had approached us about this several times but, again, we thought years down the line. We got as much information as we could and without hesitation, took one more leap of faith. Because, you see, in our contract with our adoption agency, it states that we are not allowed to adopt another child or get pregnant during our adoption process. We were terrified that this might some how prolong or even jeopardize our adoption. Or what if we had to choose? In all our prayers we were trusting that somehow God would work the details out.
And God is good! On Kristen’s birthday, we filled out custody papers for Elighe AND heard from our adoption agency that since we are not “adopting” Elighe then everything is fine and on track just as before! An amazing birthday present! So now, God willing, in just a few months we will be parents of 5 beautiful children!
Please add Elighe to your prayers when you think of us. Thank you!
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