Wow! It's been a week since my last post, but SO much has changed!!
We had our second home study visit on Wednesday, April 25th. Our social worker called that afternoon and asked if we could/wanted to meet at Panera instead of at our house since it was easier for her to get there. We agreed and met at 5:30pm. She shared some literature with us, some books for us to read about adoption, and some children's books about adoption. I loved them! One story by Jamie Lee Curtis was all about how the child came to be a part of their family, but instead of the typical story, funny pictures and words showed how the parents got a phone call one night that the child had been born! They called the grandparents, grabbed a baby bag, and hopped on a plane to go get their child. It was very sweet. She gave us one to keep called A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza. It's all about Choco, a little yellow bird, who is looking for his mother. He asks everyone if they are his mother (a giraffe, a penguin, a walrus, etc.) but they all say they couldn't be his mother because they aren't yellow or don't have striped legs or big cheeks like he does. Finally he runs into Mrs. Bear, who asks him what a mother would do. He says she'd hold him and cuddle him and sing and dance and play with him, so Mrs. Bear does all of these things. Then she asks, "What if I was your mother?" Choco is confused because he says she looks nothing like him. She assures him that looks mean nothing, and takes him home and introduces him to her other children, Ally, Hippy, and Piggy (an alligator, a hippo, and a pig). Choco joins the family and the last page shows Mrs. Bear in a rocking chair holding her 4 children, none of whom look like her. It is a beautiful picture of family and adoption.
Anyway, we talked for a couple of hours and our social worker showed us the print out of our home study that was already typed up. She needed to clarify a few things, and was just waiting for the FBI prints and background checks to come back before everything would be finished. She told us again this could take a few months. We didn't expect everything else to be ready so soon and knew we needed to work quicker on getting our family profiles ready!
The next day as I was leaving work about 5:30, I missed a call and listened to the message. It was from one of our adoption agencies who was calling to check on where we were in the process of our home study and profiles being completed, because they wanted to present us to a birth mother!!! We NEVER expected to be contacted so soon about a possible match for us! I told the agency our profiles weren't ready and we were still waiting on FBI prints. One one hand we were encouraged to hear that there are birth moms out there that might already be interested in us to be parents for their biological child, but at the same time I felt so sad that we couldn't be presented because we weren't ready. I was reminded that God knows who our child it. If it is that child, the birth mom won't find a suitable family and will pick us at a later time. If that child isn't ours, I know our child is still out there and we will know them in God's timing.
On Saturday, I checked the mail to find the final pieces we've been waiting for. One thing was Tyler's physical (which for some reason had taken a long time to get back!) and OUR FBI PRINTS!! Instead of taking 3 months, it was closer to 3 weeks! Praise the Lord!
So, tomorrow a check for our home study, Tyler's physical form, and our FBI background checks are in the mail to our social worker. As soon as she receives these, final information will be plugged into the home study report and will then be mailed off to our agencies! At that time we are ready to become active except for two things. We can not be active without portfolios to show to birth moms, and one of our agencies will not begin to present us until we show "proof of funds," which for them is about $17,000. We don't have that money yet.
So last week we still felt like we were in the middle of this part of the process, and 7 days later we feel more like we're at the end of this part and heading into the hard "waiting" stage. I am working hard on our portfolios and have been told they will typically take 3-4 weeks. However, the guy we are working with to complete them says if we stay on top of things he will do everything he can to expedite the process if at all possible, since this is the final thing we need to become active!
We take comfort in knowing that God is in control and is working everything out to bring our child home.
Today my friend teared up as she told me about an experience that really opened her eyes to domestic adoption. She picked up a very young woman who had voluntarily checked herself in to rehab just 3 days before and had walked out. My friend graciously gave her a ride as she told her about her 5 children, the oldest was 8 or 9 and she had never even seen the youngest, who is 4 months. She said all of the children had been born "dirty", some premature, and most had gone through withdraw upon being born due to her excessive drug use. She told my friend she knew her children were better off with their grandparents, but she desperately wanted to just be near her kids, to be able to see them. Her love for them was evident, but she in no way was taking care of herself and couldn't take care of them. Lately I have heard so many stories like this that breaks my heart. We are so excited about the opportunity to rescue a child who may be born into a family who although they may love them. can not give them the life they deserve. It's crazy how much we love our child already, even though we know NOTHING about them!
