Baby Mine

Just popping in real quick to share some exciting news!

IT'S A BOY!!!!

Our third baby boy arrived on May 7 after a beautiful labor and home birth. He weighed 9lbs 2oz and was 22 1/2 inches long. We are loving him to pieces and settling into a routine. Hopefully I will get a chance soon to write more details on his birth.

A Life Is A Life: Ectopic Ethics

I recently found out that an acquaintance of mine who was due two weeks before I am lost her baby. She was seven months along. Seven months. The news of her loss hit close to home. Miscarriages and stillbirths have really gotten to me during this third pregnancy, even more so than with my first two. With my first two, I breathed a sigh of relief once we were passed 27 weeks. Premature babies born at that stage have about a 90% chance of survival. The likelihood of losing my baby was very small by that point and it gave me some peace of mind. But this pregnancy is different. This time around, at nearly every stage of my pregnancy, a friend or an acquaintance that was due about when I am has miscarried or delivered a stillborn baby. It seems that at every turn there is another reminder that there is no guarantee my baby will survive long enough for me to hold. That’s a sobering thought, and a difficult one for this third trimester mama to handle.

The news of K’s loss was upsetting for another reason, too. It was not discovered until after she passed out and was taken to the hospital that K’s baby had developed outside of the uterus. He had survived this way for seven months, but by the time they got to the hospital it was too late to save him. Had they known sooner that K’s baby was ectopic, they almost certainly would have been able to safely deliver him prematurely via C-section. And yet, if they had known sooner, nearly everyone would have recommended an early abortion, because most people believe it is impossible for an ectopic baby to survive long enough to deliver safely. How many more ectopic babies could safely reach this stage of pregnancy and be delivered healthy if we were not so quick to accept common medical claims?

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            Early last year my husband and I were asked our views on ectopic pregnancies and whether or not an abortion would be acceptable in such a case. Neither of us knew much about ectopic pregnancies at the time, so our answer was based on what we did know – that life is a gift from God and that abortion is murder regardless of the motives and circumstances surrounding the act. The angry reactions to our stance were astonishing and prompted many hours of research on the topic.

            In a normal pregnancy the fertilized egg travels through the fallopian tube into the uterus and implants in the uterus wall. In an ectopic pregnancy the baby implants somewhere other than inside the uterus, such as the outside wall of the uterus, elsewhere in the abdominal cavity, or in the fallopian tube itself (referred to as a “tubal pregnancy”). Because this is not how a normal pregnancy is designed to develop, an ectopic pregnancy will often quickly and naturally end in a miscarriage. Sometimes the baby will continue to grow where it is implanted. This poses a potentially life-threatening risk to the mother as it can cause hemorrhaging and the mother can bleed to death.

            What most medical professionals will tell you is that a baby may possibly (though rarely) survive certain types of ectopic pregnancies, but that a tubal pregnancy means certain death to the child and almost certain death to the mother if it is allowed to progress. The fallopian tube is not designed to stretch as the child grows and is not conducive to sustaining life for nine months. Most of the time, when a tubal pregnancy is left to itself, the growing baby will burst the tube. Usually the baby, left unattached to a life-source, will die and the mother is at risk for severe internal bleeding.

Except, most medical professionals (usually due to their own ignorance) will not tell you that this is what “usually” happens. They will tell you that this is what always happens. That a baby cannot survive a tubal pregnancy. Ever. They will also tell you that the mother will probably bleed to death if the pregnancy progresses far enough to burst the fallopian tube. Because the baby will “certainly” die and the mother could "very likely" die, most medical professionals will recommend an immediate abortion. There is no sense in risking the life of the mother when the child is doomed to die anyway. Or, so the reasoning goes.

