One of the things that we knew immediately in even
considering adoption again is that the costs are daunting. How does one pay for adoption fees? I have a good friend who has adopted from
Russia four separate times … do you realize that is about $200,000 total in
adoption costs? How does a family do
that? We believe fully that the only way
this is done is through God’s help. We
have struggled with deciding, do we wait until we have all of the funds before
entering this process? Or do we just
jump in, trusting that God will provide as we move ahead? There are many philosophies on this, and
honestly, after working in the adoption world for four years now, I have come
to believe fully that God intends for this process to come as He calls, and
sometimes He calls when you don’t have $20,000 saved in your bank account. Does that mean that going into debt for adoption
is a good idea? I think each family
needs to evaluate that question for themselves, being wise but also assessing all
resources available to them. I do
believe that sometimes we do have to get creative and look at the ways that we
are already blessed and draw from those areas.
Do we trust that God will care for us always? I mean always? What if that means that our earthy “safety net”
is drained … will God still care for us?
I do believe that He will and I also have come to understand at a more
personal level that when we walk in this life doing what He asks, even when it
doesn’t fit into our financial plan, He will honor that and provide for all of
our needs.
My grandpa was a pastor for all of his adult life. He and my grandma lived on very little, and
you know what? God always provided for
them. They did not live life worrying about not having enough. They knew that had enough because God was
walking with them and He would never leave them. From my perspective they never worried about “having”
but they also did not extend themselves in a way that made life a struggle, they
simply lived with “less.” When you have
almost 30 grandkids, as my grandparents did, they did not shower us with things,
rather they showered us with love, time and lots of tasty baked treats (ohh my
grandma’s light rye bread … so incredible)!
J As many of you know, my sister and her husband
adopted a large sibling group five years ago.
Many asked, “How will you pay for college for all of them?” And their response, college is not a worry
for a child that may not have basic needs met if we didn’t step up and do
this. Living with “less” and having “less”
to provide our kids. But you know that
our “less” in this country is actually more than most in the world will ever
have.
So, we are $8,000 into our adoption this time. We know that we have least $13,000 (and
possibly) more to go depending upon how many times we need to travel to
Ghana. Do we have that saved in our
account? No, we do not. Our accounts are now drained after our
initial investment. This is when we now
trust that God will provide what we need.
I have heard countless stories of the ways God has provided to families
over the past four years. Honestly, it
is one of the best parts of my job. God
ordains adoption, God calls people to adopt, and God calls others to support
those who adopt. We are going to be
starting our fundraising efforts very soon.
It is a part of the journey that
requires us to pack away our pride and trust that God has called us to this …
so He will provide what we need!
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