Dear Family and Friends,
We can’t begin to explain how overjoyed and excited we are to announce that we’re ADOPTING! What an unbelievable journey this has been for us both! Before we discuss the ways in which you can partner with us, we’d like to share some of our story and tell you about how God has led us to this life-changing decision to adopt.
We’ve both always desired to be parents, and we began trying to grow our family in 2015, about 2 ½ years into our marriage. After about a year into the process, we grew concerned that something was medically wrong that might prevent us from having biological children. We started looking for answers, and consulted with a fertility specialist, who concluded that having biological children was not impossible, but might prove difficult due to Rainna having reproductive issues. We had casually talked about adoption in the early years of our marriage, but it was always something we pictured happening after we had a few biological children of our own. We continued to try to conceive naturally for another year, but were unsuccessful.
This was a really trying time for us both, and we each had to learn how to trust in the Lord’s perfect timing. Bitterness, resentment, and pain were very real things that we faced, both in our marriage and in our relationship with God.
About a year ago, God began to place a strong desire in Rainna’s heart surrounding adoption, and we both agreed to pray that the Lord would confirm whether or not we were called to adopt. It was something that we took very seriously, and we each handled this season of waiting in different ways. Lance had to work through many fears about the adoption process and accept that the Lord might be calling us to grow our family in ways we didn’t expect. We both had to do one of the hardest things possible, which was to wait on God, relinquish control of the situation, and trust in His timing.
We could go on and on about the conversation we had when we finally became unified on the decision to adopt, but to make a long story short, it was one of the most pivotal points in our marriage to date. Through tears of joy, we finally came to the decision that not only did we want to adopt, but it was something that we felt the Lord was calling us to. We can’t wait to meet the child the Lord has chosen for us, and know that they will be surrounded by such a loving family and community of friends!
We are currently in the process of applying to be partnered with Faithful Adoption Consultants (FAC). FAC equips families by providing them with the information necessary for each step of the adoption process from beginning to end, as it can be a very tedious, expensive, and challenging journey. The first question we were asked by an adoption consultant at FAC was “tell me about your story and why you have chosen adoption.” No other agency we had interviewed had asked us that, and we immediately felt at peace after speaking with them.
One of the main things that drew us to FAC was their constant support for both the birth mom and the adoptive parents. FAC also does a large number of placements each year, and the wait time is much shorter than the average agency since they use adoption agencies all over the US. We are looking forward to our application being completed with them soon!
We are sharing this announcement to first and foremost ask for PRAYER! Adoption comes with a lot of hardships, trials, and stress. There is a constant stream of paperwork and hard decisions to make at every turn. Please pray for courage and strength to persevere when we are faced with those difficult decisions, and that God would grant us wisdom. We also ask for prayers for our baby’s birth mother. This is a very heavy decision for anyone to make, and we desire to support and love her in the process. We also ask for prayer for our future baby’s health, and that God would prepare our hearts to be his or her parents!
Adoption is also very expensive. The average cost for domestic adoption is anywhere from $30-50k. This cost includes expenses such as agency fees, legal fees, birth mother expenses, medical expenses, travel expenses, home study fees and so on. The cost can seem overwhelming to us at times, but we trust that the Lord will provide.
Will you consider GIVING? Your donation is 100% tax-deductible through Adopt Together. We also plan to save as much of our own funds as we can and are looking into other fundraising avenues, as well as applying for adoption grants. We are excited to see what God is going to do–He has already done so much! Please help us spread the word by sharing our story via email, social media, and word of mouth. You never know who will see your share and be prompted to give!
During our adoption journey, we will be periodically updating this site to provide you with details of where we are at in the process. We both already feel so loved and supported by our friends and family. Thank you for praying and partnering with us!
With Love,
Lance and Rainna
_"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we may ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20 _
