Do you know anyone who is in the midst of adoption RIGHT NOW?
Pray for them.
Adoption is HARD.
The paperwork is daunting, and this is just the beginning.
Adoption is COSTLY.
And dollars and cents are not even half of it. Although this is the initial reason people have for NOT adopting, once you get into it, you realize that the financial issues are NOTHING compared to what it will cost you in time, energy, and a thousand other intangible commodities.
Adoption is DANGEROUS.
We have an enemy and he doesn't have flesh and blood. This enemy has adopting families between his crosshairs. These families are crossing enemy lines to bring children out of institutions and into families.
Right now, I am praying for two families who are SO CLOSE to bringing their children home.
Brooke
They have hit roadblocks. This family tried to host Polina, Katya's friend, over Christmas. God closed that door, and opened the way for a cutie-patootie to join them for the holidays. Now they are just inches from getting on the plane and going to get her. They need prayer. Brooke's blog is password protected. If you'd like to follow their journey, there is a way for you to do so on her blog.
Julia
This mom said, "Anywhere but Ukraine." And sure enough, where is their little guy? They have faced setback after setback, but right now are in the midst of encouragement from the Lord through dreams, prayers, finances, and Facebook! Praise God for this encouragement, but please pray for their dossier to be submitted and for them to get an SDA appointment SOON. They are anxious to bring their son home.
These are two families with whom I am personally connected who are currently in enemy territory. Are you adopting too? Leave me comment and I'll be praying for you as well.
If you know of people who are currently adopting, please...
PRAY for them. Pray for vision, for strength, for endurance, and for their vision for the face of Christ to never waver throughout the adoption process.
ENCOURAGE them. Even just acknowledging that this journey is HARD can give them a glimpse into the reality that they are not alone.
SERVE them. If you are not called to adopt, you are still called to care for widows and orphans. What can you practically do to help these families? Can you take documents to be apostilled? Can you play with their other kids so they can do adoption work? Can you fix them dinner? Can you insist that the mom and dad get a DATE, and then make it happen? Can you make a financial sacrifice to contribute to their adoption fund?
Adoption is HARD. If you're adopting, I'd love to hear from you. Let me know how YOU would like to be supported in your journey.
If you're alongside other families who are adopting, I'd love to hear from you. How are you supporting them?
If you don't know of anyone who's adopting, click on the links on my sidebar, go to my friend Sara's blog who is almost a year into welcoming her kids home from Ethiopia, and click on her links. Or go to Pretre's Adoption Blog and click on his links. He does an amazing job of keeping up-to-date on those who are in the process of adopting from Ukraine. You can read, connect, pray for, and perhaps even have your heart stirred for people who are RIGHT NOW in the midst of adoption.
Do you know of anyone who's adopting RIGHT NOW?
If so PRAY for them, ENCOURAGE them, SERVE them.
If not, adopt an adopting family from one of the links and determine to be a SUPPORT. You just may be exactly the hands and feet of Jesus to encourage THEM on their journey to see a child moved out of an institution and into a family.