Monday, May 2, 2011

First steps!

       There's so many things that have happened since we first stepped out in obedience to God's call for us to adopt back in January.  We will try to post every step in this process and attempt to convey the very present sense that we already have of God leading us.

       As soon as we knew that we wanted to adopt we kind of felt lost among all the information and in looking at the big picture of where we were; wondering how in the world we were going to complete this journey.  It was so overwhelming, but God is helping us take one step at a time.  Some of the first things we did were research different adoption agencies, talk to pastors at our church, and gather information from friends that have been through or are in the middle of the adoption process.  Through these things we were able to gain a better understanding of the comprehensive process which affects several areas (i.e. emotional, spiritual, financial, and legal).  We have already found that we will have to lean hard into God through this.

       Our first decision we had to make was to either go with intercountry or domestic adoption.  Amanda initially felt drawn to intercountry and I to domestic.  Amanda had a heart for Central America because of the mission trip that we took in the summer of 2010.  My rationale was that there are so many children here domestically that need a good home.  However, we came together in prayer and asked God to lead us in the direction that HE wanted us to go.  There wasn't one specific incident other than my heart really began to be drawn towards intercountry adoption.  So, once our decision was intercountry adoption we had to focus on what country and adoption agency we were going with.

We continued in prayer for God to lead us to the specific country.  We were able to eliminate several countries right away because they all have specific guidelines with regard to age, years of marriage, the age of children available, income, and, believe it or not, body mass index!  Lol.  Through that process we came out with three countries; Ethiopia, Honduras, and Bulgaria.  At this point we kind of felt stuck because we had to make a decision on the country before we could move forward with anything else.  Throughout this time we looked for confirmation from God for a direction.  At one point we even took things into our own hands and drew the name of a country out of a hat!  We were patient, albeit begrudgingly at times : ), but eventually God lead us to Honduras!!  There were a few interesting events that led to that decision, and we'll share that in another post.

We then chose an agency (America World Adoption Agency AWAA), filled out their application, and are now about to begin the home study.

We continue to be grateful for God's leading, and thank you for your support and prayers!

In Christ,
Clint

Love God.  Love others.

1 comment:

  1. So excited for yall. I hope that everything goes as smooth as possible!

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