            The “pro-life group” is divided on this issue. There are those who 100% believe that it is never morally ethical to purposefully end the life of a baby. Then there are those who believe that in most cases it is wrong to end a baby’s life, but that certain situations do necessitate an abortion. During our research I posed the question to a number of my Christian friends and mentors: In an ectopic tubal pregnancy, is it morally ethical to end the life of the child in order to save the life of the mother? I had asked expecting to receive affirmation of my beliefs and perhaps help with more persuasive ways of wording what I already knew to be true. I was shocked by the responses I received. The majority of the Christians my husband and I contacted replied that abortion is usually wrong. But in the case of a tubal pregnancy, a circumstance in which they believe one innocent life (the mother) will die if you do not terminate the life of another (the baby), they argued that aborting the child is morally acceptable.

            Wait. What?

            Let’s back up. Why is abortion wrong? Because it ends an innocent life, which is murder. God clearly condemns murder. “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). “Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked” (Exodus 23:7). Electing to end the life of a baby prematurely is murder, whether you think that baby will die anyway or not. It makes no difference whether that baby is located in the uterus where most babies safely grow or in the fallopian tube where it poses a risk to the mother’s life. To intentionally put an end to the innocent life of a child is murder.

            Many of those I contacted argued that if you know for certain that the baby is going to die anyway, it would be irresponsible to let the pregnancy take the life of the mother as well. The mother could survive just fine if the baby were removed. Why should two innocents die when one can live?

            Hold up. Back up. Why is abortion wrong? Because it ends the life of an innocent person. “Do not kill the innocent and righteous” (Exodus 20:13).

            “But the baby is going to die anyway. If we go ahead and end its life just a few hours early, an innocent woman will go home alive.”

“Do not kill the innocent” (Exodus 20:13).

“But the baby cannot possibly survive!”

            “Do not murder” (Exodus 20:13).

            “But what if this woman has three other children at home to take care of? We can’t just let her die!”

            “Do not kill the innocent” (Exodus 20:13).

            Whether that child lives 80 years after birth or whether it dies at 7 weeks gestation in the fallopian tube, that baby has life. That baby has a soul. Let’s be honest. Do we really believe that life begins at conception? Do we really believe that every life is precious? Do we really believe that God meant what He said when He commanded us not to take the life of the innocent? Really? Then why is it okay to end the life of a baby because we are afraid of what will happen if we allow it to live? A life is a life, no matter how brief. No matter how short that baby’s life may be, it is still a LIFE. We have no right to end it.

We don’t always know what we think we know. We are not God and we can never know 100%, without a doubt, that a baby has no chance of survival. When I began researching I too thought that it was absolutely certain that all tubal babies die prematurely. That’s what everyone was telling me. The overwhelming majority are convinced that there is no way such a baby can naturally survive, and that we do not currently have the medical advances to intervene and save the child. Even the Association of Pro-Life Physicians states that, “There are no cases of ectopic pregnancies in a fallopian tube surviving.”[i] But what if we were all wrong? I am so thankful that there was one woman I contacted who chose to look deeper. She sent me here: Ectopic Personhood: Fact Sheet on Ectopic Pregnancy. This enlightening article corrects several myths surrounding ectopic pregnancies. Let’s look at some of those myths.

Myth #1: Ectopic pregnancies are not viable

This has been proven false over and over, in various types of ectopic pregnancies.

Valdir Gabriel – Delivered at 8 months after being carried in an area between the stomach and uterus.

Durga, the "Miracle Baby" – It was not discovered until the doctors performed a scheduled C-section at 38 weeks that Durga had been growing in her mother’s ovary. Durga was 6lbs 3oz when she was born in May 2008.

Baby Attached to Colon and Uterus – In 1985, a baby who had been growing outside the uterus was delivered live at 34 weeks.

Eva Cawte – It was discovered at a 20 week scan that Eva had implanted outside the uterus. The doctors suggested aborting the baby, but Eva’s parents decided to continue the pregnancy. In July 2010, Eva was delivered alive at 30 weeks.

For many more abdominal ectopic pregnancy survival stories, take a look at this page: Another Baby Survives Ectopic Pregnancy. For even more information, go here: Successful Ectopic Pregnancies.

“Okay,” you might be saying, “but those are abdominal ectopic pregnancies. We understand that a baby can occasionally survive an ectopic pregnancy in some places outside of the uterus. But, what about tubal pregnancies, the kind where the baby implants in the fallopian tube? Doesn’t that always mean death to the child?”

