Last Call!!!!

We had planned to process the order for t-shirts, but we had a few last minute orders come in this past weekend. With that being said, we are going to push back the t-shirt order for one week. The new deadline is Sunday, Dec. 9th 10:00pm.

Please tell your friends! Thanks again!
 

Quick update

Hello all,

 It's been some time since a update was sent, and a few things have occurred since our last post.

About a week ago we received letters from the state letting us know that our background checks were cleared, and we were approved for adoption. That process went a little quicker than anticipated.
Our background information is now being forwarded to our home study agency. That being said...we are still in the waiting game for a bit longer. Hopefully, in the next few weeks we will be receiving information that our home study is complete.  Then we should be allowed to begin applying for grants, and start sending out our family profiles to the adoption agencies.

That's about it for now. We will again keep you posted with any new information.

Just a reminder!!! T-shirts for sale..... don't forget to get your order in!!!

We hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thanks again for all your prayers and support!!

Adoption T-shirt fundraiser!!!

Hey Everyone, 

We are selling t-shirts for the adoption!!! We decided to have a little fun, and show our love for adoption with one of the most well known adopted men of all time. SUPERMAN!!! If you think about it...a lot of famous super heroes were adopted...Batman... Spider-man...I am sure there are some others, but you get the idea.

Who knows... God may send a little super hero our way! ;)  

Everyone needs a new t-shirt, and this new t-shirt will be for a great cause!  

The cost is $15 per shirt.

The cut off date for orders will be December 1st, 2012.

Please let us know your name, shipping address, and desired size. 

Just send orders to the e-mail contact, or leave information on the comment board.

Payments can be made through our pay pal account or you can just mail us a check. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks again!

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Home Study #4 Finished!!!

We are proud to announce that we completed our last home study interview last Friday morning. The overall experience of the home studies was great. The last home study was pretty much the same experience as the previous interviews. The questions were mainly based on how we would raise our children, and the type of family we grew up in. We also had to write an autobiography of our lives. Naturally, Joshlyn wrote hers about a week in advance, and I waited until Thursday night. Procrastination at its best! Ha!

So whats next?
In the meantime we are at a bit of a stand still...In order to complete the home study we are now waiting for our background checks to clear. While we are waiting for that to be completed Joshlyn and I will be continuing to research grant and adoption agency information.

We will be sure to keep everyone updated on any new news that arises. Thanks again for you support!

Homestudy Interview #3

Things are moving along pretty well. This Monday we had our third homestudy interview. For this interview David and I were split up. April (our social worker) interviewed David first and then interviewed me. The questions this time were geared towards how David and I were raised. We were asked about all of our immediate family members, their ages, about their personality traits, how close we are to them, characteristics we have in common with our parents, ways in which we are different. We talked about how we were disciplined, who disciplined us, what type of kids and teenagers we were, our best and worst memories from growing up.  It was interesting trying to explain huge chunks of my life in a couple of sentences. Jumping from - "tell me what you were like as a child" immediately to "who are you now, who is Joshlyn today" can kind of quickly put your life in perspective.

I'm so thankful that God allows for these moments in my life. Moments that make you step back and evaluate how far you have come and where you want to go. What God has made glaringly obvious thus far in my life is that even the best laid plans aren't always HIS plans. I know if everything in my life was stripped away today that I would still glorify His name and I would thank Him for His saving grace. I am not in control of my life and hallelujah for that; what a mess I would make of it. God has continually stripped down walls that I built up that I thought I could control and many that I thought made me better than those around me. This process is terrifying at times, but then you have to step back and put things in perspective. God gently reminds me of all those times I earnestly prayed that He would help me become a more patient person, a more humble person, that I earnestly wanted Him to have complete control in my life. I feel like He says "here it is". Are you going to turn to Me? Are you going to see this as an opportunity to grow? Or will you see this as an opportunity to hide and become bitter? If life has brought you to an unexpected place, and you're struggling to reconcile with the fact that life doesn't always go as we plan - I pray you will turn to Him too. I pray that you will not become bitter. I pray that you choose to grow. I pray that you search to find peace within your circumstances, whatever they may be. I can say from experience it isn't easy but it's worth it. There is great joy to be found on the other side of your suffering and pain.

This process has brought David and I to place in our marriage and our spiritual lives that we may have never experienced. I think we are both grateful for that. Granted we still have a ways to go! One step at a time . . .

Next step,
Fourth (AND FINAL!) Interview scheduled for
Friday, October 19th at 10:00 am

Then . . .
We will wait for our background checks to come back and April to finish the homestudy.

