Greetings all! It has been a couple of weeks since we have provided an update, so we wanted to take the opportunity to let you know where things stand. We also wanted to answer a few questions and lay out ways you can be praying for us.
The weeks preceding December 25th are commonly known as “Advent”. It is a time when many focus their hearts and minds for the celebration of the birth of Christ. The season of Advent has additional meaning as those that believe in Christ look back on His first coming in anticipation of His second coming. For many it is often a sweet time of reflection and preparation; this has been the case for us!
We are officially a “Waiting” family. Since making our announcement there has been much reflection on how we have reached this point. We’ve been asked by many about how we came to our decision to adopt. It has been amazing to recount the faithfulness of God in leading us here. It has also been a time of preparation as we have begun to take the steps necessary to eventually complete the adoption process. We have filled out loads of paperwork, begun our required education, and we have started fundraising. The fundraising was, admittedly, the most intimidating part of the process before we announced. It is in this process where God has shown Himself most faithful as he has provided stunningly through the generosity of many friends and family!
We have recounted the success of our fundraising thus far in other forums, but what we will say here is that we have been floored by the response! It has been a sweet reminder from God that as we wait, He is sustaining us and providing for us. As a result of this provision, we have been able to make some important payments. You can visit our Financial Accountability page to view our progress.
Answering Questions
Through these last couple of weeks we have had a few questions that we felt like were worth addressing on the blog. We will do our best to answer those questions now:
- Do you know which child you are adopting?
- No, we do not.
- When will you know?
- Once we have completed our home study and lots of other paperwork, it will be put together in a dossier. This packet of information will be sent to Colombia to the Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) for review and approval. If and when we are approved, we will be eligible to be matched with a child. This entire process could take anywhere from 12 to 18 months.
- How long will the process take overall?
- While we are hopeful the process will happen quickly, we are anticipating 2 years.
- How much will it cost?
- It will cost at least $41,000. For specifics on what exactly we will be required to pay, you can visit our Financial Accountability page.
What’s Next?
We are taking the first step in our home study process this week. It will be an orientation phone call and initial interviews. Concurrently we will continue our Hague adoption training. Finally we will continue the fundraising process as we still have a long way to go.
How Can You Be Praying for Us?
Prayer is so important in a process like this, so in that light we ask for you to pray for:
- Lifeline Children’s Services in general and more specifically for the Lifeline Latin America team. These are the women that God has tasked with taking us on this journey. Pray for wisdom and endurance for them.
- Us as we will have a lot to manage with the home study and dossier process. Pray that we will be diligent to do what is asked of us.
- Our boys as we teach them and lead them through this process.
- The financial means to be provided for us as we make our way through this process.
- Our daughter or daughters. Yes we said daughters! We are prayerfully considering if God would have us bring two children home. There is no guarantee, but we have to be approved for two children during the home study process. Pray for wisdom as we consider if this is how the Lord is leading us.
As always, we will keep you updated with our progress. We thank you for your prayers, for your financial support, and for all the kind words of encouragement along the way. It means the world to us.
Merry Christmas!
Beautiful In Time 
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