Michael & Elizabeth Stewart

Updates

• Update 8

  

  Completed: Home Study and a Home Going

  September 22, 2024
  I originally posted this update on our adoption site (stewartadoption.com), but in the midst of celebrating and mourning forget to share here on the Adopt Together platform. I've got a more recent update to share, but it's important to me that this March 2024 is linked here to. (Original post: https://stewartadoption.com/completed-home-study-and-a-home-going/) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is much to celebrate and much to mourn. We celebrate having received official notification of our completed home study. And we mourn, having received in the same week the news of the passing of my beloved Uncle Cecil. But we do not mourn as those who have no hope... Read more(1 Thess 4:13). While our home study marks the beginning of new life for us, so, too, does the home going for Uncle Cecil. His new life in the Father’s house is the celebration of his adoption as a child of God. That adoption is the great adoption that inspires our pursuit. My home is emptier for Uncle Cecil no longer being on this earth. Typing that brings tears. He was the most funny and most friendly… the most clever and most kind. . The emptiness is a great pain, but that’s because he made my home fuller. He did the same for everyone. That I get to share thoughts on that at his funeral service next week is a great honor of my life. For now, and in this space I’ll tell you how his life is one of the key lives that inspires our adoption. My Uncle Cecil's Love of Family Thanksgiving was big for me—because it was small (just my immediate family and the annual tradition of sharing the meal with Uncle Cecil and Aunt Alyson). They’d come to stay with us for multiple days and we had just them to ourselves. I not only enjoyed Uncle Cecil, but I enjoyed his enjoyment of us. It was genuine and marked with gratitude. It was a gratitude he also expressed when speaking of other extended family members from his side. He spoke about them in a way that didn’t make you jealous of other relationships—it made you want to appreciate all the more the ones you were blessed with. It made you understand that love was capable of being multiplied without subtracting from others. His love of family was, of course, unrivaled when it came to my aunt. From earliest memories, I remember wanting my future marriage to mimic their enjoyment of one another. Theirs was a love of mutual respect and romance, of honor given and honor received. The security of a strong marital relationship is a great gift to the children who observe it. My Uncle Cecil as a Father Figure My uncle had no biological children, but he was a man who loved as a father: he nourished, he protected. He did this for the nieces and nephews who were part of his family. He did this for friends. And his later nursing career at a local high school allowed him to care not only for the physical needs of those students, but to care also for the souls. He showed the boundless nature of love in extending it to those who had nothing to offer in return; and he showed the committed nature of love as the consummate medical professional giving care to any in his charge. My Uncle Cecil's Gift I don’t know how to label this particular ability, but being with my Uncle Cecil left you wanting to be more like him while also being more confident and content with your own identity. That’s a gift. When he was present, you were confident all would be well; he somehow did that without you feeling inadequate… you were, in fact, reassured after time with him. He was quick to compliment and slow to complain. He was a keen and compassionate observer. You enjoyed his quiet or his conversation. Carrying on the Legacy The Lord blesses us with relationships, and they are eternal investments. He saw fit to give us Uncle Cecil. And the Lord will one day give him back to us. And we will all be given to one another in ways this mortal flesh could never manage. No good is ever wasted. All shall be redeemed. Until then, our goal in this adoption is to extend the love of our home the way that my uncle did: to value our earthly family in light of a higher, heavenly one; to love beyond the boundaries of bloodlines; to make others aware and appreciative of their own identity as we encourage and enjoy one another. We are grieved at the prospect of children who’ll never meet Uncle Cecil, but we are reminded, especially this Easter week, that an eternal reunion awaits. You lived well, Uncle. You loved well. We will multiply that love. I miss you.

• Update 7

  

  How Many Children? (Final Home Study Scheduled)

  December 30, 2023
  Our final home study (#3) is scheduled for next month! Between now and the end of January, we’ll be finishing remaining paperwork (e.g., proof of post-adoption financial, medical, community, and social resources), getting medical exams, and continuing adoption education training. Part of this final study will include approval for the number of children we can adopt. We’ve expressed to our agency that we’re open to adopting 1–3 children. We don’t know how the Lord will move in this manner, but we are trying to make our home as ready as possible. Home expansion might mean an increase both in people under... Read moreour roof and in usable space (along with other not-as-lovely-details like an additional septic tank—some problems you need to be ready for!). Our 3-bedroom, 2-bath home works well for our current family, but we’ve decided that we’ll need to convert our garage for an additional bed/bath space. Through your generosity, we’ve raised enough money to cover agency and program fees (those cost around $30,000). Travel expenses (a required 45-day stay) are estimated at another $10,000, but this is just for 2 adults and 1 child. Additional children will increase the cost for travel needs (and we hope both sons can travel with us, too). It’s possible that our family of 4 becomes a family of 7 this year! We want to demonstrate to our adoption agency that we have the funding to bring home multiple children and to provide for them a home in which all of us are taken care of. Any funds we raise in addition to our fees, will go toward the additional cost of increasing the size of our family; providing for their continuing health, education, and well-being, and traveling with as many family members as possible between Hungary and the United States! We’re grateful for how far you’ve helped us already.

• Update 6

  

  Christmas Glory

  December 22, 2023
  It’s almost here, Christmas. The annual event that takes forever to get here as children, but returns in frighteningly shorter intervals the older we get. I spent one December night with eager children at our Christmas worship service. Elizabeth sang. I told stories with the kids. They laughed. We got a little loud. All of these things are routine for us at Christmas. Whether it takes forever, or is here before we know it, next Christmas could be excitingly different for us. We could share the glory of Christmas with new children—children that return with us after our Christmas worship services,... Read moreto their home, our home. That will be a glory. Merry Christmas. (You can watch that Christmas time with the kids here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iCLXDw_8uA&t=75s)

• Update 5

  

  Holiday Shopping Help

  November 21, 2023

  Help from friends like you gives us extra reason for gratitude during this Thanksgiving season. We’re especially grateful for the Lewis family (whose own adoption story is an inspiration). Katie Lewis is graciously supporting our adoption with proceeds from 10% of all purchases from her Noonday Collection store!

  Here's the link to her store: https://katielewis.noondaycollection.com/.

  Avoid the black Friday crowds and shop online… and help fund our adoption in the process. Now through November 30 at noon CT, you can shop handcrafted jewelry, clothing, home and holiday items to benefit our adoption.

• Update 4

  

  A Day for Smiles

  November 9, 2023
  Admitted: I’m a bit jaded by ongoing, obscure national days of … whatever. So was the man who started World Adoption Day, but today I smile that he did. Here’s how I’m celebrating World Adoption Day: 1. Taking time to thank and pray for every one who has contributed to our adoption fund. 2. Filling out more required paperwork to move us closer to completing our home studies. 3. Praying that God will honor our desire to serve in this way through His timing and provision. Here’s how you can celebrate: 1. Support an adopting family like ours. Pray for us. Consider a tax-deductible gift through... Read morethe link on this page. 2. Support trusted adoption agencies and supporters. We’ve chosen to adopt through Lifeline and collect funds via AdoptTogether (also the creators of World Adoption Day). 3. Share our page on your social media feed and tag #WorldAdoptionDay (jaded me is unimpressed with these newfound hashtagging skills). Today we raise our hands with all of the families who’ve chosen adoption. We’re looking forward to seeing the smiles on the face… or faces… of those God adds to our family. (Original post: https://stewartadoption.com/a-day-for-smiles/).
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