Stepping Out

Almost 16 years ago, a beautiful, dramatic, smart, curly-haired girl made us parents.

8 years ago, a funny, active, smart, brown-eyed, 5 year old boy entered our family.

And we thought we were complete. Done. Finito. No more children.

I believe God laughed at that idea... He has this way of rearranging the best of plans.  We feel that it's time to become a family of 5. (Well, maybe 6. But probably just 5.  Is God laughing again?)

We took adoption classes through the state of Oregon and completed our home study. We were given access to a website with all of the kids available for adoption in Oregon. There are currently 91 kids listed on the website. The problem? Out of 91, the 4 boys between the ages of 5 and 11 have physical and mental needs far beyond what we can handle. If we were up for adopting a family of 4 or 5 children, we'd have plenty to choose from.

Enter Discouragement.

We took a peek at the children available across the rest of the U.S. and were amazed at how many there are.  So.many.boys. We requested information on a couple of them and quickly realized that other states are in a much different situation than Oregon. They're overflowing with children who need adoptive families.

And then the slight kink in the plans hits yet again. Adoption through the foster care system in Oregon is free. There's even ongoing financial support available with the adoption of an older or 'special needs' child. Adopting outside of Oregon is not so free. While I don't believe the expenses will be anywhere close to the cost of an overseas adoption, there will be legal fees and travel costs that will come into play.

Since that's not in our plan... and God seems to be opening that door... He must have a plan to take care of the expenses.

If you'd like to help get this sweet boy (whomever he may be) home to a family who will love him forever, we've set up a link for donations toward the adoption expenses.

But more than that... please pray that a) We would hear God clearly  and b) This future member of our family would be safe until we find him.

Thank you, friends.