A whole month?!

I cannot believe that it has been over a month since we last updated our blog! How time flies! I don't have a lot of time to write tonight, but wanted to give you all a quick update on how things are going with the adoption.

Last week we finished our last of seven adoption classes. They were amazing and we learned so much about the heart behind adoption and how to raise a child who is adopted. We went to class in downtown Phoenix every Tuesday night and would leave after 2 1/2 hours inspired, excited, and exhausted!

After a few meetings with our caseworker, we were presented to the agency board for acceptance into their adoption program. From what our caseworker told us, there should be no reason for us not to make it into the program.

We have one more meeting with our caseworker, where she actually comes to our home for more interviews and to make sure our home is safe for a child. Kurtis and his parents have been working very hard to prepare our house for a baby. I would go to work on Mondays and come home at the end of the day to a different house. I am so thankful for all the work they did! They moved our office to a different room and we are still working on preparing the room that we would like to use for the nursery.

Overall things are going really well with Hayley. We keep in contact weekly and we are really enjoying getting to know her as a friend. We got to meet her 6 year old daughter last week and that was a huge blessing. Her daughter is a little "mini me" of her mom and is so much fun! I am hoping to spend some time with them in my free time this summer.

Although September seems pretty far away, I know that it will be here before we know it (especially with how crazy our summers always are)! We would really appreciate your prayers as we continue to work out the details of the adoption and the financial side of it all. We trust that God has it in His hands and love watching Him unwrap his plan for us moment by moment!

We are so thankful for the prayers, encouraging words, and support we receive from our friends and family and we feel so blessed to have people in our lives to share this journey with! We will do our best to keep you updated over these 3 1/2 months.

Our hearts...

As we have been announcing events we realize we have the "luxury" of thinking through the adoption process every day :) and many of our friends and family get left behind on the journey. We know that there are many concerns about this process and so we wanted to take a moment to process with you.

As we have mentioned, we are not adopting for the sole purpose of "getting a baby". We are convinced of God's calling upon our lives to the journey of adoption. For now, that journey is just as much about the friendship we've found with Hayley as it is about the baby she carries.

Hayley is a remarkably selfless girl! She cares deeply for people! Hayley cares so deeply for this baby girl that she wants to make sure she is raised in the most loving environment possible. Hayley cares so deeply for us that she wants to give us a gift nobody else could!

We feel blessed that Hayley has been so open with us and is allowing us to walk this road with her! It was amazing to be present at the ultrasound and see this miraculous little life that is only 11 oz but already has quite the story!

The decision to place her child in our care is still Hayley's to make (and the decision will remain hers until papers are signed 3-10 days after the baby is born). But what we know about Hayley is that she wants what is best for this child more than we do! That is seriously comforting!

So, what it comes down to for us is that Hayley is a very significant new friend - whether she chooses ultimately to place her baby in our home. We love Hayley either way and so, for right now, this is about a new friendship, following God's lead, and trusting that all things will work together for the good of us all!

Heartache is inevitable in this process, (especially for Hayley), but we trust that God will provide for every need. Some day we will be the right parents for a precious child. We do hope this little girl is the one. We are especially thankful for the opportunity we have been given to know Hayley, and we choose with her, to trust the One who holds the future.

Big Day!

We went to the ultrasound with Hayley today and IT'S A GIRL!

The baby is due September 14. There is still a lot that needs to happen in the process but we continue to see the Lord's leading and trust this is all for Him either way!

Kurt & M

What a Week!

After more than a month with not much to update, the past 9 days have been very eventful! On Saturday, March 28 we drove over to Phoenix to drop off our paperwork at our agency! Pretty much our whole lives condensed down to 52 pages! Our agency isn't open on Saturdays, but I was so anxious to get it out of my hands and turn in. I brought along my tripod and camera for the event :o) We dropped our paperwork in the mail slot and spent a few minutes reflecting on this step completed. We spent some time praying together, thanking God for this amazing process and asking for direction as we take the next steps. To explain why this prayer was especially on our hearts, we will have to back up a few days...

On Wednesday last week, I was on my way to pick up students for church when I got a call from our friend, Jina. I answered, and the first words I heard out of her mouth were "I found a baby for you!!!" She kept explaining, but I think it took me a few minutes to catch all that was happening.

