“Nope. No way. Not a chance. I don’t think so. Not here. Try
again. No. No!” That about sums up the last 5 months of the adoption process.
It doesn’t bother us (well, to a certain extent). We know that all we need is
one yes!
From the beginning, we had thought we
would adopt from some exotic locale. First we thought it would be the Caribbean,
then Africa, then Asia, then South America, back to the Caribbean, and you know
what we kept hearing from everywhere we looked? Sorry, your situation doesn’t work
for us. What?! Come on!
So, we have searched high and low, east and west, north and south,
and we are very excited to announce that the exotic land from which God will
provide a child for us is…DRUMROLL PLEASE…wait for it…here it comes…Nevada.
We heard from people at the very beginning of the process that
possibly the best way to get an international baby is by adopting from America,
and in our case, that might be true!
We looked at and researched A LOT of agencies! Some were not
accepting new families, some were in a state with really hard laws for adoptive
parents, and others were just plain sketchy. We wanted to find a very
organized, well-run agency with integrity within a state that had laws
protecting adoptive parents.
So we’re sitting around one night, feeling
a little bit defeated, and Jody says, “Hey, you know your AUNT that works for
that ADOPTION agency?” “Yes.” “What about her
agency?” “Oh yeah, guess we hadn’t thought of that one, yet.”
Hmmm. Wouldn’t that be interesting? You see, eight years ago my
aunt and uncle had a random urge to move from the East Coast to a tiny town in
Southern Utah (I don’t know that they
would call it “random” but at the time they knew no one there, had never lived
in the state, and didn’t have any ties to it AT ALL). She worked for a
pregnancy crisis center there for a number of years and now works for an adoption
agency based out of Nevada. What if one of the reasons God brought them to Utah
was to lead us to our child?? What if?!
It has been so interesting to watch all
the pieces fall into place. We were so impressed by the organization of
the office, the love and respect for the birth moms, and knowledge that the
staff possesses. Not to mention, the laws for adoptive parents are ideal. We
are excited!
Current completed checklist.
Country Chosen X
State Chosen X
Agency Chosen X
Home Study Complete X
Specific Prayer requests:
Protection and wisdom for the birth mom to make good choices,
especially during the first trimester.
Our kids as they prepare for the adjustment.
Provision. We’re just under halfway to what we need to pay for the
adoption. Surprisingly, domestic adoptions cost the same, if not more, than
international adoptions.
Do we have confidence that God will provide all that we need and
more? Yes. Do we know exactly what that will look like? No. Are we excited to
see what God does next and which mom will choose our family? YES! And that’s all
we need.
