We are so excited to share this journey with you and can not thank you enough for stopping by to learn how God has called us to adopt. We wanted to share specific details of our adoption process and what comes next. First and foremost, we are humbled and excited that God has called us to adopt again. God is writing a story here and we are simply along for the ride and need to hold on tight. We pray this adoption is not just a means of growing our family but that it will glorify God and be a way to bring The Body of Christ together to answer God’s call to care for a child in need of parents.
We have been pre-approved through WACAP (international adoption agency) to adopt an adorable 8 year old girl from China. Her name is Marielle. She has been living in an orphanage ever since she was a few months old. Currently, she is the only child living in a foster home near the orphanage. Marielle has achondroplasia, the same type of dwarfism as both Adam and I. The foster family shares that she is a happy, social little girl. She loves to go to school and help her younger classmates. To protect her privacy, we are not able to post a picture at this time. Once we are able, we will be sure to share a picture of this beautiful girl. Our homestudy has been approved and we are awaiting the approval of I-800A from USCIS before we can proceed with our dossier. As we wait, we are needing to focus on fundraising for the upcoming adoption costs.
Many people are not aware of the staggering cost of international adoption today. If you feel led, we would be so grateful if you would like to join this journey with us financially. All fundraising will go directly to our adoption expenses which are shown below (if you would like a more detailed list we would be happy to provide you with one):
$10,000 International Agency Fees
$11,000 In-country expenses while in China $1800-$3000 Round trip flights to China $2500 Post-placement services
We have paid many of the initial expenses such as pre-adoptive services for LSS, international agency application fee, LSS home study approval and review fee, cost for fingerprinting, passport fees, and US Citizenship and Immigration fee by having a garage sale, selling collectibles and simply saving anyway we can. Adoption grants are another way we hope to help cover some of the above adoption costs. We have been busy completing applications and sharing our story with grant foundations. Also as a part of our fundraising, we are creating an adoption puzzle. This means that for every person and family who is able to financially support our adoption we will write their names on the back of a puzzle piece. When the puzzle is complete, we will put it together in a double sided frame to hang in our daughter's room as a reminder of who helped make it possible to bring her home. We have included a picture of the puzzle along with the other pictures on our YouCaring page.
Adam and I hope you will consider investing in our journey in whatever way you feel led. Even if you can’t help financially, we would love for you to pray for our family in this journey and by sharing our story: Pray. First and foremost, please pray that God is glorified in this adoption journey. Please pray for our daughter in China. That God would keep her safe and prepare her to leave the orphanage and join our family. Pray for Adam, Austin and I for our safety when we are approved to travel to China. All of us will need prayers as we transition to a family of four. Please pray that we would be patient and trust in God's timing through the adoption process. Share. We know many people have a heart for caring for the orphan and would love to help our cause. So if you feel led, we would love for you to help us get the word out and share the link and our story.
Thank you for your prayers, love, and support as we travel this adoption journey! Can't wait to see how God will stretch us and change our family through this!
PS: For those who would prefer to be an anonymous giver and/or have their donation amount be anonymous, please look for the "hide name" and/or "hide donation amount" on the donate page.