In short, Jina knows a “friend of a friend” who is pregnant and planning on putting her child up for adoption. She told this woman about us, and she decided that she was interested in meeting with us. Just a couple days later we went to lunch with Hayley and we were just amazed by how God orchestrated the meeting.

For the sake of your time we’ll just say that Hayley asked us to be the adoptive parents for her child. Wow! We feel so blessed that a person would consider us to raise their child! Whether we end up adopting her baby or not, we feel blessed to know Hayley! She is a beautiful person who has been through a lot in her life, but is making every effort to do the right things for this new baby. We pray for Hayley, that she will find healing in her life and truly know how much God loves her! She is one of the most selfless people we have ever met.

We are praying that the best thing will happen for Hayley and this baby growing inside her. We do not know if it is best for the child to stay with her, be raised by us, or by someone else. We know that God will make that more clear as the months go on. The baby is due in September, so we have time to figure it all out. Right now we have decided to pursue the possible adoption of this child. We really appreciate your prayers as we go through the process! We will keep you updated.

-M

Paperwork, Paperwork, Paperwork

I am taking a quick break from adoption paperwork to give you an update on the paperwork... 29 pages of paperwork to be exact! Kurtis and I have set aside Tuesday nights so that we can get through it. Last night Kurtis stayed up till about 2 a.m. working on his portion and I think he is almost done. Since I am home sick today, I decided I better try to get caught up.

As crazy as it sounds, we are actually thankful for all this paperwork! As we were answering questions last night like, "Please describe your current support system – family, friends, church members, etc." and "What morals/values do you hope to instill in your child?" I was thinking about what a blessing it is to be evaluating these things before we have a child. I am not sure that we would have spent much time thinking about these things otherwise.

We are also very thankful for the support system we have around us! (That's you, just in case you didn't know!) You all have been so encouraging to us! Thank you for your support and love. We are so richly blessed!

~Emily

One thing close to our hearts in this whole adoption process is the high rate of abortions around the world. We feel that one thing we can do is be willing to take in a baby that might otherwise be aborted. We picked our adoption agency with that in mind. We have decided to work with Christian Family Care Agency for our adoption. One of the main reasons we picked them is because the Crisis Pregnancy Center refers to them. We really appreciate the work that both of these organizations do!

Today we had our first meeting with our adoption agent! It was a little overwhelming because there was so much info to take in, but at the same time, it was amazing to feel like the process is really starting! We will meet with our agent, Carol, about 4 times over the next couple months. During that time we will have lots of paperwork, a home study, and adoption classes to complete. We are hoping to be certified to adopt by this summer. At that point the waiting game begins. We will write a letter to prospective birth parents and then they look through a book of these letters and pick the family they want to place thier baby with. Carol reminded us today that God already has the child picked out for us and His timing will be perfect.

We would appreciate prayers for protection for our child no matter what it is exposed to in the womb. We are also in prayer for the birth family as we are beginning to understand what a selfless thing it is to give a child up for adoption.

It was a normal Sunday afternoon in early November 2008. Kurtis and I were laying around relaxing and reading. I take that back, maybe it wasn't such a normal Sunday afternoon... :O)

Kurtis looked over at me while I was flipping through the pages of my REAL SIMPLE magazine and he said "So, I have been thinking about adoption lately". It took a minute for those words to process in my mind. I had to go back over them a few times... Were those words actually coming out of my husband's mouth? Adoption had never really been a topic of conversation for us.

Kurtis has never felt super excited about bringing a child into this world, and me having some medical issues had made the probability of having children of our own a little less likely. We had decided together a while ago that if God wanted us to have children, it would happen, and if not that would be alright. We were satisfied with the life God had given us and children would just be an extra blessing some day.

When Kurtis brought up adoption that day, I felt the tears immediately welling up in my eyes. What Kurtis didn't know was that for about 2 weeks I had been thinking about how I would like to adopt, but had not brought it up to Kurtis. Turns out, he had been thinking about it also for a couple weeks, but was hoping that I might bring it up if it was the right thing. We sat there and cried and thanked God for this journey He was taking us on. We spent the next few hours discussing our hopes, dreams, and fears about adoption.

I don't remember the events of the rest of the evening, but I do remember leaving that afternoon so excited to begin this adventure that God had born in our hearts...

-Emily