A Lesson in Trust

Let me preface this by saying that God has not told us who our child is yet, but here is a little bit of what was happening here in the Smith household last month:

On November 2nd, I was up late working on calligraphy pieces and felt lead to take a look at our adoption agency's "Waiting Children" list, although I was sure that there was probably not any new children on this list. But when I opened it, there was a sweet, sweet little girl in need of a home. I immediately ran upstairs to show Todd. We read over what little information was written on her and we both quickly decided that we would like more information on this adorable baby. So I emailed our adoption agency and the next morning, we received an email full of medical information on the baby girl and they also let us know that multiple other families had requested her information and after us, they were not allowing anyone else to pursue her.

Through several situations that were very apparently orchestrated by God, Todd and I looked over her file and dropped it off with our pediatrician to give us his opinion on if we would be able to handle her needs as she grows up.

Without going into too much detail, she had the possibility of a condition that could be very serious and scary. And after much prayer and counsel, Todd and I still felt lost, even after a week of solid prayer. I finally prayed that God would speak through someone else, because our hearts were so conflicted. Well the next day we received a text from a very dear friend and relative that pretty much said "God wanted me to tell you that there is no reason to fear. God is her protector. We should feel at peace with saying 'no' and knowing that God will provide her with a beautiful, loving family and we should be able to be at peace with saying 'yes' and knowing that if God places her in our family, she will be a blessing and not a burden." With tears in our eyes, Todd and I so clearly felt God's hand on our family and confidently decided to tell our adoption agency that we would like to be considered as the family for this sweet girl.

James 1:3 was one of the verses God gave me during this long, tiring week of seeking His will.

There was one other family being considered and after filling out a stack of paperwork on how our family would adjust to bringing a new child into our home and especially one with the needs she may have, we started our wait. A couple weeks later (the day before thanksgiving to be exact), we got a call from our adoption agency letting us know that the other family had been selected as the family to adopt this child. Although we had to adjust our plans that had started to form for our family, we could not get over the overwhelming peace that The Lord had given us. Peace that this sweet girl found her family and that our baby is still out there. We do not know the big picture reason that God had us pursue this beautiful little girl, but we did learn alot about trust and that may be the only thing we ever know about this situation. But through it all, we give Him praise. God has a perfect child for us and we so look forward to the day we receive the news that we are matched!

Thanksgiving consisted of being thankful for the fact that God is a father to the fatherless and He is the powerful protector of our little one.

December Update

This past month has been a whirlwind of craziness! With traveling multiple times, working on homestudy stuff, so many calligraphy orders, and 2 super fun calligraphy parties... our bodies are tired, but our hearts are so full!!

One friday night, Madilynn stayed with Mimi and Pop while Todd and I stained over 20 pieces of wood for calligraphy order and completed our required 10 hours of adoption training! This was a HUGE item marked off of our homestudy list!

These nativity pieces have been SO popular! If I had to tell you one thing that November consisted of, it would be these!! I love the idea that all of these families will take these pieces out every year to decorate for Christmas and will think about our sweet baby and be able to pray for them as they grow!!

They take so much time that I started recruiting help whenever I could get it! Haha. (Several people not pictured: Mimi, Beth Palmer, Emily Geyer, Aunt Sissy, Mamaw) 

Sadly, these are sold out this year, but we may bring them back in 2017! ;)

Also, our new passports came in!!!! Another thing checked off of our to do list! 

 Then , we had 2 calligraphy parties and they were so incredibly fun!! I have some super talented friends, if I do say so myself!! ;) Several people have requested another night, so be on the lookout for another calligraphy night in the spring!

This month was busy, but oh so good! We also had a big event happen regarding a sweet korean baby, but I will save that for it's own post (hopefully in the next few days). This baby ended up not being ours, but was most definitely a huge part of our story!

A quick numbers update:

Y'all!! God has provided almost $5,000 in ONE MONTH! 

Once we reach our largest goal of $22,500, we will be able to accept a child at any time! And we are almost there!!!

