In the spring of 2009 we began asking ourselves, "Who did God create us to be and who is He calling us to be?" After some time meditating on this and just stepping back from our lives for a little bit we both came to a realization that we felt God created our family to be redeemers. At the time we were unsure what all this meant, but were open to whatever God was doing in our lives and what He wanted for us. In May of 2009 both Coty and I felt strongly that part of being redeemers was for us to adopt an international child. We did not have a specific country or child in mind or even an idea of where to start the process, but knew that God was definitely leading us in this direction. As we personally began processing everything and continually feeling God opening doors for us, we started looking back throughout our lives and began identifying specific life experiences that had prepared us for this moment. Towards the end of May we began researching different adoption agencies and all that went into the process. We decided to go with Bethany Christian Services. We found out once we began filling out the paperwork that our youngest daughter, Rowen, needed to be 1 year old before we could officially begin. We spent the next 7 months praying and seeking God and through this time period He birthed a passion in us for our future child. During this time we strongly felt led to adopt a special needs hard of hearing or deaf child. While this seems like it came out of left field to a lot of people, for us it led us straight to the heart of God. This is what He meant when He called us and created us to be redeemers. We are to help redeem a child who has been passed over in orphanages, or is not the first on the list, to be adopted due to a hearing loss and/or other special needs.
So, where does that leave us today? We have officially completed our home study and have moved into the immigration process to adopt a child between the ages of 1-5 years old from the country of Ethiopia. Why Ethiopia? We didn't choose Ethiopia, Ethiopia chose us. We only qualified for 4 international countries due to our family size, income level, ages, etc. Out of the four countries three of them had barriers and obstacles with travel times or expenses that we were not able to overcome. God clearly directed us to Ethiopia. Our case workers from Bethany have told us the average time from this point in the adoption is 12-18 months. Due to the fact we are adopting a deaf child who is not an infant, we do not fall into average time frames. It could happen a lot faster or it could be a much slower process. Either way is ok for us. Keep in mind Rowen is only 1 and Riley is 2, and we have our hands full right now. We should have all of our immigration paperwork done and all of our other stateside requirements completed within the next month and hopefully have everything submitted to Ethiopia before the beginning of June.
Why the blog? We wanted to invite you to be on this journey with us. A journey that we hope will help lead you to the heart of God. God is continually revealing Himself to us in this process through people we have met, scripture we have encountered or the moments where He speaks into our chaos and reminds us who He created us to be. Check back throughout the next couple of weeks and months as we update you with what God is doing in our hearts and lives through this adoption and where we are in the journey. We would ask that you begin praying for us. Pray for our continued pursuit after the heart of God, for financial provision, for our future child, for Riley and Rowen as they will be making some major adjustments when our new child arrives and for our marriage. We know that whenever we step out in obedience, the enemy is waiting to fill our minds with lies and distract us from where God is leading us.
We are so excited and can't wait to keep you posted throughout this journey
So, where does that leave us today? We have officially completed our home study and have moved into the immigration process to adopt a child between the ages of 1-5 years old from the country of Ethiopia. Why Ethiopia? We didn't choose Ethiopia, Ethiopia chose us. We only qualified for 4 international countries due to our family size, income level, ages, etc. Out of the four countries three of them had barriers and obstacles with travel times or expenses that we were not able to overcome. God clearly directed us to Ethiopia. Our case workers from Bethany have told us the average time from this point in the adoption is 12-18 months. Due to the fact we are adopting a deaf child who is not an infant, we do not fall into average time frames. It could happen a lot faster or it could be a much slower process. Either way is ok for us. Keep in mind Rowen is only 1 and Riley is 2, and we have our hands full right now. We should have all of our immigration paperwork done and all of our other stateside requirements completed within the next month and hopefully have everything submitted to Ethiopia before the beginning of June.
Why the blog? We wanted to invite you to be on this journey with us. A journey that we hope will help lead you to the heart of God. God is continually revealing Himself to us in this process through people we have met, scripture we have encountered or the moments where He speaks into our chaos and reminds us who He created us to be. Check back throughout the next couple of weeks and months as we update you with what God is doing in our hearts and lives through this adoption and where we are in the journey. We would ask that you begin praying for us. Pray for our continued pursuit after the heart of God, for financial provision, for our future child, for Riley and Rowen as they will be making some major adjustments when our new child arrives and for our marriage. We know that whenever we step out in obedience, the enemy is waiting to fill our minds with lies and distract us from where God is leading us.
We are so excited and can't wait to keep you posted throughout this journey
April 7, 2010 at 6:02 AM
Hi Coty! What an exciting journey. I know one family who adopted twins from Ethiopia and another who is currently in their second year of the long long process to adopt their daughter from Ethiopia. If you'd be interested in talking to them, let me know and I'll put y'all in touch. Will definitely be following your journey and praying for you guys!
May 6, 2010 at 1:41 PM
Matt and I are so excited for you guys and amazed at what you are doing! We will be praying for the adoption process to go smoothly and quickly! We can't wait to meet the newest Melvin! :) Erin