I was four. Yes, four years old. Not old enough for school, but I was potty trained so there's that. I had seen the commercials on the tv talking about malnourished children in third world countries. I saw that commercial where they show children who have cleft lip/palate and I boldly announced, "Mom. I am going to adopt! Let's bring home a baby!" My mom did not quite share that sentiment. Literally, from that time I knew I would adopt. God obviously placed it on my heart...oh and you know...He commands us to look after orphans. It was a no brainer. Early on in my relationship with Josh (that's a joke guys...we met in August, started dating in October, and were engaged in December) I let him know that adoption was a non-negotiable for me. I truly believe that God wanted me to adopt and that it was so important that I believed the husband He designed for me would also have a heart for adoption. Thankfully Josh was more than on board.
Fast forward to 2010. We never knew we would get pregnant. We honestly never thought that I could. My body hates me...for reals...and yet, Eden came along anyway. And then Israel. Pregnancy was not something I had to have. In fact, honestly, while I was curious what it was like to be pregnant, I really just wanted children. It was hard for me to want to be pregnant when I knew there were MILLIONS of children without homes. Something I just can't personally handle (please note that this is just the way I felt and understand that others feel differently).
So, here we are. 2014. God THREW the doors open for our adoption. In a perfect world all of our student loans would be paid off (although I can happily announce that a few months ago we paid off all medical and credit card debt!!!!) and we would have tons in savings. While we do have money saved up for our adoption, it's not the full amount. And that is okay because we believe God has said we are to adopt now so we are trusting Him. We have been pre-approved with our agency, but we can't officially start our process until August 1 (128 days away if you were wondering).
Why August?
Well, I had planned on waiting until August to tell you WHERE we are adopting from, but since this is a huge piece in the puzzle, it's time to tell you now.
HAITI.
God literally threw it at us. Honestly, I didn't expect it. Africa has been on our hearts in a major way for so long that I had trouble understanding why ever single door to Africa closed and Haiti just kept popping up in the craziest of ways. I will share more about this once the adoption is officially underway...because there are still a few things I am working through in this.
For an adoption in Haiti, one parent must be 30 years old. This is a very new requirement and it is why Haiti was never even considered before because we didn't meet their previous requirements. I was told that we could begin the process when I am 29 years and 9 months old since our home study will not be completed until after I am 30 so we will then qualify. So for now, we wait. But you know we aren't just sitting around right? Because you know I don't know how to wait patiently.
Right now we are reading up on all things regarding international adoption. Preparing our hearts. Preparing our family. Getting our home ready. And...we have been working on opening up an online shop to begin fundraising. God knew we needed this time and although at first it was hard to think of waiting longer, it truly has been so wonderful for our family to have a date in mind, but to have this time to ready ourselves for the very exhausting journey ahead.
It is so hard to put everything that is on my heart into words. There is so much more to share. For now, let me end by saying this. While we are SO excited to grow our family, please know that there is also a really devastating part to adoption. Our future child will be ours because they lost their first family. This breaks our hearts. I have already shed so many tears on behalf of a baby I don't know yet and a family I may never meet. No matter what we will know of our child's story, their birth family will forever be a part of our family. We have been praying big prayers about how we can use our adoption to then help families to keep their children. Sadly, many families simply cannot afford to care for their babies. This is not okay. I will stop here because I can write about this forever, but please know that while we say just how excited we are to start our adoption, we also are pained for the heartbreak that had to happen as well.
How can you help? We will let you know about our shop soon. We will also have other ways you can help in the future. For now, we are having a FLASH SALE on adoption t-shirts that ends this Thursday night (March 27)!!! My friend Sarah is letting us jump on board with their t-shirt fundraiser...I am so blessed by her friendship! Shirts are $24 (shipped). Adult sizes: S-XL (XXL-XXXL are $27) and Kids XS-XL. All orders are done through PayPal. Please send a "gift" payment to sarahlongrdh@yahoo.com -- in the notes section please include shirt size, shipping address, and that it is for the Crain's adoption. Please let me know if you have any questions!!
Thank you all for your love, support, and most importantly, your prayers! We will keep you updated as our journey unfolds!
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