At church tonight, the main verse we discussed says it all: "For nothing will be impossible with God" Luke 1:37

Total we are at $23,418 (out of $50,000), which means we are almost HALFWAY to our TOTAL GOAL!

Almost Done With Our Homestudy and Fundraising Update!

Today was Madilynn's 18 month birthday and our final homestudy meeting!!! What an amazing and huge day in the Smith household!! I love how God has a way of making days like this into such momentous occasions!! Oh praise Him!

All that we have left to complete our homestudy is like 5 more pieces of paperwork, our medical exams, and physiological exams. Then we submit our months of work to our sweet social worker and she turns it into our homestudy!!! Please pray for time, endurance, and the productivity to finish what we need to do in the next couple of weeks and, Lord willing, we will have our homestudy complete and submitted to our agency by 2017!

We have been working so hard and dealing with so much spiritual warfare over here! But God has been so gracious to provide encouragement through time spent with Him and beautiful and much needed words from friends. (A little bit of transparency: I have heard alot from other families who have adopted that they dealt with quite a bit of spiritual warfare during their adoption process, so I was on guard, I was prepared, I was above reproach, I was sitting in anticipation...but nothing had happened, so unfortunately, I let my guard down and Satan was sitting there waiting for that exact minute.) Although it is not even a teeny bit fun to deal with, I have been reminded time and time again that God cannot and will not be defeated. This is His plan and He is always victorious. (This is why we are called to be in community, because we need these reminders from time to time.)

Now on to fundraising... we are still on our biggin' of a goal ($22,500) that is due when we accept the referral of our child. And speaking of our referral timeline, we received an email that said the following: 

"You are receiving this email because you are in the process of completing your home study to adopt a child from Korea. We wanted to let you know that the Korea program needs families with approved home studies! We are seeing a decline in wait times for receiving a referral, and anticipate that families with a home study completed in the next few months are likely to be matched fairly quickly."

So this made us kick into super high gear and put quite a few butterflies in our stomach. We are so close to seeing our sweet baby!

We held a raffle for a custom calligraphy piece with our puzzle pieces and were blown away by the results. We have amazingly awesome friends and family!!!

So here are our current numbers:

God leaves us in awe! He has raised over half our BIG goal in only 2 months!!! And we have reached 38% of our grand total in less than 5 months! Praise and glory to God!!! 

P.S.- The super fast speed and crazy large amount of funds are not only confirmation that we are following God's will, but is a beautiful demonstration of HOW LOVED our sweet, sweet baby is!

October Fundraising Update

Y'all!! We are a tenth of the way to our puzzle fundraiser and 40% of the way to our LARGE fundraising goal that is due when we accept our child's referral!!
Watching as SO MANY people step up and donate to help bring our sweet love bug home is so incredibly humbling. God has proven Himself as our Great Provider!

If you would like to sponsor a puzzle piece, click here to get the rundown on how it works.

God has been teaching me SO much through this process of adoption. Here are two things that have stuck out recently:
1."Just us what you have, do the best you can, and trust him to fill in the gaps. In other words, our scarcity + tenacious faith in Jesus really will = more than enough." - Lisa Harper
2. "There are cowards, there are regular people, there are heros, and then there are parents. Parents are not really on the spectrum from cowardice to courage because if your child is in jeopardy, you simply do what it takes to save them." - Tim Keller / If we are pursuing our child so fervently, HOW MUCH MORE does God pursue us?!

Also, we are chugging away on our homestudy that will hopefully be done by December!! SO MUCH paperwork and so little time, but I am praying that God will not only provide the money needed to bring our sweet babe home, but for the time we need to complete the paperwork, doctor appointments, homestudy meetings, etc.! (Please pray along with us!!)

Another reminder, I am taking custom orders for fall and Christmas decor!! You can take a look on Etsy or a few of the custom orders I have done over on Facebook. I love watching God turn a hobby I love to do (and talent HE gave me) into a way for us to bring the newest Smith home!!

