Ephesians 1:5 (NLT)
"God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure."
After about 8 years of prayer and discussion, John Mark and I have been overwhelmed with the desire to adopt a child into our home as a part of our forever family. This was impressed upon our hearts in college as we began to discover even further our identity in Christ, what he did for us, and what he has called us to do here on this earth.
Only now is that desire beginning to become a reality. After many hours of researching, talking with others, and prayer we are taking our first steps to make this a reality. We know it is going to be a long journey but we are certain God has us in His will. We created this blog in order to share our hearts with many people at one time, post updates, and answer any questions any of our friends and family may have throughout the process.
Here is the general overview for now:
Drum roll please... We have decided to adopt a younger infant/toddler from South Korea.
We plan on completing our Home Study at the end of next summer/ early fall and turning in everything to South Korea by next September- October. At that time we could be referred a child at any time and then will wait a number of months before bringing the child home. When that time arrives, we will make two trips to South Korea in order to bring the child home and complete the remainder of the process state-side.
For now we are in the preparatory phase. Throughout this next year we will be preparing our hearts and our finances. Right now we are estimating the total cost of this process to be $40-$45,000. We feel we will be able to realistically cover about 50% of the cost without going into debt. We will hold various fundraising events throughout the year and give any updates as they come. Anything that we raise above and beyond that we do not absolutely need will go to Life Impact International, an organization dear to our hearts that rescues children from child trafficking on the Thailand-Burma border.
Upcoming events:
-Adoption-themed Christmas ornament sales November - December 2015
-Ongoing T-Shirt Sales
-Ongoing On-line fundraising on https://www.youcaring.com/tylerfamilyadoptionfund
Please pray for us during these next few years...
Pray that we have perseverance. We know God's promises are never late (not by one hour) even if it seems like they are for us.
Pray that we are provided for financially. We are blessed to be able to cover about 50% of the expenses independently, but we will still need help.
Pray for our marriage and our parenting skills during this stressful time. Pray for our current children's heart and that they learn more about God through this process.
Pray for our social workers that they are led by the Holy Spirit in finding our child. We are so glad to be working with someone who loves the Lord and feels this is a Holy experience!
Pray for the child's birthmother that she is safe, healthy, and has peace in her soul regarding her decision. Many mothers in South Korea choose to put their children up for adoption for various reasons, but almost never because they are unloved. Pray for this momma's heart.
Pray for our child's foster parents. They will be taking care of our child in the waiting period before they come home. They will get to experience a lot of our child's "firsts" and we pray they love the Lord.
Pray about how you could help us in this process. Everyone that is reading this probably knows I'm not good at asking for help, so if you ever have an extra hand to help we would be forever grateful.
Please comment with any questions, comments, prayers, concerns, etc.
