We're Adopting!!!

Yes, you read that right....We're Adopting! After much prayer and consideration, we feel that the Lord is leading us to adoption. But here's the fun part.......We're Adopting an Older Child!

Why adopt an older child you may ask? Well, an infant adoption process usually takes more than 12 months and by then Calloway will be 7 years old. We would like her to have a sibling that can also be a playmate. We're not really keen on the idea of the baby phase and changing diapers all over again. So, we've decided to set our parameters at between the ages of 2-9. We have requested a little girl.
We feel that we have a lot to offer a child. There are so many children in the custody of the state and the statistics about the future of these children is so sad. We would like to give another child the opportunity to soar, know Jesus, know what it means to be loved unconditionally, and provide them with a family to call theirs.

How are we going to do this? At this point we are going through the state of Oklahoma DHS foster system. We are also considering adoption from other state DHS systems to broaden our pool of choices.  Some children in the Baptist Children's Homes are also available through this.

When are we adopting? We've begun the paperwork process, which means we've sent in the initial paperwork packet and have a checklist of about 20 items that we have to get copies of and sent in also. Then we'll have a home visit/inspection and then we'll begin our home studies. We also are required to take some classes and in the meantime, our caseworker will begin looking for a match for us. Once they have some prospective girls, we'll choose some to pursue. We'll get a day visit, then a weekend visit, and then if we feel that it's a good fit, we'll proceed from there. The child will move in and we'll have a 6 month wait period before going to court to finalize the adoption.

So, how long does this process take? Since our child is already out there and not baking in a bun (womb) or living overseas, we could have a child as early as 6-9 months from now.

How can you help? Please be in prayer for us and our little girl that is out there somewhere waiting for her forever home. As far as cost of the adoption is concerned, it is mostly free. There are some expenses that we will incur but the state does pay for a majority of it. We have one fundraiser planned so far - a garage sale. Eventually, we are going to need to turn our guest bedroom into a more kid friendly space and personalize it for our new daughter. We are going to need funds or donations to help with that, once we know what age she is and what she likes.

We really look forward to sharing this journey with you and hope that you will follow along on the blog and join us in prayer!