Fundraising update and our newest fundraiser

Y'all! We are standing AMAZED by God's faithfulness. We are already 35% of the way to our biggest fundraising goal of the adoption! (We have only been working towards it for less than 2 weeks!) Glory to God in the highest!!

If you haven't realized this, we have been working towards our $40-50k goal since mid-June. That means The Lord has raised OVER FOURTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS in THREE MONTHS. He has been so good to give us confirmation after confirmation that we are following His will and it is such an honor to watch His mighty ways unfold. 

OUR NEWEST FUNDRAISER:

We are selling puzzle pieces!

This is how it will work:

1. We had a 1000 piece puzzle purchased from a Korean artist. "Spring in Korea" 

2. We are “selling” each piece for $10. You can buy 1, 2, 3, or 10! There is no limit!

3. To purchase you can send money through my paypal link: paypal.me/alexrileysmith, mail a check (send me an email at Mrs.AlexRileySmith@gmail.com for address), or send it through the Square Cash App to $alexrileysmith

4. Once you purchase a piece, we will write your name on the back of one of the puzzle pieces! 

5. Once every single piece has been “sold”, we will put the puzzle together and hang it in a double-sided glass frame for our babies’ room so that they can always look back and be reminded of who had a “piece” of bringing them home!

I love a puzzle fundraiser for the fact that it represents how our baby will be brought home, one piece at a time. And it will always be a reminder of how many people played a part in bringing our sweet child home. We are so thankful for the support that has already been shown and I know God has more in store for us, because He withholds no. good. thing!

One more way for you to be able to show your love and support... please share this post with family and friends!!!

Our Yardsale Fundraiser

This weekend was our HUGE adoption fundraiser yard sale that our sweet, amazing, hardworking small group held for us. We have been collecting from friends and family for about 2 months now and filled 2 garages completely full!! Over SIXTY families donated goods for us to sell. God totally blew us away by providing so much merchandise. Like totally blew us away. 

The last 2 months have consisted of collecting, organizing, more collecting, and more organizing...

We decided to have a "pre-sale" on friday evening and an all-day sale on Saturday. We started pulling everything out on Friday around 1pm and seriously had a constant stream of people until dark. My prayer was for God to show up in a massive way this weekend, the way that he has shown up with providing SO much for our sale. Well, He totally outdid Himself!! On Friday night alone we pulled in almost $1700!!! (Needless to say, I ugly cried when we found this out.) Well, after a couple hours of sleep, we got up to do it all over again. And we were slammed! People were so generous and kind! God provided times for us to tell of His wonderful love and pursuance. He used His sons and daughters to encourage us and push us along on our journey. God was totally glorified. And at the end of the weekend, He provided $4,466.55!!! (If you include the amount Todd and Andrew have sold on eBay from the donated goods, it puts us over $5,000!) We are simply speechless. God is a good good father.

And we seriously couldn't have been able to do a fraction of these without our amazing small group! What an immense privilege it is to do life with these families and how incredibly humbling it is to watch as they selflessly spend HOURS & HOURS working this amazing fundraiser for us! 

The love we received from those who donated SO much, who came out this weekend and purchased items, who have prayed for this event, helped take care of Madilynn, and helped us stay sane during this process... we are so thankful.

To our future baby: You will never understand HOW MANY people can't wait for you to come home and HOW MUCH these people already love you. You. Are. So. Wanted. 

Our 2nd Fundraising Goal, Or As We Refer To It: The Big One!

So our homestudy is underway!! We have to have 4 meetings and we are halfway through with those. We had our initial meeting and I have had my one-on-one meeting. So that leaves Todd's one-on-one and our home inspection. We also have a TON of paperwork to get through, psychological tests, fingerprinting, and a few more surprises, I'm sure. We are hoping to be done with our homestudy by December! (What a Christmas gift that will be!)

But now on to our next fundraising goal!!! This is our BIGGIN. 

$22,500 due when we accept our child's referral for the adoption program fee!

