Hello!
Adoption has been something on our hearts for a long time, long before even getting married. We have both had the privilege of knowing and interacting with several families who adopted throughout our lives, and it's sparked thought and conversation on the matter for a long time now.
Almost two years ago we were challenged with the verse James 1:27 during a sermon given at our church on "Orphan Sunday." James 1:27 says, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." This sermon came with a challenge to the congregation to do something. It was not a call for everyone in the congregation to adopt per se, but simply a call to do something and ask God what that is, and act. We spent the next 11 months or so praying and talking with each other, trying to figure out what that means for us. With that said, we believe God is has lead our family towards expanding the Fletcher family one more through adoption.
We have received strong advise to not disrupt the birth order - seeing as though our son Levi is 21 months old and our daughter Selah now 1 month, we're looking to do adoption from birth and have applied to and been accepted to an agency specializing in interstate domestic adoption from birth (if you want more details about the specific agency or why we chose this route please reach out). We are unbelievably excited for what God has in store for us. We do not see adoption as any different than biological kids and are so excited to grow the Fletcher family!
Now the help part of our message. How can you help?
1) The BIGGEST things we ask are prayer and also for you to GET EXCITED with us about this as we seek to just obey. If God desires to close the door, he has the power to but so far there have been doors that look like they should be closed he's already opened up in crazy ways, so we continue to step forward in obedience.
2) Please PRAY with and for us. The adoption process can feel very daunting and brings many challenges with it. These challenges in no way stop our excitement or joy in it, but they are legitimate, and we ask for your prayers through it all. Having others that will be praying and encouraging us is an incredible blessing. Please pray that we can minister the to the birth mom. Please pray for us, that we will have patience as we get paired with a family. Please pray for the right heart from us, we need God in this and need him to be leading this. Please pray for the logistics (finances, home study, where and when we'll be moving and how that affects things, etc.).
3) The process is expensive. We will be pursuing domestic interstate adoption from birth through a consulting agency. The rough total figures we've received put us in the ball park of $40,000, including all adoption fees and placement (if you want to know the exact break down let us know). That number could increase up to 50,000 depending on the situation but 40,000 is what is the average. We have started the process already, completed the home study, and hope to adopt soon! Once we do start, the remaining expenses are dispersed throughout. It could be anywhere from a few days to a couple years until we get paired with our baby.
Thank you for partnering with us in this journey and taking the time to read our story! Please let us know if you have any questions or comments and please take the time to share with people you know!
-The Fletchers (Part 5 Coming Soon!)
