Jack & Mary are the kind of people that will go out of their way to help others. They are warm, generous, loyal and loving. When we (Shant & Jen Abadjian) were adopting 2 years ago, they walked through the entire process with us providing support and encouragement. Now, they are like family to our little girl who loves them wholeheartedly.
Now it's their turn to be supported! We are so excited for them that they have decided to welcome a little one into their home through adoption. They will need a good deal of prayer, encouragement, and financial support. Please consider helping these wonderful people in this process of becoming parents!
Hello Everyone!
Things have been quiet on our end, but that's not from lack of progress. We're happy to announce that about a month ago we officially became match ready! This means that our family profile can be shown to expecting mothers and their families.
A lot of people have asked us what the process is from here, especially on how long the wait is. We wanted to update you all and answer that question. At this time, our adoption agency let us know that the expected wait time is 2 to 3 years. This has surprised most people, including us when we heard. When you become match ready, you go into a queue, and move down the list as families who have been waiting longer adopt. This can be affected by a lot of different things however. First thing we've learned even in the last month, is that the number of birth mothers that are choosing adoption as an option seems to be up. We also learned that just like we needed to fill out a preference form, expectant mothers can also have preferences when working with the adoption agency, and that could affect our wait time.
All this being said, we know that a lot of you have been praying for us and we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your support. We ask for continued prayer for patience, and that we continue to trust God's timing and plan. We love you all!
Jack & Mary
Hi Everyone,
We wanted to thank you again for all the support we've gotten over the last half a year as we began our adoption journey, as well as give you an update of where we are now.
We know it's been quiet over the last 6 months, but we have been busy! Your prayers and encouragement have not been lost on us as we went through some of the steps to get to where we are. We would be lying if we said it was easy and straightforward. It's been an experience; but one that God has emboldened us to take and be excited about. We knew that He would provide us what we needed during any bumps along the way; and He has shown us He is faithful, and that sometimes His help comes in the form of the people He puts in our lives. So thank you.
So what have we been up to? Our first step was paperwork. More than filling out forms, this really was the first step into really thinking about the process and the road ahead. Every field we filled out and every form we completed got us more and more excited. We prayerfully considered what God is preparing and equipping us for.
Our next step was education. We took classes, listened to seminars, and read about different topics to prepare ourselves for everything that comes with adoption. This was encouraging, as we had seen a lot of what we were learning about lived out and working in the lives of our closest friends who had also adopted (shoutout Shant, Jen & Percie). It was also overwhelming. We have gone through moments of being scared, and will have more moments to come. But this has made us more excited for what's ahead, and how God's working. We learned a lot, talked about and prayed about a lot, and prepared ourselves the best we could, for a lot to come.
After our education was completed and approved, we moved on to the 2nd phase of the adoption process. This started with more paperwork, and a lot of background and physical checks. Once we submitted all the requirements, we started our home study. Which brings us to where we are now!
We just completed our second home study visit. The visits so far have included a walkthrough of our home, as well as discussions, both as a couple and one at a time with our social worker. We have one more visit to go in just a few weeks, after which we move to the final part of our journey (and the part that will require the most patience)...the matching!
Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be creating a detailed profile that will be shown to birth mothers as we wait to get matched. This will give them a glimpse of who we are. As hard as the journey is for us, we can't begin to imagine how difficult the choices on the other side must be to make. We don't know what to expect during this step of the process, but we know like most things in life, there are always bumps in the road. We are forever grateful for your continued prayers, not only for us, but for the birth family of whichever child God chooses to put in our lives.
We might not have much to share while we wait, but will update with all encouragement God puts on our hearts. Thank you for taking the time to keep up with us, pray for us and encourage us. We love you all!
Hello Everyone!
We want to start off by thanking all of you for your amazing support during our adoption journey; not only through donations, but through prayers, thoughts, and the love you have been giving us. Every single person that has talked to us has made us realize that we are not alone in this season of our lives.
We also wanted to share where we are in the process, and what's coming up for us. We are working with a great agency called Nightlight Christian Adoptions, and went through the initial paperwork in the fall/winter of 2022. The next step is adoption education. This covers all kinds of training in subject areas related to adoption; everything from CPR training to how to help a child understand adoption. We have set aside some time this month to focus on these classes, and are looking forward to updating you all with things we learn that have an impact on us. Following the training, we will be doing a home study followed by a good amount of waiting and praying!
Before we got married almost 9 years ago, we talked about adoption and were happy to find that we were both on the same page about how we felt...totally open to the idea! But when God really put this on our hearts last year, and made us realize that this was the plan He has made for us, we we're worried about how we would take on something we knew very little about. But we also knew that He is faithful, and would give us the strength, patience, and wisdom we would need moving forward. He has not only comforted us in our worries, but worked through the people He has put in our lives. Reflecting on our past year, we can not express how blessed we feel being surrounded by the people we are fortunate enough to call our friends and family.
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." Reading this verse now, we can not help but say "AMEN!" We especially want to thank Pastor Shant & Jen, as well as Pastor Aren and Trina, some of our closest friends and pillars of support in all things.
We look forward to sharing this journey through updates with all of you, and thank you again for your support and love!
