Friday, February 29, 2008
Update for today
Hi everyone. Sorry I didn't update last week. Wasn't too much to report. Basically, we are now working on our homestudy. It involves lots of paperwork, background checks, inspections, and personal questions. ;-) That's alright, we're willing to do anything to bring our baby home, and if they wanna know why my mother had three kids instead of four, I'll tell them. (It's not quite that bad, I'm exagerrating a little... ok a lot) Anyway, we've contacted the Columbus Fire Department and are waiting to schedule a fire inspection of our house. Should be relatively easy. Essentially we're currently filling out paperwork and moving slowly toward the day when we bring our baby home. We'll let you know when anything major happens. Thanks again for your prayers and continued support during our journey. They mean so much to us.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
In Contract
Hi everyone. Hope you are all doing well. This past week has been a good one in our adoption journey. We recieved our contract and have had everything signed/notorized. We are very excited about that. As soon as we get this all taken care of we'll be able to get started on our homestudy. Once the homestudy is done, we'll be able to kick our dossier preperations into high gear which means the months are quickly closing. ;-)
Last Sunday, Jon and I attended a Building Blocks informational meeting to learn a little more about the international adoption process. We were very encouraged and the meeting just solidified in our minds that this is exactly where God wants us. The peace we feel, despite all the uncertanties, is astounding. It amazes me that I'm not worried about getting this paper done, or that thing approved, or even where all the money's going to come from. God is in control, and I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that He will provide. Even with us having to cut the IRS a relatively hefty check soon, and Jon's paycheck being cut back a little, I'm not concerned. God provides in awesome ways, that sometimes we take for granted. For instance, this first tier of expenses includes all the processing fees and agency fees so we can get the ball rolling. We have the cash reserves to cover all the expenses, but would rather save the money for when we bring the baby home. So, God showed us the way to a credit card with 0% interest for 12 months, with a credit limit about a $1000 over what we need to cover the expenses! What that translates to, is that we will be able to use the money we're saving each month to pay down the credit card balance instead of paying interest or totally depleating our cash reserves! God is so good, and it amazes me that He provides in such awesome ways.
Please pray for us as we continue filling out mountains of paperwork. The process has just started and we're excited about what is still to come.
Love always,
Jon and Kristin
PS Be sure to check out this new link I put up today. It's for a website called Kazakh Connection. It is so cool. It sells genuine Kazakh handiwork and has alot of great resources for information about the great country we're going to be living in for 6 weeks. ;-) Check it out, it's really cool.
Last Sunday, Jon and I attended a Building Blocks informational meeting to learn a little more about the international adoption process. We were very encouraged and the meeting just solidified in our minds that this is exactly where God wants us. The peace we feel, despite all the uncertanties, is astounding. It amazes me that I'm not worried about getting this paper done, or that thing approved, or even where all the money's going to come from. God is in control, and I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that He will provide. Even with us having to cut the IRS a relatively hefty check soon, and Jon's paycheck being cut back a little, I'm not concerned. God provides in awesome ways, that sometimes we take for granted. For instance, this first tier of expenses includes all the processing fees and agency fees so we can get the ball rolling. We have the cash reserves to cover all the expenses, but would rather save the money for when we bring the baby home. So, God showed us the way to a credit card with 0% interest for 12 months, with a credit limit about a $1000 over what we need to cover the expenses! What that translates to, is that we will be able to use the money we're saving each month to pay down the credit card balance instead of paying interest or totally depleating our cash reserves! God is so good, and it amazes me that He provides in such awesome ways.
Please pray for us as we continue filling out mountains of paperwork. The process has just started and we're excited about what is still to come.
Love always,
Jon and Kristin
PS Be sure to check out this new link I put up today. It's for a website called Kazakh Connection. It is so cool. It sells genuine Kazakh handiwork and has alot of great resources for information about the great country we're going to be living in for 6 weeks. ;-) Check it out, it's really cool.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
The Story
Hi everyone. Thanks so much for checking out our site. I thought I'd give everyone the offical scoop on why we decided to adopt. But before we can talk about now, we need to talk about how God planted the seed in our hearts years ago.