I'm amazed at how much has changed in just one week! This process hasn't been easy, but it has gone remarkably fast up to this point! Although we've been praying and researching about adoption for a while now, we didn't officially start this process until about 3 1/2 weeks ago, and we're almost "active!" Wow! Please pray that our portfolios are completed and printed as quickly as possible, and that God continues to provide the funds necessary to continue from this point! Also remember to pray for our child and his/her birth mother, and our agencies as they work to bring us together for the sake of rescuing an orphan. THANK YOU again to those of you who continue to pray and who have offered and continue to offer financial support. We are so blessed that you have chosen to join with us in this journey!
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
147 Million Orphans, Minus 1
We have officially began our home study! Our first visit from the social worker was last Saturday. Tyler spent the morning mowing and I spent a good part of the day cleaning and organizing! Our social worker called and said she'd be about 30 minutes late, and she got there about 7pm and stayed for almost 2 1/2 hours! I got more and more nervous as we waited! She took a tour of our house, then sat with us at the kitchen table and talked for a while! She is extremely nice and easy to talk to. She explained some things to us, talked with us about the process a little more, and shared a little bit from her experience as an adoptive mother and from her experience working with other adoptive parents and birth parents. She didn't ask us any hard questions or critique our house like we expected...but maybe that will happen next time! When I asked her about the time it would take to complete the home study, she said she would be ready with all of the paperwork, but we would basically be waiting on the FBI background checks. She said this could take up to a few months! (When I sent the fingerprints and forms in, I put on the front "Please process by" with a date one week out as I was told to do. She said sometimes this works to speed up the process, sometimes it doesn't.) A few months seems like a long time! We are still working on gathering some other paperwork as well. We're hoping it goes quickly, but we know everything will happen in God's timing!
We have continued to get a few donations from amazing friends and family, and continue to be thankful for their gifts and love for our child already! (Check out the total on the right!) We also have began selling Livestrong-style bracelets that say "147 Million Orphans Minus 1." There are approximately 147 million orphans worldwide! We are working to rescue just one (for now)! With a number so overwhelmingly big, 1 can seem so insignificant. But when I think of the life that we will one day hold, love, feed, clothe, and teach, nothing could be more significant! We are excited for the day our baby is in our arms and we will know there will be one less orphan from that day on. My mother's husband, our sister-in-law and my sister have shared our story at their work places and are selling these bracelets for us and they have already asked for more! It is wonderful how people we don't even know are willing and happy to contribute to bringing this baby home! One woman cried, and bought 2 bracelets (and gave an extra donation!) because she wanted one for herself and one for her daughter! We are very thankful for our family who are willing to help us spread our story to others, and to those who have a heart for adoption and are able to help strangers! (We have black bracelets and Kentucky blue bracelets and are selling them for $5 donations! Let us know if you would like one!)
Our next home study visit is this Wednesday evening. We will miss our BFG (bible study) this week, but are excited to continue to make progress toward our goal. Please pray for fast processing for our FBI checks and other paperwork we're waiting on and continued support from those who are able. Also remember our child and his or her birth parents in your prayers. We take comfort in knowing that God already knows this baby and we are anxiously awaiting the day He brings him/her home to us!
