We are so excited to announce that we will be adopting a baby together!
After a couple years of marriage, we began discussing and praying about the possibility of having children, specifically through adoption, as we tried to discern God's will for our lives and our family.
It was during this season of searching that we heard from God more clearly than we ever have before. During worship one Sunday morning, we were singing the song So Will I. As we sang the line "Every precious one a child you died to save. If you gave your life to love them, so will I," Sophie felt clearly that she heard God calling the both of us to give our lives to love His children through the act of adoption. After talking it over together, seeking advice, and praying over the decision, we both feel confident that this is the direction God is leading us and are looking forward to growing our family.
We would like to ask you all, our friends and family to partner with us as we pursue God's call on our lives through adoption. More than anything, we ask for your prayers over our family, over the child that will join our family, and over the birth mother. If you feel led, we also ask that you consider partnering with us financially through this process.
There are a lot of costs associated with adoption, and we appreciate your consideration in helping our journey. AdoptTogether (Hoping Hearts Foundation) is and IRS approved 501(c)(3) so all donations are tax-deductible. All funds raised will go directly towards the cost of adoption, which includes:
• Home Study Fees • Legal Fees • Pre-placement Adoption Education • Counseling Services for Birth/Adoptive Parents • Prenatal Medical Expenses for Birth Mother • Labor and Delivery Expenses for Birth Mother
It's finally time—we're officially active! We are now open to match with expectant mothers and will be in a time of waiting for the indefinite future.
We've been given an average match time of 6-9 months, but based on our preferences we've been told to expect a profile to be presented to us roughly once a month. It's a funny thing to not know the timing—we could potentially have a baby anywhere between tomorrow to a year from now!
For those unfamiliar with the matching process: As profiles are brought to us, we will review them and indicate to the agency if we would like to be presented. If we agree, we and roughly two other families will be shown to the mother and she will pick based on our profile book, website, and adoption video.
In this time, we ask that you consider praying for:
1) Us and our future family - for our patience in waiting, for wisdom in addressing the unique challenges and loss associated with adoption, and that we will rely on God for all things as we enter into parenthood.
2) The birth mother - that she will feel at peace and led in her decision, that God will minister to her amidst her loss, and that the relationship between her, us, and the future child will be as healthy and positive as possible.
3) Adoption as a whole - that families will feel equipped to not have to resort to adoption, that the body of Christ would work to uplift and empower mothers to be able to raise their children in difficult situations, and praise that God is good and redeeming all things - that one day adoption will no longer be necessary.
Thank you all for your continued support and for walking alongside us. We're excited and eager to learn what God will teach us and what the future holds!
We have reached another big milestone! As of this week, our home study has been finalized and approved! This puts us on the waitlist before we become "active" to be able to match with an expectant mom. We have been told to expect to spend 1-2 months on the waitlist. We are continuing to do lots to prepare for our upcoming adoption, reading books, preparing our home, and learning as much as we can. We're excited to enter this new phase and look forward to updating everyone as we continue to move forward. Thank you all for your prayers and continued support!
A little late, but we wanted to take the chance to give an update on our timeline and let everyone know that, as of last week, we have officially completed our home study visit! A representative from our adoption agency came to assess our home and interview us. Everything went smoothly and we foresee no issues in moving forward. In fact, in response to our indicated adoption preferences, our assigned agent expressed optimism in us being matching fairly quickly!
We are now in a period of waiting while the adoption agent writes up a report for our visit, which is estimated to take about a month. Afterward, we will be placed on a waitlist (averaging 1-2 months) and then following that we will be active and ready to match! In the meantime, we will be working on our profile book containing photos and detailed information about us which will be presented to expectant mothers!
Thank you to everyone who has been praying and walking alongside us in this process—it means more than you know! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or want to know more, and we will try to continue to keep everyone updated as we move forward in the process.
We are selling a shirt to support our adoption as well! If you are interested in buying a Tindell Adoption shirt, you can check them out here: bonfire.com/tindell-family-adoption
We have been focusing on trusting God to go before us and beside us through this process. We are trusting in him to equip us, and are casting our fears on him. Matthew 6:25-34 has been our passage of encouragement in this area, which is why we chose the bird imagery for our shirt design.
We are happy to share that we have completed our application, and will be preparing for the next step of our adoption journey: the home study! A completed home study is required by the state of Texas before we move forward with our adoption. This will involve a home visit and interviews with both of us. A social worker will look over our home to ensure that it is a safe environment with appropriate space to bring a baby into, and we will be interviewed both together, and separately as they seek to get to know us better, and make an informed decision to approve us to be eligible to adopt.