For me, it all started in high school. I think it was my junior year (don't quote me on that) and a missionary was at our church for a Wednesday night service. He and his family were missionaries to Romania. They did alot of work with the Gypsies and the orphans there. It was that night, hearing him speak of his burden for the orphans that God laid on my heart that one day he would us me to minister to orphans and those in need of loving families. I wasn't sure exactly how it would all play out in the end, but I knew, from that point on, that God had great plans for me, and I just needed to wait and see what they were.
For Jon, God gave him the burden in Jr High/early High school. He attended a Steven Curtis Chapman concert with a bunch of church friends. At just about every Christian concert, the groups endorse one charity or another, usually a sponsership program of some sort where the participants send money to the agency who then sends the profits to the foreign country who then feeds and educated the children there. We've all seen these orgs, World Vision is one and there are gillions out there. Anyway, this particular concert was different. Instead of showing pictures of cute little kids running around in rags in the middle of an African jungle, SCC showed us pictures of Shohannah, the little girl that he adopted from China. He contended that adoption is a great way to minister to kids in need around the world. Thousands of kids are given up or abandoned every year for various reasons like financial hardship, governement regulation of number of family members. teen pregnancy, etc. SCC promoted is org Shohannah's Hope as an organization that would help American adoptive parents to become a "forever family" with one of the world's orphans. His org offers resources and grants to families committed to international adoption. It was during SCC's presentation that Jon felt God planting the seed in his heart. Adoption made so much sense to him. Not only are you providing food, shelter, education, and clothing for these children, but you are giving them love. You're wrapping your arms around a child and saying, I love you... God sent you to me and I will always, always love you.
So, that's where it all started. A couple of high school students touched and challenged by the ministries of those serving the orphans of the world. Fast forward about 8- 10 years or so. Here we are, married and ready to start a family of our own. About a year after we wed, we went off of birth control and started trying to concieve. That was 2 Octobers ago, and still we have not gotten pregnant. At first this news was heartbreaking. A few of our friends who were married around the same time as us had started to have children, and the unbearable "i" word started to plague us (especially me). My parents were infertile for 11 years before they had me, and even though I conciously know that the possiblity of the particular problem they were having being passed to me was basically non-existant, my heart would not listen to my brain. Every month when it became evident that I wasn't pregnant yet, my heart would break a little more and I started to slip into depression more extreme than I even thought possible. I started to isolate myself, first from my church family, then my work relationships, then family, and eventually even from my dear husband. Those of you who were around me last summer probably remember seeing me battle the depression that had taken hold of my life. I blamed myself for being unable to provide Jon with the family that he and I so desperately wanted, and the pain was unbearable. Then, last September, God finally broke through my walls of self-doubt and blame. For the first time in a long time, I picked up my Bible and started to read. I then took up my prayer journal that I hadn't touched in years and began to pour out my heart to God. I couldn't take it anymore. The pressure I had put on myself was beyond anything I could handle, and I knew I couldn't continue on my own. I decided to give the entire situation to God. I asked Him to make His will clear to me and to pull me out of the pit of despair I had dug for myself. The burden I had been secretly bearing for months was suddenly lifted and God opened my eyes to the big picture- His will and plan for my life.
It was a few weeks later that Jon (without any prompting from me) started researching adoption agencies. We talked together about the possiblity of adoption and researched it a little more. The issue was put on the back burner for a while, as Jon started the new school year and we tried a little more aggresively to concieve. With my new opened eyes I started to realize that I was not the only woman in the world struggling with not being able to get pregnant. Even a few of my dear friends were having the same doubts that I was struggling with. Having the peace of God residing in my life, knowing that I was not alone, and that I was exactly where he wanted me, pulled me through the fall and early winter.
Almost exactly a month ago, God gave me a revelation. That prayer journal that I had cried into last September again sat untouched. I picked it up and started to read the words that I had written to God the morning I poured my heart out to Him. On that page I said "God, please make yourplan clear in my life. If adoption is what you have planned for us, then please show me. I want to be sure that this is want You want." After reading those words, God spoke to me so clearly, I could have sworn He was standing beside me. He said, "I'm making it clear, now trust me." With God's words tugging on my heart, I started my reasearch again with a vigor that suprised even me. I read many books and articles on the adoption process and the benefits and challenges of becoming a "forever family" for a little boy or girl.
