help us adopt!...

As I (Amy) mentioned in an earlier post, Marc and I had some great conversations a few weeks ago on our beach getaway, and as a result of those conversations we are now pursuing another adoption!

Here's the deal... when most couples decide they want to have a baby, they get the option of keeping it a secret, and then upon getting pregnant, it's up to THEM as to how & when to let the world know, right?

Well, when you're infertile like in OUR case, you can't exactly do that! There's no keeping secrets. And you know why?

Because we need HELP!
From YOU! (yes, you!)

Wow. Can I just say it's quite a faith-producing endeavor to pray for a baby, but have no idea where this baby might come from?!

So here's the process & then I'll tell you guys how you can help...

We are currently beginning the mounds of paperwork to become qualified to adopt in the state (or Commonwealth, I should say) of Virginia. We will be completing a home study with a local agency here in town in the next few months. At that point, we will be "certified" to adopt, so if a situation arises, we can move forward.

Right now our plan is to put our name on this local agency's list of potential adoptive parents. Sounds promising, right? Well, not so fast. It's a small agency, and because they only do an average of 8 placements a year, they are honest about encouraging couples to continue to seek other ways of finding a baby to adopt. (and for various reasons, our current convictions are leading us away from signing up with some of the bigger "brand name" adoption agencies out there.) With this small agency, we would not even be shown to any potential birthmoms until mid-March after attending a mandatory adoption training, either.

All that to say, we can't put all of our eggs in this one basket. So we need your help to get the word out.

Many of you know that the way we met Caroline's birthmother, Megan, was because Megan attended church with my parents in Dallas. When she found out she was pregnant and didn't know how she would be able to care for a 2nd child, it was the people at her church who told Megan about us and encouraged her to meet us. She reluctantly agreed to the meeting, because at that time she was still planning to parent this baby. We met her for lunch and had a good time just getting to know her, but since she wasn't thinking adoption at that point, we walked away thinking it would never happen.

My, how God works. (right, Megan?)

The rest of the story was like a fairy tale. We not only gained a daughter, but another extended family was now joined to ours! And thankfully Caroline knows Megan and her family, and there are NO secrets, NO hiding, NO mysteries about where she came from or why God gave her to our family. And there's no wondering for Megan, either! Open adoption is beautiful!

So we are praying it will happen again. (can it ever be that perfect a second time, though?)

We are excited and of course, a little nervous, to go through this process again. I just keep wondering, How? Where is this baby going to come from, God? I want another birthmommy just as wonderful as Megan was/is. Who will the Lord bring into our life to love again?

Here's how y'all can help...

If every one of YOU could keep your eyes and ears open for those unplanned pregnancies around you, because the Lord can turn a crisis into an amazing blessing. We have seen it with our own eyes. The greatest gift of our life came from a girl we probably would have never met. A girl who went from being a stranger to a hero in a matter of months.

So would you each join us in praying for a second baby to adopt? Pray that we would keep trusting in God's timing, and that He would bring us just the right birthmom and just the right baby to love.

And if you do hear about a potential adoption situation, would you let us know? Or perhaps tell the birthmom about us? You are, of course, welcome to point her to this blog, too.

We'll keep you guys posted as our story continues!...