We are adopting! Our family has been waiting for this moment and it’s been a long time in waiting. Adoption has been on our hearts and a calling of ours that we received for several years now. I (Courtney) first received my call to adopt 11 years ago, from the Lord when I visited my first orphanage in Thailand. From that moment on, I felt the Lord heavily telling me that I will adopt one day. At age 16, I started saving up money to adopt, I had an extra savings account just for it. 2014 rolled around and I tried starting the process to adopt a little girl from Uganda, after living there for a while. It wasn’t able to happen, I was heartbroken, but still knew our time would come. Derek has always had a heart for kids and the unborn so this desire came naturally for him, especially after working as a child welfare specialist for three years. We felt God give us the green light this year and we are excited, scared, and unsure but trusting in His faithfulness and provision. The average cost of a US adoption is currently $65,000. We have set a goal to raise $50,000 to take some of the financial burden off of us. It’s a large amount but you can’t put a price tag on ransoming a life. Adoption is the perfect picture of the Gospel, and we feel so blessed to be able to create that in our family. We get to adopt a child and bring it into our family, love it as our own, and raise them to be Kingdom bringers and seekers. We have created a fun fundraiser to help cover costs. We have a 1,000 piece puzzle with a picture of our family and thought it would be fun to have people or families sponser pieces. To sponsor a puzzle piece will be $45. (Through Adopt Together all donations are tax deductible as well) If a family or person sponsors a piece (or several) we will write that families’ name on the back of the puzzle piece/pieces so we will always remember all the people that played a part in helping us adopt. It takes a village and this puzzle will be the perfect representation of that and all the people in community around us. We will keep things updated on this space. If you feel called to give, share, or pray, it is all appreciated and we are forever grateful for the people around us!
