Why we are Adopting

Our big announcment!!!

We are so excited to announce that we are adopting our first child. We are knee deep in the process and are learning so much about adoption and about ourselves. We have about three weeks to go until we get the final approval from our case worker and then we can start looking for little baby Cooper.

Let me give you a little run down on the home study process and then the "looking" part. The home study is a 6-8 week process done through a licesened social worker that will make the determination whether you are a good canidate for adoption. You are required to turn in a mountain of paper work, background checks, physical forms, and $1000 plus after placement visit fees. It sounds like a lot, well you are right. There are at least three to four interviews with the social worker where she digs into every area of your life to see how you were raised and how you might raise a child. She will obtain your finacial records (with your permission of course) , come and look at your house and from all that will make a determination that will allow you to adopt or not. NOW... most people are approved. It is a rare circumstance that you would not get approved but it is not to say that it doesn't happen.

So we have had three interviews and have our fourth scheduled fo 2/25/08, for the case worker to come and look at our house and then interview us as a couple for at least two hours on every topic you can think of plus a few. After that it will take her a week to get our paperwork typed up and we'll move on to the "looking" phase.

The looking phase, that sounds like you are wanting to buy a house or a car. Well that is not far off of how you find your baby. You can sign with an agency , lawyer, or facilitator that actuall searches listings of babies to find you the perfect match. We have signed with a facilitator from Christian Adoption Consultants(christianadoptionconsultants.com) Her name is Tracie Loux and she is here in Kansas City. She adopted her fourth child last year and had such a wonderful experience and was so moved by adoption that she made it her job. She is also an intercessor at the International House of Prayer in KC with us that knows our life and our heart. SO... she is our advocate, our broker, our sanity line. She has a page of preferences from us (not many) and she looks based on that preference sheet. There are so many babies, hundreds that come across her screen everyday. How do you choose? That is our question. How can we look at all these little gifts from God and say "not that one, nope not that one, OH! this one". It seems so crazy to me. My heart aches at the thought of having to choose. Tracie says that we will just know. I am praying for our little one daily and that we will know.

One thing I do know is this the best thing that we have ever set out to do. It is in our hearts not just because of compassoin, but out of conviction. As we pray for America and the ending of abortion, how as believers can we not open our hearts and home for the unwanted that we are praying to save. It is our love for God that creates love for others. We in ourselves cannot love... we are wicked. BUT.. Through Christ we have love and can love. So we choose to love. What about you?