Thank you so much to each of you who responded to our announcment with prayers and words of encouragement! We are so blessed with tremendous family and friends! Several of you requested to be kept updated on the adoption process, so we have decided to blog in order to keep our freinds and family in the loop and track God's miracles along the way. We will start from the beginning to fill you on on how the decision came about and then from there, will just post when there is something to share. Adoption is a long process so there will be times when we will update you often and times of waiting. We really appreciate all the wonderful emails and words of support from so many of you and we are really excited to share the journey with you, so, here it goes...

Monday, July 12, 2010

Deciding what to read...

I have been writing this blog for a couple reasons :
1. To keep family and friends updated on the adoption process.
2. To keep a journal to look back on for ourselves. 
3. To keep track of how God answers prayers over and over again!

You will find that my next post is a little long because I wanted a post to look back on and remember the time when we brought our son home.  There are so many little details that I do not want to forget (and many that I couldn't even add to the blog or I am sure I would have run out of space)! 

Feel free to read the whole post, but if you are just wanting a quick update on where we are with the adoption of Malachi, you can skip down to the last section titled "It's Official".

I hope you are blessed by what you read!  God is so faithful!

Home at last!

Introducing Malachi William Strunk:
 Malachi was born on June 20th at 3:20pm!  He weighed 6 lbs 14 oz and was 20 in long.

Our son is finally home! 

A LITTLE REVIEW
What an amazing journey this has been.  I am not even sure where to start.  As most of you know, we met Christina back in March.  We spent the past 4 months getting to know her and her family, attending doctors appointments, and preparing our home for a baby.  It was an exciting few months realizing that we might actually be parents soon.

We immediately fell in love with Christina and her whole family!  They are such gracious and loving people. 

We were all pretty sure Mr. Malachi was going to show up early, so we spent most of June anxiously awaiting his arrival.  Although we were super excited to meet him, we knew that the hospital time would be a roller coaster of emotions.  We never could have imagined how God would meet us there!

I think the thing I heard Christina say the most these past 4 months was that she was so excited for us to become the parents of Malachi! How could she feel that way when she was dealing with the grief of such a difficult decision? We could not fully understand except to know that Christina has found this amazing peace in Jesus Christ. He really did give her joy and peace beyond understanding!

 
THE CALL
We received the phone call from Christina on June 19th at 10:30pm.  We were busy sorting through a bunch of clothes that some dear friends of ours donated to us. Their son was also adopted and now that he was 5, they decided to pass his clothes on.  So our living room was piled high with clothes and Kurtis' phone rang.  When he answered the phone and I realized that he was talking to Christina my heart started to race. 

Was this it???  Were we about to become parents?  She told Kurtis that her water broke and that they were on their way to the hospital.  He hung up the phone and told me the news and I started jumping up and down!  We spent the next 45 minutes or so pacing back and forth in our house.  We were supposed to be packing for the days we would be at the hospital, but neither of us could think straight.  We were about to be parents!!!

THE ARRIVAL
We headed to Thunderbird hospital around 11:30pm.  The 45 minute drive seemed to drag on forever.  We got to the hospital and spent the next 15 hours or so with Christina in the delivery room.  We talked, laughed, and attempted to get some sleep (which happened very little).  I had the privilege of being in the room when Malachi was born at 3:20pm on the 20th (9 days early).  He was so precious (and a little funny looking) and it was surreal to think that I was looking at my son!

We stayed at the hospital with Christina and Malachi for the next 2 days.  I had been really nervous about this time.  How would we know how much to be involved? What would Christina think of us as parents?  What would Christina think of Malachi once he was actually here?   A time that I had imagined would be most awkward and difficult ended up being one of the most peaceful and beautiful times we have ever experienced!  It all happened so naturally.  We were all there because we loved little Malachi.  We took turns caring for him and passing him around.  We stayed up late talking about the amazing ways God had provided and what a beautiful little boy had entered the world (he looks just like Christina :)



PREPARATION FOR DEPARTURE
Tuesday (discharge day) came quickly and we spent the day at the hospital enjoying being together and preparing to go home.  The mood was joyful.  As discharge time neared, Christina's dad led us in a prayer dedicating this adoption to the Lord as we wept.  We all had the opportunity to thank God for how good his plans are and for the new family we were forming.  I had been saving up the tears all weekend and now there was no holding them back.  Christina said the most beautiful prayer for her son and for us as his parents.  Once again, we were in total amazement of how God works.  Not that we really should be surprised, but we just could not have imagined it being any more peaceful and right.


ENCOURAGING EXPECTANT PARENTS
Tuesday night was Christina's last child birthing class at the hospital.  We all decided it would be great for her to be able to bring Malachi to the class and encourage all those soon to be parents.  It was such a blessing to see her show him off to the class.  As she stood there surrounded by all the expectant parents, I thought about how much she was giving up.  She would not get the chance to have those everyday proud mama moments with Malachi. 

