Hi everyone. If you've met our dear friends, Shant & Jen Abadjian before, then there isn't much we need to say about them. If you've never had the privilege - they are some of the most down-to-earth, loving, kind and godly people that we know. We love them dearly and have been walking through this season alongside them. It is our joy and privilege to help launch this crowdfunding for their upcoming adoption. We asked them to share a bit of their story in their own words. Please read the following and consider making a donation. Please also join us in praying for their growing family through all this. Finally, we would really appreciate it if you can share this fundraiser with family and friends via email and social media.
Aren & Trina Bahadourian
THEIR STORY:
Our plan was to have kids at 5 years of marriage. At 6 years in, however, it became clear that our plan was not God’s plan.
As we reoriented ourselves, we began to look into the possibilities of adoption and foster care. Both of these seemed to make sense for us given our background in working with at risk youth, Jen’s psychology degree, and Shant’s role as a Pastor.
Just prior to 8 years of marriage however, we faced an unforeseen health crisis with Shant. For a time, our world was turned upside down and the road to recovery became our priority for the next 5 years. By God’s grace, bit by bit, Shant recovered and we began to resume a normal life.
It took us some time to trust this state of stability, but eventually the question of how God wanted our family to grow surfaced once more. After much prayer, we officially began the process of becoming certified foster parents.
One week prior to the finalization of foster certification, we learned that God AGAIN wanted to surprise us despite all our plans. This time in the shape of a baby girl. A friend informed us of an out of state relative who was overwhelmed with the care of her 14 month old and was looking for an adoptive family. Not to say fostering is out of our future, but we decided to table this in favor of giving this little girl a forever home.
In order to pursue the adoption, however, requires a substantial sum of money, not to mention all the “baby related things” we don’t yet have. So, we are looking for anyone with a heart for adoption who is able to support us in prayer, donations, hand-me-downs, or even travel points for our interstate trips!
Throughout our journey, we have seen how even though we plan, God is orchestrating everything for our good and the good of those around us. We are excited to see how He navigates us through the next chapters of life. Thank you for being a part of this journey with us.
UPDATE: October 14, 2020
Yesterday we got our court petition notarized and had the joy of seeing our names along with our hopeful adoptive baby’s name written out followed by “Abadjian”. How incredible and surreal to see this written in very official looking ink and to sign our names in front of a witness that this is what we want. A super exciting step for sure! We now await the courts to establish a hearing date. This process can take some time, so please pray for patience and a continued openness to what God wants for us, but also that what He wants would be what we want.