We have continued to get a few donations from amazing friends and family, and continue to be thankful for their gifts and love for our child already! (Check out the total on the right!) We also have began selling Livestrong-style bracelets that say "147 Million Orphans Minus 1." There are approximately 147 million orphans worldwide! We are working to rescue just one (for now)! With a number so overwhelmingly big, 1 can seem so insignificant. But when I think of the life that we will one day hold, love, feed, clothe, and teach, nothing could be more significant! We are excited for the day our baby is in our arms and we will know there will be one less orphan from that day on. My mother's husband, our sister-in-law and my sister have shared our story at their work places and are selling these bracelets for us and they have already asked for more! It is wonderful how people we don't even know are willing and happy to contribute to bringing this baby home! One woman cried, and bought 2 bracelets (and gave an extra donation!) because she wanted one for herself and one for her daughter! We are very thankful for our family who are willing to help us spread our story to others, and to those who have a heart for adoption and are able to help strangers! (We have black bracelets and Kentucky blue bracelets and are selling them for $5 donations! Let us know if you would like one!)
Our next home study visit is this Wednesday evening. We will miss our BFG (bible study) this week, but are excited to continue to make progress toward our goal. Please pray for fast processing for our FBI checks and other paperwork we're waiting on and continued support from those who are able. Also remember our child and his or her birth parents in your prayers. We take comfort in knowing that God already knows this baby and we are anxiously awaiting the day He brings him/her home to us!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Progress and Encouragement!
Well, it's been about a week since we publicly announced we were in the adoption process!
This week has been a bit stressful because we almost thought we were going to have to re-do a lot of paperwork that was sent out! I was determined to get ALL of the paperwork that we had at the time in the mail by last Monday! It took about a week to track down necessary documents, get signatures, fingerprints, physicals, financial statements, and fill out all of the papers and send it off to 4 different places! I was finally ready for it to be on it's way! There was so much that we paid about $30 in postage! Some of that was extra because we wanted to be safe and send it using certified mail. On the following Tuesday, while emailing with our social worker who is doing our home study, she mentioned that if I wanted to I could get started on the paperwork she sent...WHAT? This package was just going to Lexington and she hadn't received it 8 days later? I was a little worried, but after tracking it online I found out that they attempted to deliver it once and couldn't, and that was all they were going to try until I requested it be redelivered. If I didn't, after 15 days they would send it back to me. Requesting a redelivery wasn't a big deal, it really wasn't hard, but I was sad that I didn't realize what had happened and that all of that determination to get the paperwork in early was in vain. We were thankful, thought, that package arrived the next day safe and sound as I had requested. Since there was trouble with that one, I decided to track the others as well. There was another package that had arrived in the city it was going to, and it said they would attempt to deliver on the day it arrived at the sorting place(6 days before I was reading it), but there was no confirmed delivery! We were worried about that one too, but the agency picked it up the next day! I am trying to be on top of things, but I'm finding out that I'm going to need to be patient with the process.
Beginning last weekend we began mailing and handing out letters to all of our family and friends. Our goal with these letters are to spread the word about what we're doing, and let others know about how they can support us through prayers and, if they choose, through donations. We've mailed and handed out a LOT of letters! We are excited to let everyone know about our adoption! I keep thinking that this is the equivalent of a couple announcing that they're pregnant! Although this time is MUCH different for us than if I was actually pregnant, we are still announcing that we are expecting a precious baby! What a blessing! While there have been some settings in which people are not supportive, or maybe just uninterested, for the most part people have loved hearing our news! People have shared stories about people they know who are adopted or have been adopted, how they've always thought about or wanted to adopt, and how they are so excited for what's to come! We have been blessed with some donations this week that have raised our total and have been such a huge encouragement! While we still have a lot more to go, we are so overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and family so far! We are so thankful for each and every donation, small and big. We have been touched by each one. We even had a donation from a beautiful woman that we hadn't been in close contact with for years, who shared her story, her heart for God, and her call to be involved in missions and said she felt led to help us in any way she could during this time! It is such an encouragement to see people who are willing to sacrifice what they have to help. We know we couldn't complete this journey without the help of every one of you.
We will have our first home study visit by the social worker on Saturday and are anxious to see exactly what it will be like! We're excited with each thing that gets done that we are one step closer to holding our child in our arms! We will continue to raise funds. We've been told that we will need to provide "proof of funds" to one agency as soon as our home study is complete in order to continue on with the process. This means we need to show that we have about $17,000.00 in our bank account in a very short amount of time! Please be praying for these things.