It usually takes about 4 months after your home study is submitted to get assigned to a child. We will receive a photo along with a description and medical overview of the child. We should have a couple of days to decide if we feel capable of caring for said child. The adoption program fee helps cover the cost to facilitate the adoption in South Korea and the needs for our little one prior to bringing them home (food clothing, shelter, etc.). 

This is a huge goal, but we have a HUGE God!

We already have $867 raised towards our next goal!! And we have a massive yard sale fundraiser (on September 10th) followed by a silent auction dinner (on October 21st) coming up that we are so excited about!!! Also, let me know if you would like a custom calligraphy sign (especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner!) 

Please continue to pray that we will have every. penny. we need once we receive the referral and that God uses His amazing works to glorify Himself and show others His great love! We cannot wait to meet our sweet baby and are so thankful for God's provision!

Our First Homestudy Meeting

Yesterday, we had our first homestudy meeting!!

We met with our social worker for the first time. Several of our friends have worked with her on their adoptions and had nothing but amazing things to say about her. And let me say, she did not disappoint. Her passion for adoption is so apparent. Knowing that this one person will be creating a report on your family can be a little intimidating, but Janet completely put us at ease. When something is God's plan, He can bring the right people to encourage and help us along the way.

I expected to leave with tons of paperwork, but it is now all online and we are waiting on that email, so the overwhelming panic has not set in... yet. ;)  

I know we have a LONG road ahead of us, but we find peace and comfort in Psalm 128:2 "You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How joyful and prosperous you will be!"

BIG NEWS: we can start our homestudy!!

So, in 2 months and 12 days GOD has raised the over $7,000 needed to start our homestudy!!
This covers our application, homestudy, (a homestudy is required by law. A social worker visits our home and will interview each of us, and make an overall assessment of the life, home, environment our adopted child will be entering into. This takes around 2-4 months to complete.), and our U.S. Processing Fee (covers our agency's cost to facilitate our adoption with agency and government officials in both the United States and Korea. Processing expenses include — but are not limited to — personnel costs, administrative overhead, operational costs, staff training and education, communications and publications costs. This fee also covers all registration and translation costs related to submitting our dossier once we are matched with a child.)

We are meeting with our social worker on Monday, August 29th for our FIRST HOMESTUDY MEETING! (Man, that seems so surreal to say!)

Watching The Lord provide in such a BIG way is such a HUGE honor!!

Since our last fundraising update, we have placed another t-shirt order, made a whole lot of custom calligraphy signs, and been blown away by the generosity of our brothers and sisters in Christ! 

It has been an extremely busy month and things are just going to get crazier with all of the paperwork and an even higher fundraising goal to hit! But we know God has called us to this journey and we know that our sweet babe is so, so worth it!

Text to Todd

Last Tuesday, the 2nd, Calvary had a Ladies' Night and God used it as a night of realizations and encouragement. When I got home, I sat down to text Todd (since he is on a mission trip right now) and this is what poured out. I wasn't going to post, but I figured, our future child will want to each step of our journey and I know I will love to look back on how God spoke to us and how our journey led us to the baby we will be holding in our arms.
So here is my text to Todd:

"Tonight was the ladies night and man did God use it to speak to me!!!! First of all, while we were worshipping He BROKE my heart for our future little one. Our baby is going to ABANDONED. Left without a parent, shuffled through so many hoops by the government. They will not have an easy beginning. In fact, it will most likely take a hard toll on them in one way or another. My heart hurts for our baby. I pray that God will step in and hold him/her tight. Protect them, love them, comfort them until we get there. I knew what their first year and a half or so would look like theoretically but tonight the weight off it hit me hard... Like holding-back-an-ugly-cry-because-I-was-in-a-room-of-about-250-women hard.

