We are blessed to serve a God of second chances. And third chances. And fourth chances. As we have continued in our adoption journey, we have struggled with the slow process, changes in policies and governments, and setbacks in our process that are difficult to bear. Yet God is faithful and He loves taking broken stories and turning them into evidence of His glory.
“ Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts. ”
Amanda and I are happy to share with all of you that we have been matched with a little boy to adopt. We are cautiously overjoyed by God’s providence and the process that brought us to this point. We have gotten our paperwork together, been working with our attorney in Haiti, and have submitted our paperwork to the US government for his citizenship process.
As wonderful as all of this is, we still have a ways to go. There is still work to be done with both governments, and then we will need to coordinate when he can come and join us here in Chicago. All of this is not to mention the even larger work of having him become a part of our family, joining a new country, culture, and people. It will be a lot.
I know we are often asked: How can you help? There are a couple ways you can be helping us in our journey:
Prayer: I don’t think we can overstate this enough, but if this journey has taught us anything, it is a dependence on prayer and God’s Providence. We know that prayer is at work in our story. Pray that the paperwork would go quickly through both governments. Pray that there are no issues that come up and that the governments works faster than we can hope or imagine. Pray that God is protecting our child as we are not present with him. Pray that God is already doing a work in his life. There are many different ways you can be praying for us and him in this process.
Encouragement: If you think of us in the coming days, weeks, months, as you pray for us, send us texts, messages, and notes of encouragement. Sometimes in the process, the journey can be heavy, we can get discouraged and forget the big picture. Help us to stay focused on what God is doing and remember that He is in control.
Finances: Lastly, this process has taken longer and had more setbacks than anticipated, which has had financial implications. Not including the cost of flights, travel, and us being prepared for his arrival, it is going to cost another $13,000 for us to continue the adoption process with the adoption agency and governments. If you are able, any contribution towards our adoption would be so helpful as we continue in the process. You can give through our Lifesong fund, which makes any contribution tax deductible.
Thank you all for being a part of our journey. In the coming months and years, we are excited to continue to share more updates on the process. You truly are a blessing to us as we continue to follow God in this process. Thank you so much.
