147 Million Minus 1

We are adopting.

Yep,  that’s right...we're adopting. A little boy. With Down Syndrome. God has shown us our son and we are fighting to bring him home from China.

Right now you are either thinking “That’s awesome!” or “Um, do what now? Are y’all crazy???” And the answer is Yes! This whole thing is awesome and crazy.

Your next question might be: What in the world made you decide to do that? And that’s an easy one. Jesus.

Well that’s the short answer. The long answer will be addressed in another post. For now, let’s focus on the here and now. We will fill you in on the back story later. I promise. It’s good stuff. I want to share it.

Why Adoption?

Our eyes have been opened. Wide.

Opened to the 147 MILLION orphans in the world.  Opened to prison-like institutions where small children are locked away with very little love, supervision, food or water. Opened to a world that believes children with special needs are a burden and therefore disposable. Unworthy of a family. Unworthy of love.

Proverbs 24:12 tells us that "Once our eyes are opened we cannot pretend we do not know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows we know and holds us responsible to act."

Our Father first adopted us into His kingdom through this beautiful, grace-filled, thing called adoption. “ even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:4-6

He set the example. We are to follow that example. It’s as simple as that.

James 1:27  says that “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

We are called to care for the orphans of this world.

We are simply called to love. To love God and to love others.

And, we believe that our lives are meant to glorify God and to build His kingdom.

So what now?

We are just beginning the process. Our application has been accepted so now we are in the “paperwork stage”. That may sound simple. But it’s not. It is hard. It is overwhelming. It is expensive. There is a mountain of work that needs to be done. A mountain of paperwork, fundraising, research... Thankfully, God can move mountains.

So, friends, I am asking for you to PRAY. Specifically for:

OUR SON. While we can’t share his picture or his name on the world wide web just yet, trust us when we say he is a little blessing. Pray for him. He is about to be taken from the only home he has known and plopped into a family full of people he doesn’t know who live on the other side of the world.

TRUST. God has shown us our son already. We are going to battle for a little boy whose name we know, whose face we’ve seen, whose laugh we have heard. We are seeking him specifically. That means we are entering into what is known as a “pre-identified adoption”. Things get hairier in this process. A mere week into things and our agency had already thrown out the phrase “slim to none” when describing the chance they had to get our son’s file. But we all know what God can do with a “slim to none” chance, right?

STRENGTH. As we tune out the voice of Satan telling us we can’t afford to adopt. That we can’t afford to care for our son with special needs once he gets here. That we are not equipped to give him what he needs. That it would be easier to forget all of this mess and go back to the easy life we’d been living before our eyes were opened.

WISDOM. As we learn about how to parent a child with special needs.

FUNDS. I am going back to work full time, we are selling our possessions, we are working side jobs. We are trying to come up with nearly $40,000.00. In a year. Our son is worth it. But we cannot do that without the help of our Heavenly Father.

Most of all, pray that GOD IS GLORIFIED through this process. In the words of David Platt, "We care for orphans, not because we are rescuers. We care for orphans because we are the rescued."

We take heart in knowing that in John 14:18 God says, "I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you." and that as “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows...God sets the lonely in families” –Psalm 68:5-6

Thank you for taking the time to read this. We invite you into this journey with us. The more the merrier! Frankly, we need you to walk beside us. We covet your prayers and encouragement .

In God’s Love,

Ben, Jamie, Asher, Audrey & Baby B