Family and Friends,
As many of you are aware we are in the process of adoption. Lauren and I have desired to have children and have been unsuccessful for the past five years. Adoption has always been on our hearts and something we have spoken about throughout the years. We are so excited for the opportunity to love a child, and raise them in a home that strives to honor our Lord. This is not a decision that we have made lightly. We have prayed, sought council, had long discussions, and done hours of research while making this decision. We truly feel The Lord has opened the door to this journey for us. We may never know why The Lord chose for us to walk this road of infertility, but we can confidently say we trust Him. We know He does all things for our good and His glory. This has not been an easy road for us, and there have been really hard times throughout the years, but The Lord has been so gracious and kind to us. We have grown closer to Him, learned to trust Him more, and been able to strengthen our marriage as we have faced this trial. He has made us more like Himself and we could desire nothing more than that. You all have been so dear to us as we have walked this journey through the years. You have prayed with us, wept with us, encouraged us, and truly loved us more than we could ever deserve, and we are more grateful than you could ever know. Thank you.
After much prayer and research, we have chosen to adopt an infant domestically. We will be using an organization called Faithful Adoption Consultants (FAC). FAC is a Christian organization started here in Georgia. They work with trusted adoption agencies all over the country which allows them to be very successful in matching adoptive parents with birth mothers. The average time for adoptions with them is 7-9 months.
Please be in prayer that our desires would align with the will of The Lord. Pray that we would always seek to honor, trust, and obey our savior. There will be times of uncertainty and the unknown and both of those can be hard. Pray for the sweet, brave, and selfless birth mother that will choose us to parent her sweet baby. While we will have times of rejoicing, she will be mourning. Pray we will love her with a Christ-like love and pray with us that The Lord will use this moment to bring her to a saving knowledge of Himself.
Adoption does come with a significant cost of around $55,000. Thankfully there is a tax credit of almost $14,000, and we also have savings to put towards it. You can also give a tax-deductible donation through this website (adopt together). We will be doing a t-shirt fundraiser through teespring.com from April 1st-21st, more details to follow. We are so grateful for your continued prayer and support throughout this process.
Please feel free to share our story if you think it could be an encouragement for someone, and so that fellow believers are able to pray with us. We are so grateful for the body of Christ. Please let us know if you have any questions. We love you and are so grateful for your role in our lives.
Love,
Spencer and Lauren Larkin
