Two years - That is how long ago we started on our adoption journey. It doesn't seem like it has been that long, but at the same time it seems like forever. We entered into the adoption world with high hopes and bigger dreams. We thought that the biggest obstacle was going to be coming up with the money to pay for the adoption. We were wrong.
I was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (O.I.), or brittle bone disease, and because of it I have had over 100 broken bones in my lifetime, most before the age of 13. My father and oldest sister also had the condition so, although it was definitely rough, it wasn't something that really held me back. I was raised to believe that I could achieve anything and that my bone condition was just something that made me all that much stronger. My doctors had thought I wouldn't walk, but my dad knew better and pushed, prodded, and encouraged me on my way.
I am able to walk, I do not break any more, I finished high school with high honors, graduated from college with a Bachelor of Science, and am working at Seattle Children's Hospital as a research project coordinator. I don't tell you any of this to "toot my own horn" as it were, but to show that my bone condition has not held me back from anything, except maybe from running those marathons everyone seems to be so fond of nowadays.
Imagine our surprise when we started to pursue an adoption from Ethiopia only to be told that we would most likely be denied based solely on my diagnosis of O.I. Ethiopia does not have the guidelines set in place that a country like China has, so not only would we most likely be rejected, but we would not find this out until we had traveled to Ethiopia, met the child, spent tens of thousands of dollars, and become quite attached to a little child we were planning on parenting.
We were heartbroken. We were confused. We didn't know what to do. Scott and I had talked of adopting a child from Africa since before we were married. My mother had been a missionary and teacher in Cameroon for two years and because of that I had always had a soft spot in my heart for the children in those countries.
We decided that we would look into adopting from other countries, but hit obstacles at every turn. Ok, God, we get it, adopting from another country is not in the cards for us right now. So, what is it, Lord? What are we supposed to be doing?
We started the domestic (or within the U.S.) adoption process with Bethany Christian Services, but were scared off by the large cost that came with that option. Then we heard about "Lila", a little girl who had been adopted from China the year before, but was being re-adopted as she had recently been diagnosed with dwarfism and was not bonding well with her parents. We immediately felt like this was the direction we were supposed to go. We pulled together everything we would need and sent it in within a week, including a heartfelt letter to her adoptive parents, pouring out our hearts to them to explain why we wanted the chance to be her parents. The last thing I needed to do was e-mail the adoption agency pictures of Scott and I to go with our application. In response to those pictures, I received the news that the adoptive parents had already picked a family to adopt "Lila", the very first family they interviewed.
Wow... this had seemed so right. This had seemed like the path. We were wrong again. What were we doing wrong? Were we not supposed to be parents at all? No, we know we are to be parents, we know that adoption is the right path for us. We just need to be patient, understand that all of this is for a reason, and know that once we are through this it will all be worth it.
That was about a year ago and, after some time taken to heal our hearts, we began to look into all of our options for a domestic adoption. That is where we came back to Bethany. It is a great organization that provides so many invaluable services, for us, for our future child, and for the birth parents.
Scott and I together have come to the conclusion that this is the path intended for us. The finances will be there if we just rely on God and trust in His provision. We've made it through the home study process already and are just waiting on the approval letter (which should take a little over a month). Then we will be applying for financial aid from several different Christian agencies that receive donations to give out to adopting families. The problem we are facing now is that we cannot apply for those grants/loans until the home study is approved, but once the home study is approved we will need to make our next payments to the agency. Complications!
We will be doing several fundraisers in the upcoming weeks and months, so please keep us in your prayers, we value those more than anything. Check out our YouCaring website for an awesome photo slideshow and a way to donate to our adoption online. https://www.youcaring.com/LovingForKeeps
Thank you for all of your encouragement! Follow our blog so you are sure to get updates as we have them!
Love,
Scott and Tristen
No comments:
Post a Comment