As always we are so appreciative of your love, encouragement and support!

Homestudy Interview #2 (out of 4)

I'm so sorry I'm just now getting this posted. The time has really flown by this week.

Our week started off with our second homestudy interview (of 4 total). April, our social worker, came over to the house at 10:00 am Monday morning. We were much more relaxed going into this interview, seeing as though we had already met April and knew more of what to expect. This interview the main topic of discussion was our relationship. We talked about how David and I first met, what our dating life was like, how long we dated before we were married, what our marriage has been like, how we resolve conflict, our current and previous jobs, etc. For the most part I think it was pretty easy for her. As most people are, she was surprised that we were high school sweethearts that actually "made it". I guess in the grand scheme of things it is rare to meet the man of your dreams (or boy as it was) in the eigth grade. I consider it truly a blessing that I was able to know and be a part of my husband's life at such a young age. Sorry, I'm getting a bit side-tracked . . .  anyways, April stayed about an hour and a half. Again things went wonderfully! We are so pleased (and relieved). We ended the interview by planning the dates/times for the final two interviews.

Interview #3 (David and I will be interviewed separately for this one!)
Monday, October 8 at 10:00am

Interview #4 (We will talk about parenting)
Friday, October 19 at 10:00am

Thank you all for your words of encouragement, thoughts, prayers and support - it means so much to us!I hope everyone has a fantastic rest of the week. David and I will be working on finishing up the paperwork side of the homestudy process and looking forward to our next interview. We will keep you posted!

I thought this verse was so neat, I came across it this morning . . .
"But as for me, God's presence is my good. I have made the Lord God my refuge, so I can tell about all You do."  - Psalm 73:28

First Homestudy Interview

To those who have been thinking about us and praying for us these last couple of days please know that we are so thankful and that we truly felt the support.

For those of you who didn't know (sorry I didn't do an extra post it was a very busy weekend) our home study was rescheduled from Friday, September 21st at 10:30 am to TODAY - Monday, September 24th at 10:00 am (day 63). I have explained in detail more about how our homestudy process will unfold. This was the first interview of four total that will take place.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience! Praise the Lord!

This morning David and I woke up and frantically ran around the house doing last minute things such as putting out some Fall decor that we had stored in the attic, sweeping over the floors again, making sure the bathrooms looked polished, dusting the blinds in our bedroom to name a few. By the time 10:00 rolled around we were both on the couch no doubt thinking about all the things we forgot to do or corners we hoped she wouldn't want to look in. However, at this point although our minds were racing we were sipping coffee on the couch watching The Price is Right. David looked at me and asked "are we ready?". I shrugged and nodded with apprehension.

April pulled in the drive-way right on time. We both took a big breath filled with anxiety while Maggie (the Chihuahua mix) barked incessantly to warn us of her arrival. Honestly the first things I noticed about April were that she seemed very friendly and she was wearing black capri pants. The pants might be an odd thing to notice, but we have two blond dogs and I immediately thought oh no any dog hair in our house is going to flock and stick to her. Yikes!

We all sat down. I offered for everyone to sit at our dining table, but April said "oh no no I'm not that formal". Whew. That sounded good. So we all sat down on the couches together. Maggie immediately jumped in her lap and made herself at home. We emphatically apologized. But, you could tell that April was a dog person. She loved Maggie and told us that she had a Golden Retriever and a cat and grew up around animals. Wow, that was so nice to hear. She then began telling us more about her story . . . she has two adopted children and they are both teenagers. So cool.

Conversation continued effortlessly for two hours. She asked a few "get to know you" questions and explained what we need to expect in the upcoming meetings. She walked around the house and complimented us on how nice it looked. We showed her the future nursery. The only thing we were missing was a fire extinguisher. So we will be sure to have one when she comes next time. Speaking of that  . . .

Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday - October 1st, day 70 (since we posted our first blog post).

We are so thankful that God paired us with April. We are looking forward to meeting with her again! Thank you again for all of your words of encouragement they mean so much to us.

On the paperwork side of things:
We have had our physicals.
We have collected copies of all paperwork needed.

We still need to be fingerprinted and submit for background checks. We are going to try and do that this week! Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Day 51

Today is the 51st day since the day we published our first blog post (July 24th). We feel like we have already accomplished quite a bit, although we are not naive to the fact that we have a long way to go!

