First of all, I’d like to begin by promising that the Sound of Music will not be a common thread through my entire blog…
Secondly, we pick up where we left of yesterday- a family whose hearts are turned to adoption. Now, if you’ve ever looked into adoption yourself, you know what an incredibly overwhelming task it can seem. I had purchased a book called Successful Adoption, and it gave me a good overview of adoption and all that is involved, but I still had no idea where to begin. The internet has a lot of resources, but it’s hard to know which ones are reliable. From what I had seen on-line, it seemed as though there were only two countries that would be a match for us because of our age and because we wanted a baby. Two countries, really? 18.3 million orphans (who have lost both parents- 163 million have lost one or both) worldwide and only two countries? Surely I was missing something… So, not sure about which country… or maybe domestic adoption was for us. We were feeling like the Lord was leading us to international adoption, but we were open to wherever he wanted to take us. Next question… where do we find a good adoption agency, or do we go with some other option like a lawyer?
Oh, so many things to think and pray about. Where does one start?
We knew one thing, and one thing only (which I’m learning is often the way God reveals thing to us on a journey) - we knew we were going to adopt. So, we told all of our parents our plans, and they were all thrilled. We have amazing, godly parents, and their support from the beginning was so encouraging. My dad immediately said, “You need to call the Melbers.” Good idea. David and Tera Melber are close family friends who have three biological children and three children through adoption. I knew they would be excited and willing to offer their guidance. So a few days later I sent Tera a Facebook message and filled her in on the news. She immediately responded with a “Call me!!!!” and so I picked up the phone… something that does not come easily to me- if you know me well, you know that I HATE phone calls. But, I am soooo glad I made the call. Tera has a wealth of experience and knowledge on the subject of adoption, and she was so happy for us and encouraging. (Are you seeing a common theme here- encouragement- soooo important for families who are adopting.)
After speaking with Tera , many questions were answered. There were indeed only two countries that would work for us- Korea and Ethiopia. These were (at the time) the only countries with inter-country adoption programs that would allow those younger than thirty to adopt and that allowed babies younger than two to be adopted. We needed both criteria to be met, and so these were the only two countries. So, that was narrowed down pretty quickly. We had prayed some more and really felt like the Lord was leading us to international adoption instead of domestic adoption. There is a huge need in our own country for adoption and foster care, and honestly we could have had a snuggly little bity baby from birth if we had chosen the U.S., but we knew then, and know now, that God has a baby for us elsewhere. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that He knows the plans He has for us, and for some specific reason that He alone knows, my baby was formed in another woman's womb, in another country.
Tera has two sons from Ethiopia, and after talking to her we felt like that was where we would end up. The need there is tremendous, and it’s been a relatively stable country to work with (until, of course, we were several months and several thousand dollars into the process- more on that later). She and David had worked with two different adoption agencies and their experience with the second had been really wonderful. There are many great agencies out there, but when you have a recommendation from a trustworthy someone who has “been there, done that,” you go with it- so we planned on using Arise for Children based here in Louisville.
She also recommended a conference on adoption being held by a local organization called Orphan Care Alliance. If you are considering adoption and are in the Louisville area, I highly recommend you check this out. It was a great resource for us, and they are offering another seminar on January 28- see their website-http://www.orphancarealliance.org/. It was at this conference that we met the director of Arise for Children and decided that Tera’s recommendation was a great one. This agency is overflowing with God’s love for orphans and is just fabulous to work with.
Tera offered many other helpful tidbits, but I will never forget her telling me that the Lord was going to bless us and teach us so much through this process. I agreed and thought I knew what she meant, but Iooking back, I know now I had no idea just how much over the next several months He was going to teach us about Himself and His love for us.
More to come!
Blessings,
Jodi
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