(warning- this is about a million times longer than most of my posts, and there are no pictures...yep, this is true...I actually didn't include way too many pictures in a blog post for once)
We're anticipating that in less than a week we'll have a new daughter. Last month we received a
call from our lawyer that we needed to come down and sign paperwork, and
were then informed that we'll soon stand before the
judge to adopt our sweet little girl into our family. We're so excited
that things will be official, and so excited to have her as our child.
Our adoption story starts so long ago. I remember watching some nighttime news show as a child that was highlighting orphanages in Russia. I can remember crying over the horrible situation the children were in...with no one to hold them or stroke their face or pat dry their tears. I told my parents that I would adopt when I grew up, and I knew then that what I said was true.
When my husband and I got married we began to talk about adopting. We knew that we'd like to try to have biological children but that adoption would need to fit into the plan. After six years of marriage we had our first adorable baby and just a few months after she was born I found out I was pregnant with our son.
I'm not sure what made us say "now" was the time to begin the adoption process. Our little kids were a lot of work back then. We were sleeping very little and were always short on time. But God was prompting us to look into adoption. We found an agency that a few friends had recommended (Christian Family Care) and we set up an appointment to discuss infant adoption. It was a good meeting, but we left feeling unsure. We were praying quite a bit over the next few weeks and we both started asking "what about the kids in foster care?" This was something that we had never considered before. Our hearts had always broken over the thought of older children without loving and stable homes, but we were scared of the work involved and the disruption that it would bring to our already crazy home. But God is bigger than our fears, and provides the strength we lack. Our hearts were changed and we began the path to "fost-adopt" an older child.
The next phase in our adoption was quick. It was obvious that God had sovereignly chosen the time to begin the process. In less than one year from when we began our journey our little girl could be adopted into our family. We began our 10-week fost-adopt classes in October, we found out about our little girl's situation in November, we met her at the end of December, she moved in at the beginning of February, and our adoption should be complete in July.
It's been so wonderful to welcome her into our home. Going shopping for her room, helping her with homework, tucking her in at night have been mundane, but incredible things for her now. I love that my girls play together all day and that our new daughter loves to read books to our two year old at night. I love the way our one year old screams her name when she walks in the room. It's incredible to see a family come together.
The transition has not been easy, even with all the great joys. In fact it's been incredibly challenging, heart-aching, and stretching. It's been physically, emotionally, spiritually draining. But we're forever reminded of the lengths God went through to adopt us when He sent Jesus to live, die, and rise again on our behalf, because of our sin. On the tough days it's even more apparent of how desperately we need a savior. I'm so grateful for these lessons, even though it means that we had to go through the heartache.
Thank you all for your love and support and for helping to welcome our daughter into our lives. And if you're wondering, she'll be getting a new name. She asked if she could not only receive a new last name but if she could change her middle name to the middle names from both her moms. On the night we signed the adoption paperwork she prayed, "Dear God, thank you for giving me a new name." I cried.
Our adoption story starts so long ago. I remember watching some nighttime news show as a child that was highlighting orphanages in Russia. I can remember crying over the horrible situation the children were in...with no one to hold them or stroke their face or pat dry their tears. I told my parents that I would adopt when I grew up, and I knew then that what I said was true.
When my husband and I got married we began to talk about adopting. We knew that we'd like to try to have biological children but that adoption would need to fit into the plan. After six years of marriage we had our first adorable baby and just a few months after she was born I found out I was pregnant with our son.
I'm not sure what made us say "now" was the time to begin the adoption process. Our little kids were a lot of work back then. We were sleeping very little and were always short on time. But God was prompting us to look into adoption. We found an agency that a few friends had recommended (Christian Family Care) and we set up an appointment to discuss infant adoption. It was a good meeting, but we left feeling unsure. We were praying quite a bit over the next few weeks and we both started asking "what about the kids in foster care?" This was something that we had never considered before. Our hearts had always broken over the thought of older children without loving and stable homes, but we were scared of the work involved and the disruption that it would bring to our already crazy home. But God is bigger than our fears, and provides the strength we lack. Our hearts were changed and we began the path to "fost-adopt" an older child.
The next phase in our adoption was quick. It was obvious that God had sovereignly chosen the time to begin the process. In less than one year from when we began our journey our little girl could be adopted into our family. We began our 10-week fost-adopt classes in October, we found out about our little girl's situation in November, we met her at the end of December, she moved in at the beginning of February, and our adoption should be complete in July.
It's been so wonderful to welcome her into our home. Going shopping for her room, helping her with homework, tucking her in at night have been mundane, but incredible things for her now. I love that my girls play together all day and that our new daughter loves to read books to our two year old at night. I love the way our one year old screams her name when she walks in the room. It's incredible to see a family come together.
The transition has not been easy, even with all the great joys. In fact it's been incredibly challenging, heart-aching, and stretching. It's been physically, emotionally, spiritually draining. But we're forever reminded of the lengths God went through to adopt us when He sent Jesus to live, die, and rise again on our behalf, because of our sin. On the tough days it's even more apparent of how desperately we need a savior. I'm so grateful for these lessons, even though it means that we had to go through the heartache.
Thank you all for your love and support and for helping to welcome our daughter into our lives. And if you're wondering, she'll be getting a new name. She asked if she could not only receive a new last name but if she could change her middle name to the middle names from both her moms. On the night we signed the adoption paperwork she prayed, "Dear God, thank you for giving me a new name." I cried.
This is so wonderful Yvette. I'm blessed to read your story and watch God orchestrate things together for your good. Beautiful!
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