We just found out yesterday that DAY 60 will be a BIG DAY for us! Our social worker called yesterday to set up a time for our first home study interview. This interview, as I explained more in detail in the previous post, will be one of four that will take place through the home study process.

Please be in prayer for us this week and next week as we prepare not only our house for the home study but also our hearts and minds. We know that it will be fine, that God is in control, and we are not so much scared, but very very anxious.

Day 60 - will be Friday, September 21 - the meeting time will be 10:30 am.

Remember as you continue through the week that what you focus on increases. . .  I will choose to focus on the good not the bad, the happy not the sad, the things I have instead of what I lack, my blessings not my struggles. God works all things together for good - I think it will be hard for us to recognize that if we are only focusing on the bad. Don't miss out!

Bring on the Paperwork Pile

Some updates  . . .  

We have finished answering all the family profile questions for Christian Adoption Consultants and emailed them. These 30 questions, over 12 pages of size 11 font typed, will be included in our family profile that birth mother's will see. It is personal information about who we are, how we were raised, what we enjoy doing, our plans for the future, etc. In essence a way for the birth mother to "get-to-know us". We are working on finishing compiling and labeling over 120 pictures for our family profile as well. 

Also, we have already heard back from Lifeline! They called to let us know that they received our application fee ($250), that all the initial paperwork looks great and we should be hearing from the local social worker in our area this upcoming week! So exciting! They also emailed us an extensive packet of information, questions and forms to be filled out. 

We knew this would be coming, but seeing it all in a 50 page packet to be printed out was still a little overwhelming. To give you a better idea, on the agenda for this week is the following:

1. go online to fill out paperwork to begin a background check on David and I (this can take up to 3 months to finish processing)

2. contact the police department about getting our fingerprints taken

3. going by the vet to obtain vaccination histories on all of our pets

4. schedule appointments with our doctor's for physical exams 

5. signing a couple of forms

6. working on some autobiographical information for the social worker

7. having copies compiled of 

          a. most recent tax return information (federal and state)

          b. most recent pay stubs

          c. medical/dental insurance cards

          d. driver's licenses

          e. each of our birth certificates

          f. current marriage license

Whew. One thing at a time. 

That is the paperwork side. The other side of the process is the actual in-home visits by the social worker. I've learned that different agencies may have slightly different processes, ours will proceed as follows:

1. The first interview is a home visit in which the social worker will address each of the qualifications for adoption.

2. The second and third interviews are individual interviews and are based on our autobiographies we provide. 

3. The third interview will focus on parenting philosophies and plans. Issues such as experience and exposure to children, the applicants' parenting received when they were children, values and discipline will be explored.

4. The fourth interview will focus on adoption education. We will discuss how to educate a child on his or her adoptive status, how to educate others, proper words and timing, books on adoption, inter-racial adoptions, contact with birth parents, background information on any prospective adopted child, and many other issues common to adoption. 

The overview is that we will have 4 separate in-home visits. We will not have the exact dates for these until we have spoken with the social worker. 

That is all the information we have for now! We are excited and I would be lying if I I didn't also add nervous! 

I thought I might share a little "perspective" from a wonderful book I'm reading (The Noticer by Andy Andrews). 

- Direct Excerpt from Chapter 1- 

Why does everyone think that when people say that 'God will put a person after His own heart where He wants him to be' . . .  that it means God will put them on a mountaintop or in a big house or at the front of the line?

"Think with me here . . . everybody wants to be on the mountaintop, but if you'll remember, mountaintops are rocky and cold. There is no growth on the top of a mountain. Sure, the view is great, but what's a view for? A view just gives us a glimpse of our next destination-our next target. But to hit that target, we must come off the mountain, go through the valley, and begin to climb the next slope. It is in the valley that we slog through the lush grass and rich soil, learning and becoming what enables us to summit life's next peak.

So here is to slogging through this week . . . looking forward to what good stuff I might be able to soak up!  What about you? 

Home Study Bound!!!

Our apologies for not posting this update sooner, but Labor day family gatherings, and the beginning of college football sort of got the best of us.

We just want everyone to know that we were able to send in our home study application last week, and now waiting for Lifeline to contact us to set up an appointment. We are a little anxious about this whole step in the adoption process, but we have faith that everything will be just fine. Nevertheless, please keep us in your prayers. We will be sure to update everyone as soon as we hear from the agency.

Keep checking out our blog for the big announcement of our next fundraiser.

Again.....Thank you everyone for the contributions. Everything helps!

Home Study Update

Just wanted to give an update on where we are with the Home Study. 