For Jon's birthday this year, we went away for the weekend to recoup and refresh ourselves. We had plenty of time to talk and during our vacation we discussed domestic vs international adoption, fertility treatments, the whole nine yards. The conclusion that we came to is that God was calling us to adopt internationally, instead of domestically, and that He would rather we spend our money on adoption than the tests and medications usually necessary for fertility treatments. It was that weekend, January 18-21 that God showed us exactly how He wants us to start our family.
So why Kazakhstan? Well, the answer is complex, and some aspects I can't even explain to you. Bascially, right now Kazakhstan is the country where you can adopt the youngest children the fastest. Ukraine is currently the fastest country, but the children are very rarely under age 3. China and Guatemala have very young children available (usually starting at around 6-8 months) but the wait can be upwards of 2 years. In Kazakhstan the average age for a child is 8- 18 months, and the entire process takes around 8-12 months. It's almost like a normal pregnancy. ;-) Other (divine no doubt) aspects drew us to the country as well. To pinpoint them all would be impossible, perhaps even counterproductive. Let it stand to say that God showed us Kazakhstan, and we knew immediately that this was where He wanted us.
We are still hopeful that God may bless us with a biological child, too, but the peace that we feel about this decision is unsurpassed. The road will be difficult and expensive, but the rewards will be worth more than anything this world has to offer.
We were approved by our agency yesterday, so the contract is in the mail, and we should be able to offically start the process early next week. I'll try to keep everything updated as much as possible on this blog, but please feel free to call, email, etc with any questions what-so-ever. We are by now means experts in the adoption process, but we know we are in God's will, so any question we can answer, we will.
Thanks so much for reading this insanely long post. Being able to share this story with you has brought tears to my eyes, and joy to my heart. With God's help and your support we will get through this mountain of paperwork and bring our child home.
Love always,
Jon and Kristin
For me, it all started in high school. I think it was my junior year (don't quote me on that) and a missionary was at our church for a Wednesday night service. He and his family were missionaries to Romania. They did alot of work with the Gypsies and the orphans there. It was that night, hearing him speak of his burden for the orphans that God laid on my heart that one day he would us me to minister to orphans and those in need of loving families. I wasn't sure exactly how it would all play out in the end, but I knew, from that point on, that God had great plans for me, and I just needed to wait and see what they were.
For Jon, God gave him the burden in Jr High/early High school. He attended a Steven Curtis Chapman concert with a bunch of church friends. At just about every Christian concert, the groups endorse one charity or another, usually a sponsership program of some sort where the participants send money to the agency who then sends the profits to the foreign country who then feeds and educated the children there. We've all seen these orgs, World Vision is one and there are gillions out there. Anyway, this particular concert was different. Instead of showing pictures of cute little kids running around in rags in the middle of an African jungle, SCC showed us pictures of Shohannah, the little girl that he adopted from China. He contended that adoption is a great way to minister to kids in need around the world. Thousands of kids are given up or abandoned every year for various reasons like financial hardship, governement regulation of number of family members. teen pregnancy, etc. SCC promoted is org Shohannah's Hope as an organization that would help American adoptive parents to become a "forever family" with one of the world's orphans. His org offers resources and grants to families committed to international adoption. It was during SCC's presentation that Jon felt God planting the seed in his heart. Adoption made so much sense to him. Not only are you providing food, shelter, education, and clothing for these children, but you are giving them love. You're wrapping your arms around a child and saying, I love you... God sent you to me and I will always, always love you.