HEADING HOME
After stopping by the class, it was time to head home.  We placed Malachi in our car.  Christina sat with him, kissing his forehead and telling him how much she loved him.  After she said goodbye to Malachi, it was time for us to head home.  I think Christina and I hugged about 5 times before we actually left the hospital.  The gravity of what was taking place really started to set in.  This amazing woman of God was entrusting her child to us!  She believed that we would be the best parents for him.  We knew in that moment that we would have to fully depend on God to be the parents that Malachi needs us to be.

FAMILY
The bond that Christina and I share is indescribable.  At points along the adoption process I was worried about what a relationship with a birth mom would be like. From the outside it seemed intimidating and messy to meet up with a birth family a certain number of times each year.  But at this moment I knew the relationship we had developed was so much deeper than setting up how many times we would meet.  God had made us family over the past four months, but especially in that moment.  I am so thankful for Christina and her whole family and am excited that we will always be family with them!  Although open adoption was a scary concept when we first started out, we are now so excited that Malachi is going to know his birth family and know how much he is loved! 


We took the long trip home, which Malachi slept through, and thought a lot about the amazing gift we were bringing home.  We spent the rest of that evening sharing Malachi with our family.  Malachi made Kurtis' parents grandparents for the first time, and he is the first grandson for my parents.  As you can imagine, it was an exciting night!


IT'S OFFICIAL
We have spent the past three weeks learning about and enjoying Malachi William!  We received a call on Thursday, July 1st from our agency to let us know that both Christina and the birth father had signed consents for the adoption, so what was already true in our hearts became true on paper.  Malachi became an official part of our family.  The adoption should be fully finalized in about 6-9 months.

Thank you for all your encouragement and support along this journey!  We have so appreciated your prayers and know that God was always listening!  All along the way we knew the "peace that passes all understanding" as mentioned in Philippians 4:7.  We are so thankful! 

 Our hearts are overflowing!


Sunday, April 11, 2010

A Picnic in the Park


Let us introduce our new friend "C". Her name is Christina and we had the opportunity to meet up with her and her parents for a picnic in the park last Tuesday evening.  They were so sweet and made the long trek to meet us closer to our side of town so that we could make it there for dinner after I got off work.

It was so great to sit down with her and her family and learn more about their journey!  God has done some amazing things in their lives and their stories increased our faith and hope in what God is doing here!

We are really looking forward to the next couple months with Christina!  She is an amazing woman and is a blessing in our lives! Her baby boy is doing really well and Christina said that he is a very active little guy!  We are really looking forward to meeting him in a few months!

Christina has invited us to attend her doctors appointments so we will be attending one with her next month.  We are excited to hear his little heartbeat!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

It's a Match!

Kurtis got the call early yesterday morning that C picked us! (If you're really confused right now, you can check out our last post before reading on).

We are so excited that we may be parents to a little boy in a short few months! C is due June 29th.

She would like us to attend doctor's appointments with her and we are looking forward to the opportunity to get to know her and her family better! God is good and we know he has a good plan for C, this little baby, and for us.

Love,
Emily & Kurtis

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Just a meeting, or much, much more?

So exactly two weeks ago, on March 11th, we received the call we had been keeping our phones off of silent for :o) I was sitting in a meeting with my team at work when Kurtis called me. I didn't answer since I was in a meeting. My phone rang again and I started to wonder why he was calling. By the third phone call I knew something must be up, so I excused myself from the meeting and and answered the phone. The words I heard from Kurtis made my heart jump! "We just got a very interesting call from the agency...". He proceeded to tell me that a young expectant mother saw our profile and chose us to meet with her to discuss a possible adoption plan. He filled me in on the rest of the details in the next few minutes and I hung up the phone and walked back into my meeting (although I don't think I heard a thing that was said for the rest of it).

The last 20 minutes of my school day seemed to take forever! As soon as I said bye to my students, Kurtis and I hopped on a conference call with our agency to tell them that we would love to meet this woman (who I will refer to as "C" for now). We found out on the phone together that she is due on June 29th and is having a boy! I think Kurtis was especially excited about this news! We set up an appointment to meet with her in two weeks, which just so happens to be today.

After a long two weeks of questions and excitement, we took an hour drive this morning to meet with "C", her mother, and an agency representative. I was quite nervous to meet her! Kurtis seemed pretty chill about it (although I know he was at least a little nervous too!). As we got closer and closer to the meeting place my heart started beating faster and faster. What would she be like? What will she think of us?

We sat in the waiting room for awhile keeping ourselves busy with silly jokes and a little pamphlet reading. We were eventually invited back to meet "C". That walk through the office seemed to take forever! As we walked down the hall, I did my best to prepare myself to just be myself. It is so tempting to try to be who you think they will want you to be. I took these last few minutes to let that go and let God have control.