We are still pulling together the last bit of the information that needs to be included on the Home Study application. We shouldn't have any issues getting it out this week. 

Other than that, nothing much has changed. We did have a chance to update the fundraising progress charts. As you will see... If it were a pizza, we would have a good, hefty slice of pepperoni and cheese! ;) 

Thanks again for your contributions...everything helps!

Also, once we get a few weeks into the Home Study we will be sending out information on our next fundraiser.

Yard Sale Experts! hardly...

Hey Everyone,

WE DID IT! Thank you to everyone who contributed items to the yard sale. The yard sale was a great success. We will be submitting our "initial" Home Study application this week.

Since we really were bad about creating any posts last week I'll play a little catch up...

Joshlyn and I began putting up signs around the neighborhood last Monday, as well as, posting a few advertisements online. By Friday afternoon our house and carport were packed with all sorts of different items that people had been dropping off all week. Around 5:00pm Friday, we even had a few early, early bird yard salers come by to check out what we were selling.  After pricing, and organizing everything as much as possible, we got to bed around 10:00pm. We were back up around 4:00am. (so much fun! Ha!) Personally, I didn't think Joshlyn had it in her to wake up by 4am, but she proved me wrong. We were up hustling tables and things out into to the front yard by 4:15am only to be finishing up just as the first car pulled up around 5:00am. The sun wasn't even up yet, and people were showing up with flash lights...I think someone should make a reality tv show about yard salers.-I would watch it.

To make a long story short, we kept the sale open until around 12:30pm, and began putting away everything. The final total for the sale was $685 + ($500 contributions). Prior to the yard sale we had $850 in contributions in the adoption fund. So with all the contributions, and Saturday's earnings we have a grand total of $2035.

The initial home study was $1750 so we should have a few hundred dollars left over to put towards future adoption expenses. We will be sure update the fundraising progress tab ASAP.


We did have a few items left over. So we will be trying to sell those items either online or in a future yard sale. All money made will go directly to the adoption fund. Whatever we have left over will then be donated to Goodwill.

God has truly blessed us to bring all of you into our lives. Thank you so much for all of your support.

We will post another update as soon as we get the Home Study application submitted.

Last Week before the Yard Sale

Hello everyone! Thanks for the wonderful responses to our yard sale so far. If any of you would still like to donate items please feel free to contact David or me. We will be collecting items up until the last minute. So if there is anything hanging around your house or hiding in the back of your closets that you have been meaning to get rid of we will gladly take it off your hands! This is what I worked on today.

We will be putting these up tomorrow after church. I have made several other "back-ups" in case our first get rained on early in the week. We are so excited! Thanks again for your support!

Yard sale update and upcoming t-shirts

Just want to let everyone know that everything is falling into place for the Yard Sale.

Joshlyn and I will be spending the next week consolidating all the items that we currently have, as well as, the things that friends and family have already dropped off with us.

I am planning to make my rounds with a trailer on Friday, August 17. I can make a special trip to Montgomery if needed. So please contact me if you would like to donate anything. (if you have small things just let me know, and I can get those items on one of my daily work trips).

We truly appreciate all of your contributions.
We are truly blessed to have all of you in our lives.

Hopefully, we will surpass our next goal of raising money for the home study, and allocate any excess towards the rest of the adoption process. We will be sure to keep you posted.

Also, "adoption t-shirt fundraiser" soon to come!!! I should have that info out in about a week. I am currently working on quotes and stuff like that.

Yard Sale Plans

Hey everyone,

This is David. I plan on making a trip to Montgomery the week of the yard sale. I am planning on bringing a trailer with me for any larger items being donated. I'll post more details on yard sale "pick-up" schedule as we get closer to the event. If you have anything that you would like to donate please contact us, and I'll swing by on my trip to take it off your hands.

Thanks!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are you adopting?

We are adopting because we cannot have biological children. We do not feel the need to elaborate any further on the specifics of that statement. We feel that God has placed a longing in our hearts to be parents. After prayerful consideration and research we felt led to adoption. We believe the concept of adoption is beautiful and can be an avenue to display the gospel. We feel the concept of adoption is especially relatable to all Christians, because we understand we are adopted into the body of Christ.

Why are you choosing domestic adoption?