Thank you, again, for all of your support! We will never be able to thank you enough for helping us to bring our child home!
This week has been a bit stressful because we almost thought we were going to have to re-do a lot of paperwork that was sent out! I was determined to get ALL of the paperwork that we had at the time in the mail by last Monday! It took about a week to track down necessary documents, get signatures, fingerprints, physicals, financial statements, and fill out all of the papers and send it off to 4 different places! I was finally ready for it to be on it's way! There was so much that we paid about $30 in postage! Some of that was extra because we wanted to be safe and send it using certified mail. On the following Tuesday, while emailing with our social worker who is doing our home study, she mentioned that if I wanted to I could get started on the paperwork she sent...WHAT? This package was just going to Lexington and she hadn't received it 8 days later? I was a little worried, but after tracking it online I found out that they attempted to deliver it once and couldn't, and that was all they were going to try until I requested it be redelivered. If I didn't, after 15 days they would send it back to me. Requesting a redelivery wasn't a big deal, it really wasn't hard, but I was sad that I didn't realize what had happened and that all of that determination to get the paperwork in early was in vain. We were thankful, thought, that package arrived the next day safe and sound as I had requested. Since there was trouble with that one, I decided to track the others as well. There was another package that had arrived in the city it was going to, and it said they would attempt to deliver on the day it arrived at the sorting place(6 days before I was reading it), but there was no confirmed delivery! We were worried about that one too, but the agency picked it up the next day! I am trying to be on top of things, but I'm finding out that I'm going to need to be patient with the process.
Beginning last weekend we began mailing and handing out letters to all of our family and friends. Our goal with these letters are to spread the word about what we're doing, and let others know about how they can support us through prayers and, if they choose, through donations. We've mailed and handed out a LOT of letters! We are excited to let everyone know about our adoption! I keep thinking that this is the equivalent of a couple announcing that they're pregnant! Although this time is MUCH different for us than if I was actually pregnant, we are still announcing that we are expecting a precious baby! What a blessing! While there have been some settings in which people are not supportive, or maybe just uninterested, for the most part people have loved hearing our news! People have shared stories about people they know who are adopted or have been adopted, how they've always thought about or wanted to adopt, and how they are so excited for what's to come! We have been blessed with some donations this week that have raised our total and have been such a huge encouragement! While we still have a lot more to go, we are so overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and family so far! We are so thankful for each and every donation, small and big. We have been touched by each one. We even had a donation from a beautiful woman that we hadn't been in close contact with for years, who shared her story, her heart for God, and her call to be involved in missions and said she felt led to help us in any way she could during this time! It is such an encouragement to see people who are willing to sacrifice what they have to help. We know we couldn't complete this journey without the help of every one of you.
We will have our first home study visit by the social worker on Saturday and are anxious to see exactly what it will be like! We're excited with each thing that gets done that we are one step closer to holding our child in our arms! We will continue to raise funds. We've been told that we will need to provide "proof of funds" to one agency as soon as our home study is complete in order to continue on with the process. This means we need to show that we have about $17,000.00 in our bank account in a very short amount of time! Please be praying for these things.
Thank you, again, for all of your support! We will never be able to thank you enough for helping us to bring our child home!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Our Journey Begins!
Hi friends and family! We are so glad you've decided to visit our blog!
We are excited to announce that we're going to be parents! No, Marie is not pregnant, but we have started the process to adopt a baby from here in the United States!
Many of you may not know that we began trying to start a family a little while ago. We found out in early December that, aside from a miracle, we will likely never conceive a child naturally. This has been incredibly hard to accept and understand. We have always wanted to be parents. Marie has often said that being a mom is what she meant to do...it's why she's here! Upon hearing this news, we spent a lot of time in prayer. More than anything we desire to follow God's plan for our lives and to dedicate ourselves to His will and purposes. We know that this reality, as hard and painful as it is, is for a reason. We feel that God is making it clear that now is the time for us to pursue adoption!
