Some of the most special occasions often occur when we least
expect
Surprises usually throw off our plans, but most happen
without any regret
Especially if our hope is not in our own will
but in the One who has always been faithful and proves
faithful still
It all boils down to perspective of who’s in control
The Lord God our Father, that’s his unchanging role!
The Bible is clear He reigns supreme
Grace and mercy are his unending theme!
Many times His blessings are more than we can fathom
And His ways for us are better than we could have ever
imagined.
Sometimes it means that your plans take a detour
And you travel down a new path trusting and sure.
So today we share with you what our Mighty One has done
by creating within Amanda a new little one
Yep, that’s right, and soon you’ll see
That our kiddos, now number ONE, TWO, THREE!
I can imagine many of you have questions like “Were you
trying to get pregnant? When did you
find out? Are you still going to adopt?”
Well, I will go ahead and answer that last question
very first, YES! If you know us at all
or have been keeping up with our blog then you know our choice to adopt really was not about us just having
more kids. Last May I wrote a post called Why We Are Adopting. Nothing we said in this post has changed
because we found out that we are pregnant.
The symbolic nature of adoption, our calling/conviction, and the need for
orphans to be adopted are not things that have changed.
Now,
many dictionaries define “conviction” as a strong belief about something, but
for us it’s more, SO much more. Our
convictions are established by our understanding of the Bible and how that
affects our values, commitments, and motivations- not simply our opinion about
something. I once heard a that “A belief is something you will argue about. A
conviction is something you will die for!”
I’m not sure who said this, but it has stuck with me and I feel that
convictions determine our actions and conduct and they are unchanging and
firm. So, with that said, we have had, and still have, a
deep conviction and desire to adopt!
So,
what’s our plan? Well, to be quite
honest, we are still trying to figure that out.
Anyone who has traveled down the road of adoption knows that there are
random rules and polices that you have no control over that dictate how and
when you can adopt. Our agency, CCAI,
has done an excellent job compiling the basic list of qualifications needed to
be able to adopt from China. To see the
entire list please click here. http://www.ccaifamily.org/WaitingChild/WCP-Qualification.aspx
Specifically
for us, there are two big qualifications that will need to be reevaluated in
light of our pregnancy.
* Children at Home- The qualification to adopt stipulates that the youngest child currently in your home must be at least 12 months old at time you submit your dossier. Now, obviously, this was not an issue because Josiah is already 2 years old. However, now there are a few additional hurdles we may need to jump through to still satisfy this qualification/requirement.
* Finances- The qualification to adopt from China stipulates that families must make a specific amount of annual income per household member, including the child to be adopted. The difference for a family of five and a family of six are significantly different. We know that in some cases exceptions can be made and sometimes they look at assets and how well the family budgets/manages money. Either way, this is something we will just have to trust the Lord with.
* Children at Home- The qualification to adopt stipulates that the youngest child currently in your home must be at least 12 months old at time you submit your dossier. Now, obviously, this was not an issue because Josiah is already 2 years old. However, now there are a few additional hurdles we may need to jump through to still satisfy this qualification/requirement.
* Finances- The qualification to adopt from China stipulates that families must make a specific amount of annual income per household member, including the child to be adopted. The difference for a family of five and a family of six are significantly different. We know that in some cases exceptions can be made and sometimes they look at assets and how well the family budgets/manages money. Either way, this is something we will just have to trust the Lord with.
Once we speak with our agency a little more and talk through a lot more
specifics we will need to prayerful consider and decide between a couple
different options:
Option 1: Continue as
planned with the adoption of a special needs little girl from the waiting child
program. Technically, we can move
forward with our home study and with preparing our dossier (in hopes of
completing and submitting it prior to our baby being born the first week in
June). Typically after you submit your
dossier you receive a referral of a child within 6-12 months. Then, once you have accepted your referral
you travel to China approximately 2-6 months later to complete the
adoption. This would mean, that there is
a possibility we would have a 8 month old at the time we would need to travel
abroad for two weeks (or more).
Option 2: Postpone our
adoption until after having the baby in June.
We would have to close out our current application and restart the
entire process next fall in hopes of submitting our dossier around baby’s 1st
birthday (sometime in June of 2015) and then proceed through the adoption
process just as we would have.
Option 3: We amend our
current application and paperwork and pursue the adoption of a healthy
child. We would plan to have the dossier
submitted before baby is born in June; however, the referral typically takes
much longer so we would most likely not go to get our sweet Chinese girl for
another 5-6 years. We are not as excited
about this option because we were hoping to adopt a special needs little girl
and this means that the age difference between our biological children and our
adopted daughter would be very different.
Although none of these options are ideal we know that the Lord
already knows what will happen and we trust that His plan is perfect. These verses have come to our mind as we have
been praying for discernment and wisdom about which route to pursue.
Isaiah 55:8-9
For my thoughts
are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For
as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your
ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Proverbs 19:21
Many are the
plans in the mind of a man,
but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
Proverbs 16:9
The heart of man
plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
As far as the
silent auction, we still plan to proceed with it as scheduled for next
week. Whether we continue to move
forward as planned or choose to delay the adoption the money raised will still
go directly into our account and be used only for that purpose. In addition, I have given my word to many
individuals and business who have made donations that I was going to advertise
for them and I want to be able to follow through on this.
Others of you may
be wondering if we were trying to get pregnant.
Well, the simple answer is, we were not preventing. After Josiah turned one year old we began
trying for a little while; however, my body was showing similar symptoms as
when we found out I was medically declared infertile. After about five months we decided to start
praying through adoption and not worry about if we were ever going to be able
to have any other biological children.
So, in all actuality this pregnancy was a huge surprise but we are
beyond thrilled at how God has chosen to bless us with another little one from
my own womb. We are very excited about
this baby and very excited that in June we will be a family of 5 and hopefully
not too long after that a family of 6!
Please join us in
praying for wisdom and discernment and please make sure to check back soon for
an update on our decision.
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