It’s about time for an update on adoption number 2. Here goes!
For our adoption of Solomon we used Bethany Christian Services as our adoption agency and LOVED THEM. So, when we began to pursue adoption again we started the process with them, but they have recently closed their doors. As in, the agency closed and is no longer in business in Mississippi.
That changes things- drastically.
They transitioned into becoming Lifeline Child Services, and, to jump right to it, we’ve learned that in this midst of all of this change we have to start completely over on the paperwork and process, and the price has doubled. Doubled. DOUBLED, friends. That’s just not the easiest news to hear and honestly, it was disappointing. Maybe that’s not the right word. It was shocking, scary, and left us feeling like we weren’t sure what was next. And then the Lord tells me “Wait on me.” He’s up to something. Can you tell? I can tell. He’s moving. What an honor to be a part of His miraculous, weird, powerful plan. I look at Solomon and see how He works. In ways that confound us. In ways that are perfectly beautiful. In ways that sometimes don’t make a lot of sense and certainly don’t seem logical. And what we know is that the fruit of this path is sweet and the harvest is worth the time waiting!
Y’all know we’re in this for the long haul. Bringing our babies home has never been easy and as we walk into parenthood for our next child we’re prepared to do whatever we must. Hear me say we will storm the gates of hell should we need to. We will have the patience of a thousand lifetimes.
“Lord of Hosts, You’re with us
with us in the fire,
with us as a shelter,
with us in the storm.
You will lead us
through the fiercest battle,
oh where else would we go,
but with the Lord of Hosts.”
We know that our God is in the business of “the impossible” and we will follow Him for as long as it takes to reach our next child; to hold them, kiss them, teach them, and love them. So, we’ve looked into a few things. Are there other agencies we could work with, and how about going through the state?
The state: I reached out to Rescue 100. They partner with the state to administer training to become foster parents. Turns out that only 20% of kiddos that are in foster care ever have the opportunity of being adopted since the goal of the state is reunification with the birth family. After some time praying, we have decided not to go this route. We would LOVE to become foster parents when our children are older, but right now it would be traumatic for Solomon to have a sibling and then have them removed from our home. It could also create some really unnecessary birth family fear for him, so it’s become pretty clear this isn’t the route for our family at this time. But we LOVE foster kids and foster families, and one day we hope to be very present in that scene.
New agencies: after a good bit of looking, calling, emailing, and researching, adoption is REALLY expensive (and we were crazy blessed the first time around with an agency that carried most of that weight financially). As I look at the lists of “adoption fees” for each agency I hear the still small voice of the Lord tell me that He writes this check, not us. I’m reading in 1 Kings about King Solomon and I catch my breath at the things the Lord can and will do. Things He can and will do for us. The riches of the world are His. The riches of the world bow before Him and serve His purpose, His plans; and so will we.
“Though oceans roar, You are the Lord of all,
the one who calms the wind and waves and makes my heart be still.
Though the earth gives way, the mountains move into the sea,
the nations rage, I know my God is in control.”
We’ll listen to His promptings to go, to serve, to push onward, to wait patiently while He whispers to a tear-filled birth mother in what may be her darkest days. We aren’t balking at a number that seems impossible because, friends, we serve a God who specializes in making the impossible possible. Instead, we’re praying over a birth mother out there somewhere who feels like she’s been abandoned in darkness to die. We’ll pray over her and our sweet, sweet baby she carries, and we’ll pray for them through the darkest of days. We gladly choose this path that the Lord has laid before us knowing that every step we take was tested first by Him. We are not afraid, we were born for this.
Onward we go, friends. As we start anew I’ll keep you in the loop, so be on the lookout for more frequent updates. We’ve got a lot of fundraising ahead of us, and we’ll be asking you to help us share, taking social media by storm to get our kiddo into our arms. We’re asking you to come alongside us in the long process that is adoption. We’re asking you to pray with us for a birth family who is/will be experiencing some of their hardest moments and decisions. Thank you for being people we can ask these things of.
So here’s to basically starting over and not fretting about that even a little bit. Because if parenting has taught us anything, it’s to be flexible and roll with where you are with great joy.
We love you guys and we are so thankful for you.