I almost titled this post, "All Aboard the Crazy Train"! I'll address the elephant in the room first. Yes, we know we are crazy. How can we even think about starting the adoption process again after the 18 months we just lived? We have a child that requires daily medical care and has had 3 major surgeries and several minor surgeries in the past year. How can we afford another international adoption? Will we ever have a date night again? Will our lives ever slow down? Will we ever sleep again? These are all the questions we began asking the Lord as we felt Him calling us to adopt again last spring.
How can we care for another child with special needs? And finally, our response was, "How could we not?"
The thought of starting the whole paperwork process again was sickening. It's so much work and so emotional, but we know there is another child in China that belongs to us, so the work is worth every second. We started our home study in June (2016).
Now I have to back up and fill in a part of our story that very few people know. In April of this year, David received a phone call from someone he had been helping for some time. This 20-year-old boy, "T," and his dad had been receiving groceries when needed from David. One night as we were putting the little boys to bed, T left David a voicemail saying his dad had kicked him out of the house and he and his girlfriend didn't know where to go. By the time David could call him back (he called from a store), he was no longer there. That night was especially cold.
The next morning while we were at church, T called David again and told him he and his girlfriend had slept outside overnight. David left church and picked them up, brought them home, and they had lunch with us. I remember watching them eat like they had never had a meal. They had nothing but the clothes on their backs. It was very humbling and made me realize how much I take for granted. David and I went through our closets and found clothes and shoes for them and let them stay in our home for a few weeks. We soon learned that "A" was pregnant and that T had a four-year-old son. We could not put them back on the streets without getting them back on their feet.
David spent five months pouring himself into T. He hired him to work for his lawn care business. T is a great worker...when he showed up to work. I watched David treat him as a son. I watched him disappoint David over and over and yet, David did not give up on him. He found a duplex for them, set up a budget for him, loved on him, and told him how much God loved him too.
After five months of our time with T and A, we had to put a hold on our adoption because our resources were being put towards them. However, we felt defeated because they just weren't getting it and we had to show them some tough love. We stopped handing out money and David only paid him when he showed up for work. I would read the texts he would send David, and it was heartbreaking, but David stood his ground. T and A ended up getting evicted and were back on the streets.
This was the wake-up call T needed. He was more motivated to show up for work every time work was available. He found an Extended Stay in which to live. He also began looking for other jobs since the lawn care service slows down in winter.
I am thrilled to say that as of December 14, T has a full-time job! We were sent a "First Day of my New Job" picture that made us beam like proud parents! Please continue to pray for this family. A's first pregnancy ended in miscarriage, but she is pregnant again. We are still trying to figure out how to help with T's son too. Most of all, we want to see this family come to know Jesus and the love He has for them.
In the fall, when we decided to show the tough love, we were able to pick back up on our adoption. We finished up our home study and made our first payment. Now we are working on our dossier. We have requested our birth and marriage certificates, had our physicals, completed police reports (good news...we are still not criminals) and have been fingerprinted (and I still do not have fingerprints).
We are adopting a daughter with special needs that will most likely be younger than Aiden and Asa. We will probably be matched with a child by our agency this time. We were able to choose Aiden from our adoption portal because he was Special Focus (children harder to place because of more severe needs). We are excited, scared, nervous, crazy, etc. I laugh when I remember telling God I wanted to be finished having children by the time I was 30 so that my children could have young parents like I did. When will I learn??
For now, we are trusting God. He has been so faithful to us and met every need we have. He has called us to this again, and we are thrilled to welcome another child into our family! Stay tuned...
How can we care for another child with special needs? And finally, our response was, "How could we not?"
The thought of starting the whole paperwork process again was sickening. It's so much work and so emotional, but we know there is another child in China that belongs to us, so the work is worth every second. We started our home study in June (2016).
Now I have to back up and fill in a part of our story that very few people know. In April of this year, David received a phone call from someone he had been helping for some time. This 20-year-old boy, "T," and his dad had been receiving groceries when needed from David. One night as we were putting the little boys to bed, T left David a voicemail saying his dad had kicked him out of the house and he and his girlfriend didn't know where to go. By the time David could call him back (he called from a store), he was no longer there. That night was especially cold.
The next morning while we were at church, T called David again and told him he and his girlfriend had slept outside overnight. David left church and picked them up, brought them home, and they had lunch with us. I remember watching them eat like they had never had a meal. They had nothing but the clothes on their backs. It was very humbling and made me realize how much I take for granted. David and I went through our closets and found clothes and shoes for them and let them stay in our home for a few weeks. We soon learned that "A" was pregnant and that T had a four-year-old son. We could not put them back on the streets without getting them back on their feet.
David spent five months pouring himself into T. He hired him to work for his lawn care business. T is a great worker...when he showed up to work. I watched David treat him as a son. I watched him disappoint David over and over and yet, David did not give up on him. He found a duplex for them, set up a budget for him, loved on him, and told him how much God loved him too.
After five months of our time with T and A, we had to put a hold on our adoption because our resources were being put towards them. However, we felt defeated because they just weren't getting it and we had to show them some tough love. We stopped handing out money and David only paid him when he showed up for work. I would read the texts he would send David, and it was heartbreaking, but David stood his ground. T and A ended up getting evicted and were back on the streets.
This was the wake-up call T needed. He was more motivated to show up for work every time work was available. He found an Extended Stay in which to live. He also began looking for other jobs since the lawn care service slows down in winter.
I am thrilled to say that as of December 14, T has a full-time job! We were sent a "First Day of my New Job" picture that made us beam like proud parents! Please continue to pray for this family. A's first pregnancy ended in miscarriage, but she is pregnant again. We are still trying to figure out how to help with T's son too. Most of all, we want to see this family come to know Jesus and the love He has for them.
In the fall, when we decided to show the tough love, we were able to pick back up on our adoption. We finished up our home study and made our first payment. Now we are working on our dossier. We have requested our birth and marriage certificates, had our physicals, completed police reports (good news...we are still not criminals) and have been fingerprinted (and I still do not have fingerprints).
We are adopting a daughter with special needs that will most likely be younger than Aiden and Asa. We will probably be matched with a child by our agency this time. We were able to choose Aiden from our adoption portal because he was Special Focus (children harder to place because of more severe needs). We are excited, scared, nervous, crazy, etc. I laugh when I remember telling God I wanted to be finished having children by the time I was 30 so that my children could have young parents like I did. When will I learn??
For now, we are trusting God. He has been so faithful to us and met every need we have. He has called us to this again, and we are thrilled to welcome another child into our family! Stay tuned...