We have been able to speak personally with couples who have adopted/are adopting both internationally as well as with couples who have adopted/are adopting domestically. Either path involves significant risk. Either path involves helping a child find a loving forever home. Either path involves having a great deal of patience.  There are many specifics that I could lay out in comparing the options, but the underlying factor for our decision was that we wanted to experience as much of our first child’s life as possible. As terrifying and sleep depriving as they may be, we want to experience as many of those precious newborn parenting moments as we can. By pursuing a domestic adoption we will be a part of our child's life from the day they leave the hospital. We do plan on having more than one child and very well may choose a different path next time.

Why did you choose Christian Adoption Consultants (CAC)?

We received a personal referral from a couple that used CAC. We met this couple at our church after they became our Sunday school teachers. After speaking with this couple about their experience, we researched further on our own. We conducted a phone interview with our personal consultant Tracie. We talked about it and prayed about, but we almost immediately felt comfortable with CAC.

Why did you choose Lifeline adoption for your home study?

We knew of Lifeline before we even knew we were adopting. Two life-long friends of ours are currently employed at Lifeline. Something else that drew us to Lifeline was that they are an openly Christian organization. We feel confident they are efficient, thorough, easy to get in contact with, and kind.

Why are you using two separate organizations for consulting and home study?

The home study process has to be performed by an in-state accredited social worker. Our consultants are just that, adoption consultants, not social workers. Also, Christian Adoption Consultants are not based in Alabama. Lifeline adoption is an adoption agency based in Birmingham, AL that employs several social workers. Lifeline offers contract services that include the home study and post-adoption home visits.

What race/age/gender will your child be?

We do have the opportunity to specify certain attributes of our child. We have decided that we have absolutely no preference for gender and we are open to discuss various races as situations arise. God willing, we will get to take our child home shortly after they are born. The timing of when we will get to return home with our child depends on the state we adopt from. In general, it should be no longer than 30 days. We will not know the specifics until we are matched with a birth mother.

How much will your adoption cost?

We only have a broad estimate of around $35,000. The price of the adoption will depend mostly on the agency with which the birth mother is involved. Each agency has an initial agency fee of around $10,000 - $12,000. This initial agency fee is typically paid upon matching with a birth mother. We will also be responsible for paying the birthmother’s medical expenses as well as helping her with day to day living expenses. These expenses are estimated by the birth mother's agency. These costs are typically between $5,000 and $10,000. This money is held by the agency and paid on the mother’s behalf. For instance, the agency would pay her power bill directly or her doctor’s bill directly. The birth mother will not handle this money directly. Once the adoption is finalized the second agency fee is due. The second agency fee is usually an additional $10,000 - $12,000. There may be variations from this general standard, and we will update you about the specifics of our match as we find out.

How long does the entire process usually take?

The consultant firm we are using, Christian Adoption Consultants (CAC), consistently match their clients within a 12-18 month range. We have read of several of their success stories just within the last year that fit well within this estimation. Two of their previous clients are our Sunday school teachers. They began with CAC in February of 2009 and brought baby Cooper home in September of 2010. We are optimistic we could bring home a baby, Lord willing, by next Christmas (2013).

How will you come up with that much money in one year?

That is a great question! We have faith that God will provide a way. We are planning to utilize fund raisers, grants and savings. We will update you about these as they come. If you have the ability and feel led you can donate directly to our adoption fund through PayPal here on the blog.

What are the main steps involved in the process?

Once we decided on adoption, and then decided to pursue a domestic adoption, we started researching the process. We were overwhelmed and thought we could use help to guide us through the process. We made the decision to use a consulting agency.  We knew we would prefer Christian consultants. We found Christian Adoption Consultants through a direct referral from our Sunday school teachers. First big step was to pay their consulting fee and sign a contract with them. We did this on July 18, 2012. Next step is to complete a home study. The home study process has to be completed through an agency located in our home state. So, we will be contracting Lifeline adoption agency for our home study. The home study involves having a social worker meet with us at our home. They will conduct interviews with us, go over our finances and verify we have a safe place to bring home a child. We will also have to provide paperwork such as our birth certificates, background checks, physical exams etc. They will compile this into a final report. This final report will be utilized by Christian Adoption Consultants and placed into a family profile. Ultimately once this family profile is complete it will be sent out to at least five agencies located around the United States. We will then wait to be matched with a birth mother. Once matched, we pay our first agency fee to our birth mother's agency. Then we review paperwork and contracts for helping the birth mother with her expenses. Next, we wait for delivery day! We may or may not communicate with the birth mother. Communication will primarily be at the birthmother’s discretion. Once our birth mother is in labor we will fly to her.Once at the hospital, we will go through a legal process/paperwork to be able to take our child from the hospital and then across state lines. We will pay the final agency fee once the adoption is finalized. Finally, there will be a couple of post-adoption visits from the social worker that performed our home study. This is a general idea and may vary some depending on our birth mother's agency and the state the agency is located in. As we know specifics we will update.