Then the teaching for tonight was on "joy." And I thought, "I have been pretty joyful lately, I'm not sure where God is taking this." And oh boy did he reveal my struggle, my weakness. She taught on John 6: Jesus feeding the 5000. A story I have heard a million times. But I heard it in a way I have never heard it before. Verse 5 says that Jesus asks "where shall WE buy bread that they may eat?" - He had compassion on these people. For their needs. And in verse 7, Philip answers that everything he has or could hope to have wouldn't be sufficient for what they need. The speaker said that Jesus' question went way over Philip's head. And then she asked us a question "who has a situation that is way over your head?" And I wanted to leap out of my seat with both hands up. I. AM. PHILIP. This adoption and the money it will take is so over our heads. It is not something we could ever do on our own. But then she said "well aren't you lucky?" 😭 We are in a situation for God to show his amazing glory. He literally took 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish and multiples them to feed FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE!!! This is not a fairytale. This is not a story to teach someone a lesson. This truly truly happened!! If he can do this with food, you better believe it is possible with money. I am so quick to say "what is this among so many?" But what are we to do in our situation?? PUT IT IN HIS HANDS. He is so far beyond capable. In verse 11, Jesus gave thanks for the tiny amount of food He had AND THEN he multiplied it. We are to give thanks for the $3000 that God has already provided and then when we put it in His hands He WILL multiply it into the $50,000 we need. 🙌🏼

Psalm 51:12 says "restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by your generous Spirit." God is GENEROUS. He wants to give us our needs and wants. We need to honestly, wholeheartedly ask the Lord for what we need to pursue of child. My heart aches knowing that we will not get to spend their first days with them but God called us to rescue them and He will reward us for our obedience. That is a God-given promise and peace."

Fundraising Update & A Little Transparency

In less than a month, God has raised over $1000 more! We only have another $3,500 to raise until we can start our homestudy!!! Over halfway there! Glory to God!

With this said, here is a little transparency for you: the enemy has been trying to discourage my heart this past week. You would think that since we have the most amazing friends and family supporting us in this crazy journey by ordering t-shirts, buying etsy pieces, serving us in many ways, and praying fervently for us, I would be constantly encouraged. But, the enemy knows when to strike and what to attack.

The past couple of weeks have brought us another $1,000 towards our goal, but Satan is good at making me see the glass as half empty instead of half full. "Yes it is $1,000 but you still have triple that towards your first goal. Not to mention your next goal is huge! ($22,500!!) Is this possible? Did you and Todd hear correctly? Can God really provide THAT much money that quickly? This money is due soon!! You won't be ready."

Oh how quickly I am to desert all of the confirmation, scripture, peace, excitement that The Lord has placed on our hearts. God has been nothing, but faithful and yet I waiver at the lies the devil feeds me.

Well, God is also constantly patient with me because He has picked me up once again, taken the weight of my worries and fears once again, encouraged me once again. He is at work. This adoption IS His plan. Many of His children have already shown us His love and provision. Even if things are not happening in my exact timing, He is still good.


"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done." Philippians 4:6

Fundraising Update: July 2016

Since the overall cost of our adoption is pretty overwhelming ($40-50K), we decided to break our fundraising amounts into smaller goals to keep us motivated and give us a sense of accomplishment. :)

So, with that said, our first of four goals is $7,400!! This amount will pay for our application, homestudy, (a homestudy is required by law. A social worker visits our home and will interview each of us, and make an overall assessment of the life, home, environment our adopted child will be entering into. This takes around 2-4 months to complete.), and our U.S. Processing Fee (covers our agency's cost to facilitate our adoption with agency and government officials in both the United States and Korea. Processing expenses include — but are not limited to — personnel costs, administrative overhead, operational costs, staff training and education, communications and publications costs. This fee also covers all registration and translation costs related to submitting our dossier once we are matched with a child.)

We have already raised $2,446!! God is so good! He has seriously worked through several of our friends and family to help bring our sweet baby home!