Myth #2: There are no cases of ectopic pregnancies in a fallopian tube surviving

As mentioned earlier, this is even stated by the Association of Pro-Life Physicians. But they’re wrong. Some abdominal ectopic pregnancies actually started out as tubal pregnancies. The tissue from a developing placenta is capable of relocating from the tube to various other sites in the abdomen. Many abdominal pregnancies are simply a progression of tubal pregnancies in which the tube burst and the baby re-implanted elsewhere.

Ronan Ingram – One of a set of triplets, Ronan was a tubal baby. While his sisters developed normally inside the uterus, Ronan implanted in his mother’s fallopian tube. As is often the case, the tube ruptured. But to everyone’s surprise, Ronan survived and reattached to the outside wall of the uterus, creating his own womb, and there continued to thrive. In September 1999, all three babies were delivered alive and healthy via C-section at 29 weeks. The triplets are now 15 years old.

Katie Pratt – In a case similar to Ronan, but years earlier, Katie was a tubal baby who also burst through the tube and re-implanted on the main blood vessels.

Myth #3: The mother will almost certainly bleed to death if the tube ruptures

The actual danger of a mother bleeding to death in the U.S. due to a ruptured tube is pretty small. Don’t get me wrong, the potentially severe internal bleeding is a major concern. However, “Treatment with autotransfusion instead of abortion has a success rate of 99.84%.”[ii] Autotransfusion is basically taking the blood the mother is losing, filtering it, and pumping it back to her. One study showed that in Israel the lowest survival rate for women who did not abort their babies prior to rupture was 88%![iii] In the U.S., some figures suggest that you would have close to a 97.7% chance of surviving an ectopic pregnancy. Even if you do not have an abortion before your tube ruptures, you still have an extremely high chance of survival.

Both mother and baby CAN survive implantation in the fallopian tube. Is it rare for the baby to survive? That’s a tricky question. More than half of all tubal pregnancies end in early miscarriage. The ones that don’t are usually aborted upon discovery. So, perhaps it is rare, but perhaps that is only because we don’t give them a chance.

It boggles my mind that there is not more research being done to find ways of preserving the life of the baby, especially given that in the U.S. the mother has an extremely high chance of survival even if her tube does rupture. If a baby can detach and reattach naturally, wouldn’t it be great if we could find a way to successfully transplant these babies into the uterus? Hmm… That sounds familiar… Oh, that’s right. It’s been done. And it was done 100 years ago this year.

September 13, 1915, C.J. Wallace, M.D. operated on a 27-year-old woman for a fibroid tumor and discovered an ectopic pregnancy in her left tube. After removing the tumor, Dr. Wallace made the quick decision to attempt to transplant the baby into the uterus. Following the surgery, the patient was carefully monitored for two weeks and then released. The pregnancy progressed normally and a healthy baby boy was delivered on May 2, 1916.

In a 1916 issue of Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics, Dr. Wallace relates the particulars of the operation and comments,

“Why have we all these many years been so willing to deprive these little children of the right to live just because they were started wrong. In this day of advanced surgery, with the art of transplanting different parts, and, in fact organs of the body, I wonder at the escape of so important a procedure, entailing so little danger, as the transplanting of an ectopic pregnancy from the fallopian tube into the uterus, thus permitting the child to develop and be born as was its intention before its progress was obstructed.”[iv]

His article goes on to point out that the structure of the tube is practically the same as in the uterus and that the uterus actually keeps up with the gestation of the baby for a time, thus providing an excellent environment for transplantation.

“Up to a certain point the tubal gestation is identical with the intra-uterine gestation. Up to a certain point the uterus keeps pace with the tubal gestation and actually forms a decidua, enlarges, softens, grows darker in color, and in fact takes on all the early features of pregnancy.”

Amazing! You can read the original article here: Transplantations of Ectopic Pregnancy from Fallopian Tube to Cavity of Uterus. Dr. Wallace went on to say, “I have not the least doubt that many such transplanted ectopic pregnancies will be reported in the future.” Unfortunately, he was sadly mistaken.

