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World Adoption Day and Updates

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  Today, November 9th, is world adoption day. It is a day marked with incredible happiness for some and indescribable grief for others. Our adoption journey thus far has been filled with highs and lows. Highs of incredible God lead stories and lows of fatigue/burn out. For our family, adoption has always been prayed about. We have talked about it since we first started dating (13 years ago today) and asked God to reveal his timing to us. We have been a "waiting family" with our adoption agency now for 2 months. We are not in a rush and fully trust and know with peace that this is all in God's perfect timing. We know that this child is already perfectly planned for our family. There have been so many amazing stories, connections, and friendships made thus far through our journey. We have learned so much about adoption and are always happy to share our knowledge with others. We are also not blind to the challenges of adoption. Our burn out and fatigue with paperwork and fun...

We are Officially A Waiting Family

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    “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey. You’ll never know dear how much I love you, please don’t take my sunshine away.” WE ARE OFFICIALLY A WAITING FAMILY! We know that God’s timing is perfect and that we will trust in his plan for this sweet baby! Our family, community, and friends are all praying and rallying for this baby and for his/her sweet birth momma. We pray they all know how deeply they are loved.   What does it mean to be a waiting family? The average wait time with our agency is 7 to 9 months. It could be shorter or longer than this and THAT IS OK! We are leaning on God’s perfect timing for this! There are many circumstances/situations that could lead to us being matched. Here are a few examples. An expectant mom working directly with our agency (Christian Adoption Services) could choose our family from our profile book (similar to a shutterfly book) or she could find our profile on their website. She c...

Home Study Bound and Fundraising Update

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                               It is has been several weeks since our last blog update…and it certainly has been a RELENTLESS few weeks of positive updates, fundraising, and God driven blessings we are thrilled to share with all of you! First and foremost we would like thank everyone for your continued prayers and check-ins over the last several weeks. They mean the world to us and keep us motivated in our journey. Here is what we have been busy with: On April 27 th , we participated in a virtual informational meeting, the first formal step in the process with Christian Adoption Services (CAS). This was a much anticipated step in our adoption journey and we were thrilled to be a part of it! We reached out to CAS in October of last year when they notified us that it would several months before their next informational meeting. CAS only accepts a few families at a time into the process to streamline t...

Update: Starting the adoption process and Fundraising Goals!

  Happy News! We were just notified that on April 27 th we will have our opportunity to begin the process with Christian Adoption Services! We will participate in a much anticipated virtual information session followed by submitting our formal application to partner with Christian Adoption Services for our adoption journey. This is a really exciting next step in our adoption journey and we are so excited to share this news with you! We created this blog with the intention of keeping our village informed and to educate others about the adoption process and advocate for RELENTLESS and unconditional love through adoption. If you have been following the blog, you know our goal is transparency. We want to advocate for this process. We want to motivate others who may be thinking about adoption, educate those who may not know anything about the adoption process, and provide a way for others to help along the way! In our previous updates, we have briefly discussed a very tangible as...

Amanda's WHY

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       It is hard to put into words and summarize the reason WHY I am called to adopt because there are so many facets to my story that have led me to this specific point in time. To be honest, for the first time in my life I can truly see how God has perfected his puzzle pieces and put them together to create my journey. The puzzle pieces may have been twisted, turned around, broken, and remade- but I would not give any of them back. The closing of doors and NOs that I have received sometimes speak louder, but have been all been a part of God’s plan for me. I have always been extremely driven to pursue my passion. For me, this began with my passion for the medical field. I began as a biology major at Florida State University, young, naïve, and steadfast in my journey to become the next Meredith Grey (from Grey’s Anatomy). However, this did not happen without a struggle. I became sick with mono in high school and it caused some significant immune dysfunction and I ...

Rob's WHY

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  My calling to adopt is rooted in my faith in Jesus Christ and the seemingly impossible task of living my life in his image. I accepted Christ into my life much later into my early adulthood when my childhood dreams of serving in the United States Military were shattered. I was broken and alone during that time or at least it certainly felt that way. At the age of 18, it became evident that God had very different plans for me. I contemplated my purpose and my calling in life. As the years progressed and opportunities continued to present themselves in suspiciously perfect ways, it became clear to me that divine intervention was present. You see, the door to my dream to serve in the military closed, but another door opened at Florida State University. I applied for a highly competitive service/leadership scholarship after being accepted to FSU. I was awarded the scholarship based on my achievements in high school and asked to participate in a leadership seminar before school starte...

The Adoption Process

  The Adoption Process:   We are currently on a waiting list to begin the process with Christian Adoption Services. We are excited about this agency! Their mission statement: BUILD GOD’S KINGDOM BY CONNECTING VULNERABLE CHILDREN WITH CHRISTIAN FAMILIES. We have had very candid conversations with their director and some of their staff. We want to make sure that we are using an agency that supports birth mothers/parents in their time of crisis. Unfailing and unconditional LOVE needs to be given to these mothers during and after the adoption process! Transparency throughout this process is our goal. If you have any questions about the process, please reach out to us! We are expecting this journey to take about 12 to 18 months, but is also somewhat unpredictable. We hope to engage and educate others about the adoption journey through our process!   Here is what our process looks like: We are currently waiting for the domestic adoption program to open up. We ar...