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Since we are talking about fundraising, we have wrapped up our first fundraiser! Our t-shirts have been ordered and delivered! We LOVE them!! (Don't worry if you wanted a shirt and missed this opportunity, we will be ordering more on July 17th! Let us know if you want one!!) We raised $1,046 through the t-shirt fundraiser so far. :)

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And a new fundraising announcement: I have opened an ETSY SHOP! 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/FromOrphanToHeir

*A big thank you to Aunt Sissy for making our Etsy shop cover photo!
**Let me know if you would like to order a custom sign!!!

Expected Adoption Timeline

Here is the timeline our adoption process should stick to. The adoption process is one that changes all of the time and without notice, so this is by no means a definite schedule. Then add in things like paperwork delays and things can really start to change, but we are praying that God is present in every detail of this adoption and our family. We are trusting that His timing is PERFECT and each step (good or bad) will lead us to our amazing child.

*We are also including the approximate costs for each step, as to be be open and transparent with our friends and family. And because one of the most asked questions is "why does it cost so much?!"

6/13/16 - Application Submitted
($300 due at time of applying)

Adoption Homestudy
($2,500-$2,900 due before the first home visit)

• A homestudy is required by law. A social worker visits our home and will interview each of us, and make an overall assessment of the life, home, environment our adopted child will be entering into.  
• This takes around 2-4 months to complete.

(U.S. Processing Fee $3,500 due after Holt approves your homestudy)

• The cost for our adoption agency to handle all of the paperwork on the U.S. side.

Assigned to our Child
(Adoption Program Fee $22,500 due when you accept the assignment of a child)

• It usually takes about 4 months after our homestudy is completed to get assigned to a child
• We will receive a photo along with a description and medical overview of the child. We should have a couple of days to decide if we feel capable of caring for said child.
• The adoption program fee helps cover the cost to facilitate the adoption in South Korea and the needs for our little one prior to bringing them home (food clothing, shelter, etc.).

(Post-Placement Fee $1200-$2800 due when you accept the assignment of a child and before travel scheduling begins)

• This fee pays for the meetings and reports done after we bring home the newest Smith.

Travel to South Korea - 2 weeklong trips with about a month in between
($8,000-$15,000 due at time of booking travel - flights, hotels, food, etc.)
(Korea Travel Fee $800 due when you accept the assignment of a child - covers transportation while in South Korea)

• It could take around 9 months to receive "our call" after receiving our assignment.
• We will receive a call a couple of weeks before we can book our first trip, with word that we can go meet our child! 
• The first trip will consist of a lot of legal stuff, but is also when we can first meet our little one! They will be in a foster home and this trip will give us an opportunity to ask questions of their foster parents and observe how they interact. 
• We will then have to go home for about a month before we receive our second call to go get our baby!!

Adoption Finalization 
($25-$1,500 due when we re-finalize the adoption in Tennessee)

*Please feel free to ask any questions you might have! We love talking about this amazing journey and God's heart for adoption.

Choosing South Korea

We have chosen and applied to...(drumroll)... South Korea!!
We officially have a home country for our child! We now have a specific timeline, fee schedule, nationality, culture, etc to help put a face to our newest Smith. :)

So, after being between South Korea and Thailand for a while, and after much praying together and separately, I felt that God wanted us to pursue South Korea, but I wanted to make sure that Todd was hearing the same thing and it wasn't just me in his ear. He mentioned that he was leaning towards South Korea, but wanted a "clear" answer from God. So we waited to make sure we were truly following God's will.

Then one night we decided to watch "Dropbox" on Netflix, which is about a baby dropbox a man created to decrease the abandoned babies and have a safe place for parents to drop their babies off at if they felt like they could not care for them. (I highly recommend this documentary!) The opening scene said "SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA" and my heart skipped a beat. Something in me just clicked, I wanted to laugh, cry, and jump up and down. God is faithful to answer those who ask. After the movie, Todd quickly turned towards me and said, "Let's apply to South Korea!" I love watching how God talks to each of us and confirms our questions.

So, we did it! We applied to Holt International's South Korea program on June 13, 2016.

Please continue to pray for our family as we follow God's will towards the newest Smith! 