It has always been a goal of ours to adopt. Since before we were married our hearts have been broken for orphans around the world. We always planned on adopting children into our families. Just months after we were married, we began sponsoring Marcos, a little boy from Brazil, with monthly donations. Something as simple as this, and being able to communicate through letters and pictures with him has only burdened our hearts more for little ones around the world who need love, money, and support. We thought we would have one or two biological children first, and then begin looking into adopting a child into our home. God, however, is showing us that He has a different plan. Even though we are heartbroken in a way, we know that God's plan and timing is better than ours could ever be! Adoption has always been a goal of ours. Adopting a child is NOT our plan B, it has always been part of our plan A. God is just making clear His timing for us!
We are truly excited about this journey, but we can not complete it alone. We need all the support we can get from our friends and family!
One significant way you can help is to pray! Please pray for us as we follow this process and wait. Pray that God will give us wisdom in our choices, patience, understanding, and faith along each step of the way. Pray for the employees of the agencies we are working with as they are working to find the perfect homes and families for children who have none. And please pray for the birth mother of our child, who will make a courageous and difficult decision to offer her child up to be adopted.
We are excited to announce that we're going to be parents! No, Marie is not pregnant, but we have started the process to adopt a baby from here in the United States!
Many of you may not know that we began trying to start a family a little while ago. We found out in early December that, aside from a miracle, we will likely never conceive a child naturally. This has been incredibly hard to accept and understand. We have always wanted to be parents. Marie has often said that being a mom is what she meant to do...it's why she's here! Upon hearing this news, we spent a lot of time in prayer. More than anything we desire to follow God's plan for our lives and to dedicate ourselves to His will and purposes. We know that this reality, as hard and painful as it is, is for a reason. We feel that God is making it clear that now is the time for us to pursue adoption!
It has always been a goal of ours to adopt. Since before we were married our hearts have been broken for orphans around the world. We always planned on adopting children into our families. Just months after we were married, we began sponsoring Marcos, a little boy from Brazil, with monthly donations. Something as simple as this, and being able to communicate through letters and pictures with him has only burdened our hearts more for little ones around the world who need love, money, and support. We thought we would have one or two biological children first, and then begin looking into adopting a child into our home. God, however, is showing us that He has a different plan. Even though we are heartbroken in a way, we know that God's plan and timing is better than ours could ever be! Adoption has always been a goal of ours. Adopting a child is NOT our plan B, it has always been part of our plan A. God is just making clear His timing for us!
We are truly excited about this journey, but we can not complete it alone. We need all the support we can get from our friends and family!
One significant way you can help is to pray! Please pray for us as we follow this process and wait. Pray that God will give us wisdom in our choices, patience, understanding, and faith along each step of the way. Pray for the employees of the agencies we are working with as they are working to find the perfect homes and families for children who have none. And please pray for the birth mother of our child, who will make a courageous and difficult decision to offer her child up to be adopted.
Our greatest need right now is financial support, as our adoption could cost in excess of $23,000.00. Our adoption expenses include home study costs, document preparation, background checks/ fingerprinting, agency fees, attorney fees, court fees, and much more. We ask that you consider supporting us in this important mission. It is the calling on us as Christians to care for widows and orphans. Not everyone is called to bring an orphan into their home, but it is our job to do what we can to care for them. There are many ways to do this, but we ask that you prayerfully consider donating to our family so that we may bring our child home.
You can do this in several easy ways. You can write a check to Tyler and/or Marie King and mail it to our home address (please email or facebook us if you need our address!) You can also click on the link on the right side of this blog to our secure PayPal account if you wish to donate that way. You could also head up a fundraiser for us!
When you donate any amount we will place your name on the back side of a puzzle piece and will frame the puzzle for our baby’s room. (See a picture of the puzzle on the right!) The puzzle will be a keepsake for us and our child and show them how our friends and family helped us to bring them home!
God already has a baby in mind for us. We don’t know if it is a boy or a girl or what it will look like, we just know that they belong in our family. They are our child. And we need help to bring them home.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:18
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