Although we were nervous as we entered the room, we felt a little more at ease just getting to meet her. She is a beautiful young lady with a very sweet smile and heart! We spent the next two hours with her and her mom, sharing life stories, answering questions about our hopes and dreams for our child, and hearing about hers. About half way through the nerves started to subside and we became more like family. (At least that is how I felt). It is amazing how you can have such love in your heart for someone when you have only known them for about an hour, but I can't describe it any other way! She has been through some really difficult times, but is amazingly courageous and has a very strong love for her child. Love so deep that she knows that making an adoption plan for him is the best thing she could do. In the past she has made some poor life decisions, but I really admire her determination to now run back to Jesus!

The two hours went by way too quickly and we soon had to say goodbye. The meeting ended with a very touching prayer from "C's" mom and lots of hugs. We stepped out of the room and were told that they will give her some time to pray and decide if we are the couple she wants to place her baby with. We should receive a call in a few days with the news. After such a bond was made, it is really strange to think that we may never see her again. One thing that Kurtis and I are confident about is that this was no accidental meeting. We will continue to pray for "C" for freedom and peace and for this precious baby she carries inside! We know that God is carrying her and this precious baby boy and we are so thankful for that!

We will update our blog when we hear from our agency. We would really appreciate your prayers for peace and patience during this time and prayers for wisdom, peace, and strength for "C". She has a tough road ahead of her no matter what decision she makes!

Love,

Emily & Kurtis

Sunday, January 31, 2010

In the book!

In our past couple updates we have told you that things were "on hold" as we wait for the courts to certify us to adopt. We were needing to wait because we needed to apply for grants and the grants that we found would not allow us to apply until our certification was complete. Well, since then, we have found some grants that accept applications before certification! We finished up our first couple grant applications and got the last one sent in yesterday.

This has also allowed us to move forward with presenting our profile to birthmom's who are looking to place their baby with a family. A while back we created a 4 page scrapbook about ourselves and our family and friends. The pages that we made were officially put in the "Matchbook" last Monday! The matchbook is a book of adoptive family profiles that is shown to birthparents at all the Crisis Pregnancy Centers in Arizona, and is also used at some hospitals. Our profile is out there, waiting to be chosen by the birthmom that God wants to unite us with!

Our agency places babies through two main routes; a preplanned match, and hospital calls. A birthparents working with our agency or with a Crisis Pregnancy Center will make a plan for their child and at about 7 months along in the pregnancy. They will be given the opportunity to choose and meet some potential adoptive parents for their child. If chosen, we would meet with the birthmom or birthparents together and both us and the birthparents would leave that meeting and decide if it was a "match". We would have a couple of months to get to know that birth family before the little one arrives.

There is also potential for a hospital call from our agency. This would mean that a baby had already been born and the birthmom chose to make an adoption plan and picked our profile from the matchbook. Depending on how many days old the baby is, we would head to the hospital and pick up the baby to bring him/her home. It is a little crazy to be "on call" for such a huge life changing event! We could be parents tonight or it could be 2 years from now!

We know that God's timing is perfect! When we asked in one of our first meetings about the normal "time frame", our caseworker reminded us that God has the child picked out for us, so their is no normal time frame. We have been holding tight to this truth, knowing that God knows the "when" and "who"!

We took a class with about 7 other couples who were all at about the same place in the adoption process. These classes were a prerequisite to adopting through our agency. The classes ended last spring (March or April) and 5 of the couples have babies in their home and one couple has a baby due in March if everything works out! We can't believe how quick it has been for all of them!

We really aren't sure how to prepare for something that has no exact time frame. I have prepared a weeks worth of copies at work and am working on wrapping some things up, just in case. Kurtis and I spent some time at Babies R Us the other night and started our registry. ;o) That was a pretty overwhelming, but fun time together! I cannot believe how much stuff there is for tiny babies!

We are really excited to share the experience with all of you when God brings a little one into our home! We continually request your prayers for wisdom, direction, and peace as we wait! We are so thankful for all he has provided so far! We also ask that you pray that God will provide for the birthmom and the little baby who may already be conceived!

Love,

Kurtis and Emily

Friday, January 22, 2010

Trusting, waiting, typing, thanking...

Carole, our adoption caseworker, tells us we should be certified through the court system within the next few weeks. Things have been backed-up because of National Adoption Day. As far as we're concerned that's a GREAT reason to wait a little longer :)

Adoption certification means we can start applying for grants!

We trust the Lord to provide for this adoption financially. He's already doing so! ...

We wanted to say "thank you" to my sister Kristina, whose love for her brother and sister-in-law, as well as her desire for a baby niece or nephew, drove her to start an online fundraiser as a birthday gift to Emily. She's the reason for that box on the left :) Thank you, Sis!

Thank you to everyone who has given! Kristina reports that people we don't even know personally have donated! WOW! ... I'm rarely speechless but I just spent 15 minutes trying to type out a thank you that came close ... Nothing came close!

Our hearts are full! Thank you!

So, to sum-up; 1) A whole bunch of children were adopted in November (Woot!!) 2) We should be certified for adoption soon so we can officially start filling out grant applications. 3) My sis rocks! and 4) We have the best friends, family, and friends of family in the world!

Can't wait to introduce our son or daughter to you!! :)

-Kurtis & Emily