December 2018
We are the Buzzelli family - Paul, Kelly, Luke (20), Colby (17), and Marissa (13)! We have been married for 22 years and are pursuing the adoption of a little girl between the ages of 2 & 7 from China. Our desire to adopt began over 20 years ago and we have been praying, discussing, researching and learning about adoption ever since! In 2013, we became foster parents with the intent to adopt, but the door to adoption never opened. Our original plan was to start the process many years ago while our kids were still young, but life brought some significant unexpected challenges, and it was clear our plan and timing needed to be placed on the back burner. Over the years, however, our desire to love and bring a child without a family into our own just continued to grow.
So in the beginning of 2018, it was clear to us both that it was time to take the next steps. After choosing to partner with America World Adoption Agency, we began the long process of completing our home study and dossier. In mid-October our dossier was finally logged into China’s referral system and we are now eagerly waiting and praying. We are also finishing up our 25 hours of training which has been very helpful in teaching us how to parent and love a child that has come from a difficult place.
As we continue down this path, we would very much appreciate your prayers. Specifically pray for the protection over our future daughter and for emotional healing. Adoption is a beautiful alternative but it always begins with loss and brokenness. Pray that the Lord would continue to prepare each one of our hearts for the many changes that will take place and for wisdom and discernment when presented with referrals as the majority of the children have some degree of special and/or medical need.
We’ve had family and friends ask how they can support us not only through prayer but also financially. This is super humbling yet so encouraging as our agency’s estimated cost for China adoptions range from $31,000-$45,000. If this is something you are interested in being a part of, AdoptTogether makes donating simple and your gift tax-deductible! We encourage you to check out the “What is AdoptTogether?” tab at the top of the page. This inspiring 2 minute video describes the purpose of why this site was created.
Whether through prayer and/or a financial gift, we sincerely thank you for supporting our family. We certainly do not expect this lifelong commitment to be easy, but we do believe our family will be blessed. It’s already been such a privilege to be a part of something so much greater than ourselves and we are excited to see what else God is going to do in each one of our lives through this experience. Just as we’ve been adopted by God into His family and given unconditional love and acceptance, we look forward to doing the same.
Many blessings to you and your family,
Paul & Kelly Buzzelli
