"I haven't checked the blog in a while. How is the adoption coming along?"
Thank you for asking! We get that a lot, and it's a question that needs answering.
2015: Yes ➞ No
To be honest, we haven't been around the blog since this time last year. 2015 proved to be a year where our family said "yes" to many, many things. We each said "yes" to new opportunities in our careers, with Allie accepting a new role at Sam's school, and Adam continuing to expand his responsibilities in his tenth year at Grainger. At church, Adam said "yes" to leading the search for a new Director of Worship and Creative Communication. We said "yes" to taking some time for very special vacations with family and close friends. We said "yes" to making some healthy lifestyle changes. We said "yes" to enrolling Sam in swimming lessons and a basketball league for the first time, and enjoyed seeing him grow.
The net effect, however, was moving much more slowly through the adoption process in 2015 than we had planned. At the end of many of these full days, we simply had to say, "No, not tonight," and delay our progress. "Yes" to many things became a de facto "no" on adoption progress, wearing us down and leading to frustration at not being further along. To be sure, we attended additional classes, met with our counselor, and are well on our way through the home study. We're much closer than we were this time last year- we just expected to move more quickly. We knew that adoption can be a long process, and in 2015, the delays rested squarely on us.
2016: No ➞ Yes
2016 will be different. 2016 is already different. In the next year, we will be saying "no" a lot more- even to some good things- in order to intentionally and emphatically say yes in our journey toward bringing a child home. That probably means pulling back from select activities in order to make time for adoption meetings, classes, and paperwork. It means spending time on weekends prepping our home for visits and inspections. It means reserving our margin for family time and preparing for this next chapter. It also means spending more quality time with friends who will come alongside us. We hope it means welcoming a son or daughter this year.
Three small things you can do
We also need you to join us in several small ways. There are three things you can do:
Pray for us. We know God has brought us this far. We know we have a long way to go. Pray that God would stretch our faith and reliance on Him. As we lean into what He is doing, we look forward to sharing with you the story of His grace and goodness.
Keep asking us about the adoption process. We're absolutely thrilled that you're interested! Bringing a child home through adoption looks very different from what most people are used to, and it's OK to have questions. We'd be glad to grab a cup of coffee and share our experience with you.
Ask us how you can help. Are you able to give? Great! Are you a prayer warrior? Fantastic! Are you an encourager? Bring it on! Can you whittle with the best of them? We'll find a way to make it work! The more the merrier! The point is, we trust God to raise up a community to build into our growing family through this journey, we'd love for you to be part of this story however God has enabled you.
By praying for us, asking us about adoption, and finding little things to do to help, we are confident that God will use you as He writes this story.
-Adam