I was only able to find one other case where such a surgery was attempted: Tubal Embryo Successfully Transferred in Utero. In 1980 a 27-year-old woman was found to be carrying an ectopic baby in her fallopian tube. The baby was immediately removed, placed in a saline solution, and then successfully transplanted into the uterus. A healthy infant was born at term.

To me, all of this is fascinating, remarkable, inspiring. But completely beside the point. The fact that a baby does have a chance, however slim it may be, of surviving an ectopic pregnancy does not change the fact that intentionally ending the life of an unborn baby is murder. Period. It is not wrong to kill the child because there is a chance he could survive. It is simply wrong to kill the child!

We humans aren’t as smart as we think we are. But God in His wisdom gave us a command. You. Shall. Not. Murder. In the case of a tubal pregnancy, you have no way of knowing whether or not that baby could be one of the ones to survive. You have no idea whether the mother would actually bleed to death if the tube ruptured. You can’t know. But it doesn’t matter. Because you DO know what God has to say about ending the life of an innocent person. The stakes may seem high to us, but the consequences of disregarding a law of God are much more grave.

Note: For more information on ectopic pregnancy, please visit http://www.personhoodinitiative.com. One page of particular interest may be Ectopic Personhood, in which it is estimated that 24% of tubal babies could be delivered alive. Also consider, it is estimated that roughly 40% of pregnancies diagnosed as ectopic are later discovered to be normal, intrauterine pregnancies [Presumed Diagnosis of Ectopic Pregnancy].

Note #2: I do not necessarily believe that attempting to transplant a baby into the uterus is the best course of action. The number of babies who safely grow where they naturally implant makes me think it might be wisest to leave them where they are while under careful monitoring and then deliver via C-section somewhere around 29-30 weeks.

[images courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net]

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[i] The Association of Pro-life Physicians, “Are There Rare Cases When an Abortion is Justified?” http://prolifephysicians.org/app/?p=59

[ii] The Personhood Initiative, “Fact Sheet on Ectopic Pregnancy” http://www.personhoodinitiative.com/fact-sheet-on-ectopic-pregnancy.html

[iii] The Personhood Initiative, “Fact Sheet on Ectopic Pregnancy” http://www.personhoodinitiative.com/fact-sheet-on-ectopic-pregnancy.html

[iv] Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics pg. 578, “Transplantations of Ectopic Pregnancy from Fallopian Tube to Cavity of Uterus”

Fundraising Update - Spaghetti Dinner and Auction

With the holidays now over I finally have some time to give an update on our adoption fundraising. On November 22 we hosted a spaghetti dinner and live auction, during which we also ran a craft sale and bake sale. Everything was donated by our amazing friends and family, and really all we had to do was organize the items being auctioned.

A sweet friend from our congregation, Loretta, was the driving force behind the event. Her daughter recently adopted and, therefore, adoption is very close to her heart. She has been one of our biggest supporters, and without her encouragement we never could have pulled off the dinner. Loretta sold tickets, donated items for the auction, found a banquet hall where we could hold the event, paid for half of the rental fee, donated the food for the dinner, and cooked up a huge batch of homemade spaghetti noodles and sauce! This woman is amazing, y’all. We are so thankful for her and her efforts to help us bring our little one home.

After four weeks of preparation, the big day arrived. We had about 12 volunteers who helped set up and clean up, served the food, kept track of auction sales, and manned the craft and bake sale tables. Everything was set up beautifully in the colors of the Ethiopian flag. The food was delicious, and we really enjoyed the fellowship. We had about 50 people in attendance.

We received so many donations for the craft sale that it filled two tables to overflowing. We had originally hoped to get a table at a Christmas craft fair, but all the tables were booked so we just combined the craft sale with the spaghetti dinner. Hopefully we will be able to get into a craft fair in the spring. Laura and Kathryn donated everything for the bake sale. They made gorgeous cupcakes, chocolate covered pretzels, and snickers cookies that I was drooling over. We really appreciate their time and effort!

