Onto the next journey! We're thrilled to announce that Eli James' status as only child is expiring and he will soon be a big brother! We are so excited and can't wait to be a family for a child who needs one.
Our prayer for the last year has been that our faith and our trust would be limitless and borderless and that has led us again to international adoption…this time from China! A part of our hearts are still in Uganda, but we know our next child's home country will become a part of our family's culture as well.
We are done with our home study and are just waiting for it to be finished up and approved by everyone and their brother. Once that is finished, we'll be eligible to apply for grants. Our goal is to fund at least half of the adotion fees through grants and personal savings. This adoption will cost around $35K so we will once more be entering the world of fundraising and asking for the support of our friends and family. God is faithful and equips us to what he calls us to and we know that God has a plan for every step of this process.
Here are some answers to some frequently asked questions…
- We are not specifying gender so we don't yet know if we'll have a son or daughter.
- Age? It is very important for Eli that we maintain birth order so our child will most likely be around 2 years old.
- China is a special needs program so our child will have some degree of special needs.
- What does the process look like? See here for a super simplified list of steps:
1. Get final home study approval
2. Get USCIS approval to adopt internationally
3. Submit our dossier (aka every piece of paper known to man) to China for their approval to adopt.
4. Be matched with a child
5. Finalize all of the things on China's end for our child to be adopted.
6. Get travel approval.
7. Travel to pick up the kidlet to be named later!
We are so excited about what lies ahead for us and we are so grateful for your prayers.
We will have some more specific fundraisers soon but if you feel led to support us financially now, we so greatly appreciate it!