So, that's where it all started. A couple of high school students touched and challenged by the ministries of those serving the orphans of the world. Fast forward about 8- 10 years or so. Here we are, married and ready to start a family of our own. About a year after we wed, we went off of birth control and started trying to concieve. That was 2 Octobers ago, and still we have not gotten pregnant. At first this news was heartbreaking. A few of our friends who were married around the same time as us had started to have children, and the unbearable "i" word started to plague us (especially me). My parents were infertile for 11 years before they had me, and even though I conciously know that the possiblity of the particular problem they were having being passed to me was basically non-existant, my heart would not listen to my brain. Every month when it became evident that I wasn't pregnant yet, my heart would break a little more and I started to slip into depression more extreme than I even thought possible. I started to isolate myself, first from my church family, then my work relationships, then family, and eventually even from my dear husband. Those of you who were around me last summer probably remember seeing me battle the depression that had taken hold of my life. I blamed myself for being unable to provide Jon with the family that he and I so desperately wanted, and the pain was unbearable. Then, last September, God finally broke through my walls of self-doubt and blame. For the first time in a long time, I picked up my Bible and started to read. I then took up my prayer journal that I hadn't touched in years and began to pour out my heart to God. I couldn't take it anymore. The pressure I had put on myself was beyond anything I could handle, and I knew I couldn't continue on my own. I decided to give the entire situation to God. I asked Him to make His will clear to me and to pull me out of the pit of despair I had dug for myself. The burden I had been secretly bearing for months was suddenly lifted and God opened my eyes to the big picture- His will and plan for my life.
It was a few weeks later that Jon (without any prompting from me) started researching adoption agencies. We talked together about the possiblity of adoption and researched it a little more. The issue was put on the back burner for a while, as Jon started the new school year and we tried a little more aggresively to concieve. With my new opened eyes I started to realize that I was not the only woman in the world struggling with not being able to get pregnant. Even a few of my dear friends were having the same doubts that I was struggling with. Having the peace of God residing in my life, knowing that I was not alone, and that I was exactly where he wanted me, pulled me through the fall and early winter.
Almost exactly a month ago, God gave me a revelation. That prayer journal that I had cried into last September again sat untouched. I picked it up and started to read the words that I had written to God the morning I poured my heart out to Him. On that page I said "God, please make yourplan clear in my life. If adoption is what you have planned for us, then please show me. I want to be sure that this is want You want." After reading those words, God spoke to me so clearly, I could have sworn He was standing beside me. He said, "I'm making it clear, now trust me." With God's words tugging on my heart, I started my reasearch again with a vigor that suprised even me. I read many books and articles on the adoption process and the benefits and challenges of becoming a "forever family" for a little boy or girl.
For Jon's birthday this year, we went away for the weekend to recoup and refresh ourselves. We had plenty of time to talk and during our vacation we discussed domestic vs international adoption, fertility treatments, the whole nine yards. The conclusion that we came to is that God was calling us to adopt internationally, instead of domestically, and that He would rather we spend our money on adoption than the tests and medications usually necessary for fertility treatments. It was that weekend, January 18-21 that God showed us exactly how He wants us to start our family.
So why Kazakhstan? Well, the answer is complex, and some aspects I can't even explain to you. Bascially, right now Kazakhstan is the country where you can adopt the youngest children the fastest. Ukraine is currently the fastest country, but the children are very rarely under age 3. China and Guatemala have very young children available (usually starting at around 6-8 months) but the wait can be upwards of 2 years. In Kazakhstan the average age for a child is 8- 18 months, and the entire process takes around 8-12 months. It's almost like a normal pregnancy. ;-) Other (divine no doubt) aspects drew us to the country as well. To pinpoint them all would be impossible, perhaps even counterproductive. Let it stand to say that God showed us Kazakhstan, and we knew immediately that this was where He wanted us.
We are still hopeful that God may bless us with a biological child, too, but the peace that we feel about this decision is unsurpassed. The road will be difficult and expensive, but the rewards will be worth more than anything this world has to offer.
We were approved by our agency yesterday, so the contract is in the mail, and we should be able to offically start the process early next week. I'll try to keep everything updated as much as possible on this blog, but please feel free to call, email, etc with any questions what-so-ever. We are by now means experts in the adoption process, but we know we are in God's will, so any question we can answer, we will.
Thanks so much for reading this insanely long post. Being able to share this story with you has brought tears to my eyes, and joy to my heart. With God's help and your support we will get through this mountain of paperwork and bring our child home.
Love always,
Jon and Kristin
Friday, February 1, 2008
Here we go
Well, as you know by now, we are adopting a child from Kazakhstan. We are very excited about the whole process, and can't wait to bring our baby home. We've decided to start this blog to keep you current on our progress through the international adoption system. We are so blessed to have a support group like you. This journey will be teadious and stressful, but the result will be nothing less than wonderful. Thank you again for checking out our blog. And we'll try our best to keep everything here up to date.
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