We began to serve around 1:00 and started the auction at about 1:45. Joshua had a blast playing auctioneer. He spent the week beforehand watching youtube videos and practicing his auctioneer chant. He got to be pretty impressive. Everyone was surprised to learn that this was his first time conducting an auction. We had many generous donations for the auction, including a painting by one of the members of our congregation, a set of golf clubs, handmade jewelry, crocheted blankets, movie baskets, and gift certificates from our chiropractor for $100 worth of adjustments and a one hour massage.

We had the most fun at the end of the event. At the beginning of the auction, Joshua offered two “Invasion Insurance” policies. He didn’t tell what they were for, just that they were very valuable and that you may very much regret not purchasing a policy. He started the bid at $0.25 and I think we made $2.50 off of the first policy and $2 off the second. At the very end of the auction, Joshua revealed what the insurance protected against: King Asa, the goldfish king, and his two goldfish minions. (“Asa” means fish in Amharic, Ethiopia’s official language).

I borrowed this idea from an auction fundraising blog that mentioned playing this game with a goat. We thought goldfish would be more acceptable with this crowd :) Here’s how it worked. Everyone had the opportunity to bid for the chance to “gift” King Asa to someone else in the room, unless that person had purchased the “Invasion Insurance”. If the person who was “gifted” with the goldfishes did not want to take them home, they had to pay a fee to put the fishies back up for auction. Everyone had a great time with this game, and it was hilarious to see the looks on people’s faces when they were “gifted” with the bowl of fishes. It went on for several rounds, with people having to pay increasing fees with each round to get rid of King Asa, until Joshua randomly decided that the next person to receive the gift would have to take them home (so that we didn’t end up taking them home ourselves!). Dennis was the lucky new owner of three pet goldfishes. After the auction, he immediately turned around and gave them to his grandchildren. His daughter and son-in-law were overjoyed ;) 

We were incredibly blessed by the generosity of our friends that night. Altogether, we made $877 from the spaghetti dinner/auction/craft/bake sale. The following Sunday we received donations totaling around $600 from people who were unable to make it to the dinner but who wanted to help us out with our adoption anyway. Once again, God provided above and beyond our expectations. With the money raised that weekend and the $128 raised the following weekend off of another bake sale, we were able to make an overdue payment to our agency. Now we only have one more payment of $2,666 to make and we will be put on the waiting list to be matched with our child!

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, support, and encouragement. It means the world to us and we are humbled by your generosity. May God bless you as you continue to serve Him!

Why Not Ethiopia?

By far, the most frequent question we get about our adoption is, “Why not domestic adoption?” Why are we spending tens of thousands of dollars to adopt a child half way around the world when there are so many children right here in the United States who need a family?

We have absolutely nothing against adopting domestically. Adoption is a wonderful thing! God Himself sets forth the example of adoption, accepting as children those who are obedient to His word (Galatians 4:5), regardless of gender or nationality. Those who choose to bring a child into their home to love as their own display a beautiful picture of Christ’s family. We 100% support Christians who adopt whether they are adopting through the State, going the private domestic route, or heading overseas.

The oft-quoted statistic is that there are 153 million orphaned children worldwide. This number includes children who have lost either a mother or a father. Of that number, approximately 18 million children have lost both parents, and are considered “double orphans”. That is a LOT of children. Unfortunately, we cannot give a home to every one of these precious little ones. What we can do right now is work on providing a home to one child in need.

When we sat down and began seriously considering the possibility of adoption, one of the things we discussed was how to decide which child to adopt. It was a tough topic. How do you look at that number – 18 million double orphans – and decide which ONE you will bring into your home?

It is, of course, impossible to decide which orphaned child is in most need of a home. Every child is in need of a family! However, the current living conditions and likely future of orphans in each country we looked at had a great deal of influence on our decision to pursue international adoption. Our desire is to give hope to a child who would otherwise grow up without a home, without a family, without necessary medical care, and (most importantly) without spiritual training.

With this in mind, we began researching various countries. Several factors limited our options. First, we were limited by my age. Many countries require both parents to be over the age of 25 before enrolling in a program. Some require both parents to be over 30. I just turned 24 and was barely 23 when we were ready to begin the process.