Crying out to God for wisdom

First of all, we are still between South Korea and Thailand. But with that said, God is answering in big ways. We have just started this journey and already I can see how The Lord is using it to stretch us, try us, comfort us, and show His huge love for us. 

Todd and I have been praying together for guidance, wisdom, and direction. We are asking that God reveals which adoption agency and country to pursue and we don't want to move without Him, so we are waiting with open ears.

We started our first fundraiser (yay!) and man does that make everything seem really real!! We are selling t-shirts through a company called Fund The Nations. I love how they explain this type of fundraiser: "Everyone wears t-shirts. People want to support your cause and this gives them something in return. A t-shirt gives them a reminder to pray for you!"

Mother's Day was last weekend and Todd did an amazing job spoiling me. :) We had a perfect day as just the 3 of us. He got M up, got her dressed, took her to the store, and fed her breakfast (all before I woke up). Then we spent the morning at the farmer's market and ate lunch in the shade while Madilynn crawled around in the grass waving at everyone who walked by. We cleaned my car, while she napped and that evening, all of the guys cooked dinner and watched the kids, while the women relaxed at small group. Again, it was a perfect day!! This Mother's Day really felt real, since last year I only had a 6 day old and she slept non-stop, so this year I guess I really earned it! ;)  While I wouldn't have changed a second of the day, a small part of me couldn't help but think about what next year will look like? Will we be going through the home study process? Will we be matched already? Will we be in a period of waiting again? Wherever we are, I pray that God is receiving all of the glory!!

Which country does The Lord want us to adopt from?

When we first thought about adoption, we assumed we would adopt from China due to the gendercide that was/is taking place because of China's only child law and stigmas in place. But since the Lord moved our timeline up, we are unable to adopt from China (their age requirement is 30 years for both parents). 

Todd and I both kept feeling led to Asia after a week of fasting from social media and weeks of prayer, so this narrowed down our scope from like 150 to 4!

After we felt peace about moving forward with Asia, God shut the doors of some of these countries. And we thought Thailand's international adoption was closed, but after talking to an adoption agency, it seems we were misinformed, so now we find ourselves between Thailand and South Korea. 

Both of these countries allow us to be 25 years old when we adopt (both turning 25 this year), you have to be married for at least 3 years (we will be married for 3 years this June), for South Korea, your other child must be at least 1 year old and for Thailand, your other child must be 18 months old when you apply.

So now we are praying God clearly leads us in our decision of which country we will be adopting from! We trust Him fully and lean in to listen carefully to Him.

How we knew God called us to adoption

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”  James 1:27

When Todd and I were about 16 years old, we attended a Winter Jam concert with our small group, where several Christian bands and speakers all come together. One presenter spoke on international adoption and in particular China. Todd and I both knew from then on that God had put adoption in our future. 

Over time and as we have grown together, we had come up with a plan that we believed would work best for our family. Well, for those of you that do not know me, my name is Alex and I am a planner. Because of this, The Lord is constantly showing me that His plans are perfect and that I need to let go of what I think is best. Submitting to God's will and plan for our lives is our ultimate goal, but is something that is a constant struggle for me. With that said, Todd and I were very confident in what we thought our adoption plan was for our family. We thought that we would have 2-3 biological children and then when they were old enough to really be able to walk the adoption journey with us and were able to understand how adoption mirrors the gospel, we would pursue international adoption. But, God has better plans!! 

A couple of months ago, I (Alex) started to feel The Holy Spirit telling me that we should start looking into adoption. Since this was not in line with my timeline, I shrugged the feeling off because "that couldn't be hearing that right." But over many weeks of The Spirit's prompting, I finally mentioned something to Todd, half hoping he would say "you must be hearing wrong because that is not our plan." But instead, he said "let's pray about it!" So, we did. Over several weeks confirmation after confirmation and a peace that surpasses all understanding, we told our friends and family about this new, updated plan and humbly asked for prayers. 

We are beyond thankful for a God that is continuously moving in our lives. And to say we are excited about this journey to our newest baby would be an understatement!