Adoption 2013
Seven years ago this month David and I were fast tracking our first home study in the hopes that we would be chosen to parent three adorable children who badly needed a home, a Mommy and a Daddy. Our prayers were answered. We were chosen. Our lives have never been the same. God is so good.
A year or so ago we started feeling the tug to expand our family. It didn't seem possible at the time...but the tug was there all the same. A few weeks ago that tug became more than just a tug. We started to think that maybe there was another sibling adoption in our future. We started looking at sibling groups in foster care in Indiana. One particular group has captured our attention. They are the reason we decided to take the next step.
So. This is where we
are at…
We are working with Johnson County Children’s Services. David and I are taking foster care classes with the end goal of adopting. At this time we do not intend to foster…but we will be licensed when we are through with these classes, and our home study is completed.
David and I both feel strongly that God is leading us to
adopt another sibling group. There is a
group of five that have grabbed our attention.
There are several other smaller sibling groups eligible to adopt in
Indiana, and bound to be more than that before it is all said and done.
Anyway.
The long and the short of it is this… We feel very strongly about this
particular family of five. Very, very
strongly. I cannot explain it to you
other than to say…I feel we must pursue them.
When you first hear about them…I’m sure you will think we are off our rockers. However, I believe this is where God is leading us to go…and I cannot say no. We may end up with a totally different situation…but this is the family that lit the fire under us and got us started down this road again. They are: 16 year old girl, 13 year old girl, 3 year old boy, 2 year old boy, 2 year old girl.
Ideally in a situation like this where you want
to adopt but already have children in the home…you want to see the adopted
children come in younger in birth order than your existing family. This scenario does not bend to that. I have talked at length to our friend, Meg,
who is the director of our former adoption agency. She immediately discouraged us from
considering this sibling group for that reason… We kinda dropped it for a while…thinking we
would go with a younger, smaller sibling group…and we may yet! But this week I again started to feel a tug
toward this group. It flies in the face
of reason…but that may be why we are supposed to pursue it. I don’t know.
We will have to wait and see after our home study is complete whether or
not their circle of social workers and care givers think we are a good choice
for them. (Again, we must endure the scrutiny
of being ‘chosen’. :P)
Many people are struggling to understand why we would want to do this.
They think things are good for us where we are.
Life IS GOOD where we are. However, David and I both feel strongly that we are called to do more.
We are actually more certain of this path because of the questions people have had. We believe we are not called to be
of the world. We are not called to fit
into this worlds idea of what a perfect family is. We are called to stand
up for what we believe and not back down.
I’m pretty sure our freak status was secure already… but this will probably put it over
the top.
No one has really asked, but just in case you are wondering... the kids are 100% on board. We have been talking about this at length for weeks now. They are excited, but they also know it will be a tough road ahead. The most amazing thing happened though. Brittany said to me... "Momma! They really must come live with US, because WE know what it is like to be adopted...and we can talk about it with them. Who else can do that?" That is really deep for a 12 year old. I almost cried.
So. That
is where we are at. David and I took our
first foster class Tuesday night. We have an
online class to complete this weekend…then we take the 3rd class
next Thursday. Our fourth and final
class is June 1st.
It is an all day adoption specific class. We had to completely redo our home study
because this is a totally different type of adoption than the first…being from
foster care…AND it has been SEVEN years THIS MONTH since the first home
study. It is not lost on me that we
could end up with a very similar ‘gotcha’ anniversary… Not lost on me at all.
Prayer Request: We are actively looking for a used 15 passenger van. Under the current circumstances…looking at the group we want…we think that we will only sell the van and keep both the GTI and the Civic. I believe the blue book on the Odyssey is going to be about $7-9k depending on whether we trade it in or sell it outright. We are looking at used vans in the $19-25k-ish range so that with the sale of the Odyssey we would bring our financed portion down to less than $15k ideally. We could afford more, but I don’t want to waste money on a car payment any longer than we have to. Also, there is the Sonesta house to consider should we ever have trouble renting it…I doubt that will be the case…but better safe than sorry.
Thank you to those of you who have had words of encouragement for us. You have no idea how much that has meant to us. We will keep you posted.