Second, we were limited because of how many children we have (and intend to have). Many countries only allow you to have one or two children already in the home. I am pregnant with our third blessing.

Third, we were limited by finances. We were convinced (and still are) that the cost of the adoption should not be a deciding factor in our decision. $40,000 is a lot of money, but our Heavenly Father paid a much higher price to adopt us into His family. A child’s life is worth the price. As long as we are doing what God wants and doing it God’s way, He will provide the money in His timing. We weren’t just looking for the cheapest, fastest, easiest option. However, some countries do have a minimum income requirement that we did not meet.

Once we figured out which countries we qualified for (Bulgaria, Uganda, The United States, Ethiopia, Peru, and several others), we took a closer look at the condition of orphans in those countries. Of each country, we asked, “What is life likely to hold for an orphan who is not adopted?”

We were first drawn to Uganda, where orphans who age out of the system at 16 years old are left with few ethical ways of making a living (many girls turn to prostitution in order to survive). In fact, we were in the Uganda program for several months. But at the time, Uganda’s adoption process was very unstable and it was uncertain if we would ever be matched with a child. For this and several other reasons we took a second look at the countries we qualified for and reconsidered our options.

We prayed, sought advice, prayed, researched, and prayed some more. And we kept coming back to Ethiopia, a country very similar to Uganda. In many of the countries we looked at, orphans are at a definite disadvantage, but their basic needs are met. For example, in the U.S., most orphans have access to food, clothing, and medical care. That is not to say that every child will be well cared for, but our country does a decent job of caring for the basic necessities of orphaned children.

In Ethiopia….

·        1 in 8 children die before the age of 1

·        1 in 6 children die before the age of 5

·        At least 150,000 children live on the streets (some estimate a much higher number). These children often turn to prostitution and thievery for a living.

·        Approximately 5 million children in Ethiopia have lost one or both parents. It is unknown exactly how many of those children are double orphans. Ethiopia has one of the largest populations of orphans in the world.

·        14,000 children are born with HIV each year.

·        Around 800,000 children are orphaned by HIV/AIDS each year. The rate of infection is increasing rapidly.

·        46% of the population is under the age of 15.

·        The country is struggling to recover from nearly 17 years of civil war (1974-1991) and a widespread famine in the ‘80s. Ethiopia is an extremely poor country and the resources to provide proper care for orphans is limited.

Does this mean that Ethiopian orphans are in greater need of a family than any other orphan? No. But there IS a need for orphans from Ethiopia to be adopted. So why NOT adopt from Ethiopia? Is there a need for children to be adopted from the U.S.? Of course! So, why aren’t we adopting domestically? Because we are currently in the process of adopting from Ethiopia.

Adding Arrows

Everyone else has known for about a month now, so it's probably time I update my loyal blog followers. On September 8, Joshua and I found out that we are expecting Baby #3 in May 2015! We are extremely excited and thankful for this new blessing from the Lord!

We are also very thankful for a much easier pregnancy so far. During my first pregnancy I threw up nearly every day for nine months. I think there was one stretch when I went a whole week without puking. My second pregnancy was much better. I only threw up about 25 times. Yes, I kept count. I was determined to keep the number under 30. Anyway, the nausea was still pretty awful at times and nothing seemed to help. Except a big, cold glass of chocolate milk. Which was not so helpful to my waistline...

This time around the nausea has been unpleasant, but manageable. I am 11 weeks along and have thrown up only twice so far! Woohoo! Not having to keep a bowl beside the bed for when I wake up in the morning has been fantastic. I can usually expect to feel sick around 12:45pm, but Joshua gets home at 1:00pm so he is able to come to my rescue and fix the kids lunch so I can rest.

One cool thing about this pregnancy is that I am actually having some cravings! With my other two, NOTHING ever sounded good. So, the feeling of WANTING to eat something is a feeling that I cherish :) And another plus: One of my strongest cravings is a craving for SALAD!