Will the child most likely have medical problems?

Our child may or may not have medical problems. We will only know of medical problems that can be diagnosed in-utero. We are open to discuss specific situations that arise and will evaluate them on a case-by-case basis.

Will you know/meet the birth mother?

We will most likely speak with the birth mother, at least, over the phone. Communication will primarily be at the birthmother’s discretion. Often agencies encourage adopting couples to obtain 1-800 numbers at a low monthly cost. This provides a way for the birth mother's to make contact. The 800 number protects the adoptive parent’s location and personal information. Sometimes birthmother’s do want to meet face-to-face. These situations can be tedious and we will update you as we have specific information about our birth mother so you can be in prayer for us and her.


Will you maintain a relationship with the birth mother after the adoption?

Again, this will depend on the specifics of our adoption and our birth mother. The specifications of post adoption communication will be a part of the adoption contract. We will be hoping for a partially open adoption. We will not be disclosing our address, last name or direct contact information. We will be glad to send pictures to the agency along with an update letter. These specifics will all be negotiated into a contract. 

What can our friends/family do to help?

Please be in prayer for us. If you have the ability and feel led to donate we will be forever grateful. If you can participate in any of our fundraisers please let us know. We will be in need of consistent encouragement. This process can be draining and long. We know there will be many ups and downs.

Are you worried about what will happen when your child turns 18?

I do not think we are any more worried than most parents about the thought of parenting teenagers. We know that we plan on raising our child(ren) in a Christian home with unconditional love and support. We pray God helps us raise God-fearing, loving, productive, respectful and wise human beings. If our children chose to pursue finding their biological parents we will gladly support them.
"Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."   Proverbs 22:6

When do you plan to tell the child that he/she is adopted?

We plan to tell the child from as early in their lives as they can understand. We believe their adoption story will provide a unique avenue to begin sharing the gospel with them. We may not be adopted in the exact same sense as our child will be, but we can share how we are so happy to be adopted into the body of Christ. We will explain to our child how grateful we are that God allowed us to be his/her parents.

If you have any further questions please feel free to contact us. We have a ‘contact us’ tab at the top of the blog. Hope you are all doing well.

Initial Letter to Friends and Family

If you are here you probably received the letter found below in the mail. Or maybe you heard about our new journey through word of mouth. Maybe you saw something on a social media site that intrigued you so you decided to stop in, or maybe you're just perusing random blogs. Whatever brought you here, welcome to our adoption journey! We will try our best to keep this up-to-date. Thank you for your support!

Dear Friends and Family,

Hope you are doing well.

We are getting ready to celebrate our 3^rd year of marriage. We are starting to realize how fast time goes by. The past few years have been wonderful, but we cannot help but feel that there is something missing in our life.

Over the past two years we have discovered that we will not be able to have children. Nevertheless, we do feel that God has put a longing in our hearts to parent.

We wanted to let you know over the next few months we will begin the process of adopting a baby! From what we have learned, the process of adoption is likely to be long, frustrating, expensive, but in the end… a wonderful and rewarding experience. As of now we are not exactly sure where the funding will come from, but we have faith that with savings, fundraising, grants and donations God will provide what we need to bring a baby boy or girl into our home.

After going to informational sessions on adoption, and discussing adoption with other adopting couples we have decided to pursue domestic adoption. Through personal recommendations and research we have decided to use a consulting agency, Christian Adoption Consultants (CAC). The next step in our process is our adoption home study. We are required to use an in-state adoption agency for this step. We will be using Lifeline Adoption Agency based in Birmingham, AL for the home study. The home study is a process that includes meeting(s) with a social worker within our home, multiple interviews and background checks that will culminate in a final report. This home study report will be passed on to our consultant agency (CAC). The home study will be an integral part of an entire family profile that CAC will create for us. The family profile, when complete, will be sent to at least five adoption agencies around the country. We will then wait to be matched with a birthmother.

For more information, upcoming fundraisers, and updates about our adoption please visit our adoption blog:  www.davidandjoshlyn.blogspot.com. Please be aware you can make donations directly to our adoption fund through a secure PayPal account we have available on the blog. Also, feel free to contact us directly.

We are so grateful for your continued prayers and support and are looking forward to what God has in store for the next year. Hope to see you soon!

Love,

David and Joshlyn