This third baby does not change our plans to adopt. Our agency is aware of  the pregnancy and is very supportive of us continuing the adoption. It will still likely be two years or more before we are placed with a child, so that gives us plenty of time to adjust after the birth of this little one. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we prepare to welcome TWO more children into our family!

One Step at a Time

Just a quick update on our adoption progress. We received our notarized home study last week and immediately turned around and mailed off our i-600a. This is an application seeking approval from the government to adopt. Once they receive our application they will assign us a date to have our fingerprints done. Then they just have to get all the paperwork finalized, which we are told could take about three months.

On the financial side of things, we are about $1500 short of our next agency payment, which has to be paid before the next step of putting the dossier together. If you would like to donate to our adoption fund, please visit www.youcaring.com/awalkhome. Please continue to keep us in your prayers!

The Post I’ve Been Waiting Eight Months to Write

FINALLY! I am FINALLY allowed to write what I have been bursting to share since January. It’s been a long, grueling, frustrating, yet incredibly exciting eight months. We have had many long days, late nights, tense moments, and even a few tears. We’ve had our faith stretched, and we’ve seen God answer our prayers in some amazing, unexpected ways.

It’s been an interesting year. We’ve had ups and downs and in-between times, and one of the hardest parts of it all was not being able to share this news with everybody. I have so looked forward to the day when I could just blurt it all out to the world.

It started in January. It got exciting in February. It got crazy in May. It got frustrating in June. It got even crazier in July. Each month brought a new milestone, but also a new challenge. And each month I had to work extremely hard to keep myself from getting on here and spilling the beans to my millions of followers. Or at least, to the two of you who read this blog – one of whom already knows our secret... (Hi, Mom!).

*Cough* Anyway… The time leading up to this moment of revelation seemed to be unending… Kind of like this introduction…

Okay, okay. I just thought that since I had to wait so long to announce it, y’all should have to feel some of my pain by reading a bunch of long-winded nonsense. Now, FINALLY, our big, exciting news:

         

WE ARE ADOPTING!!!!

That’s right! We are in the process of adopting a young child from Ethiopia. We have been accepted by an agency, our home study is complete, and we are now seeking immigration approval. In a few more months our dossier will be ready to send to Ethiopia and then we will be put on the waiting list to be matched with a child!

Joshua and I are incredibly excited about expanding our family through adoption. We feel so blessed that God has given us the opportunity to begin this journey sooner than we originally thought possible. Adoption has always been close to our hearts and the desire to adopt is one of the first things that attracted us to each other. We began looking into it two years ago, compiling a notebook full of research. The timing was not right to begin the process, but we did a lot of praying about it and looking into what it would involve. When we moved up here to Michigan, God opened doors and we suddenly found ourselves in a position to begin the journey. In January, after lots of prayer, we took a step of faith and submitted our application. On February 3, we were accepted.

We wanted to wait until our home study was finished before announcing our plans. There were some delays, miscommunication, and a major change of course (which I will hopefully blog about in the future) so it took a little longer to complete the home study than we expected. But, now it’s done! We are approved to adopt!

God has taught us some big lessons these past few months about dedication, trust, and doing what is right now matter what. He has provided the necessary funds for each step of the way. He has put people in our lives as sources of encouragement and strength. He has opened so many doors that I thought were brick walls. We truly serve an amazing God.

So far, God has enabled us to pay for all the expenses we have faced out of pocket. Now we are coming to a point where we need to do some fundraising in order to proceed with the next steps. We currently owe our agency $2,666 in order to move on to the next stage. Also, the immigration approval and fingerprinting will cost close to $900. These are our immediate needs. If you would like to contribute to our effort to bring our child home, please visitwww.youcaring.com/awalkhome or contact me at servingfromhome@gmail.com. We would greatly appreciate your financial support!

More than that, we covet your prayers. This is a long, hard process. It is emotionally draining, with many highs and lows. If you have been there or are currently in the process, we would love to hear your story and advice! We know that we do not know everything that we will need to know for every part of this journey, but we do know that God provides just what we need for each step of the way. Please pray for us as we seek His will and glory above all else.

Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”