Back to school...

We had our first of 7 adoption class last night in Phoenix. Of course, we were late because of crazy traffic which if you know me you know I was mortified walking in!! Not only are we the youngest by far we are now the irresponsible couple! Naww they were really nice about it & it wasn't a big deal at all:)

Basically the class was a meet & greet and with some of the staff at CFCA and about 6 other couples planning to adopt through CFCA and also an overview of what to expect during our adoption. It was really refreshing to meet other couples choosing to adopt in our area since we don't know a ton right now. John already invited one of them over for dinner, guess I will have to pretend I know how to cook!

We have our physicals & fingerprinting next week. After we complete those we will begin our home studies!! So exciting! We will have 4 visits during that process with our caseworker and after our classes our complete we will go into the matchbook:) It finally feels like things are coming together.

We will keep you posted on the homestudy process!

Love you all, please pray for our birth mom & baby.

Britt

Overwhelmed

The last few days as I've been going about my everyday routine I have been extremely overwhelmed with God's grace & beauty. What this has looked like for me is holding myself back from hugging complete strangers because they simply look like they need a friend, wiping back tears that are about to fall from my eyes when I see a child smiling at me, and even wanting to talk to the person sitting next to me at the coffee shop but not starting a conversation because I don't want them to think I'm weird...WHY? Why, do I hold myself back from loving like Jesus, from showing compassion and love to others out of fear of getting rejected or looking odd? Why do I care so much about what others think of me and my actions? I don't have the answers but I know God is doing something incredible in my heart and for this I am grateful and a bit hesitant as to what He's preparing me for. All I know is that our God is faithful and GREAT.

John and I are getting excited to start our adoption classes in October. We have been taking a breather from our paperwork but will be getting it finished within the next couple weeks. I am at peace with where we're at in the "process" right now but can't help but dream of what's to come in our future. My heart is aching to see our child, how blessed we will be when we meet them.

Letter to our Family & Friends

Hope you all are enjoying your summer!

As many of you know we have begun the journey of growing our family through adoption. Unfortunately, we haven’t had the time to sit down individually and update all of you on the process, but your support is priceless to us and something that we value greatly.

Many of you have inquired as to why we are adopting, and many have even been surprised at our decision to adopt before having any biological children. Our desire to adopt has been something that the Lord placed on each of our hearts individually prior to meeting one another, and that common passion was a driving force in the early stages of our relationship. In honesty we were even surprised by the call that we felt to adopt for our first child, but are excited and eager to step through that open door!

For our first adoption, we are working with a Christian-based domestic agency located in Phoenix. Our initial home study and overall experience so far with this agency and specifically our caseworker has given us a peace that the Lord has us in the right place.

We understand that adoption is a personal calling, but our desire is to raise awareness to the enormous need; not only around the world, but also in our own back yard. We hope that through the documentation of our process you will not only better understand our personal calling, but also feel encouraged as followers of Christ to help those in need. We believe that adoption is a great representation of Christ’s adoption of us, and are excited to see God’s plan revealed to us throughout this journey.

As many of your know, obstacles abound throughout the adoption process. It is long and arduous and includes many unknowns. Part of the reason that we are writing this is to give you specific areas that you can be praying for us. First off, the timetable for bringing our child home can be anywhere from 4 months from now to 2 or 3 years. As you can imagine, that is a difficult waiting period and one that requires a great deal of faith. Another obstacle is that the birth parent(s) have 72 hours in the state of Arizona to change their mind (the baby would already be in our home). As you can imagine, that will be a tough 3-day period where trust and hope will be essential. Another obvious part of the equation is the financial challenges associated with adoption. We have taken a leap of faith that the Lord will provide the resources as we work hard and are good stewards of the gifts the Lord has given to us. We have already begun saving for the adoption but still have a long way to go as we anticipate it costing between 14-20 thousand dollars. Please pray that the Lord will provide the amount needed so we can complete the process.

We love you all so much & can’t wait to introduce you to our little one:) Feel free to follow our journey at our blog: http://ourlittlestoryjandb.blogspot.com/

Thank you for taking the time to read this, we look forward to growing our family with such a great group of loved ones! -

John & Britt

Patience & Faith

Dear little one,

Daddy & I have been busy this past month! We have been in North Dakota & Washington working & visiting family and man did they have a lot of questions for us about YOU! We absolutely relished in every opportunity we had to tell them about the adoption process & why we can't wait to meet you:) You need to know something baby, your family is so excited to meet you! They are all so wonderful and cannot wait to hold you & love on you! You will have cousins to play with & grandparents who will spoil you to bits! I'm sitting in Suncadia, WA as I write this surrounded by your future family. We have been hiking, biking, playing tennis & tons of family games. There have been plenty of yummy meals & long conversations, your family is full of unique personalities and there is no shortage of love for one another! We are enjoying our time with family but something is missing...it's you. I am trying to stay patient, I have complete faith you will come to us at the perfect time.

Love you so much already!

Mommy

A letter to our baby

I wrote our baby a letter yesterday. I kept thinking about him/her & thought it'd be fun to put some of my feelings on paper (well not really, I typed it but paper sounds better:)) Here it is!

Dear Baby,

Mommy & Daddy have been thinking about you a lot lately. We’ve been wondering where you are, what you’ll look like, and when we’ll get to meet you. We’re hoping it’s not too far away! You are going to have two mommies little one! Lucky you, not every baby gets two moms...just very special ones. Your birth mommy has a very difficult decision to make, one that she will think about for the rest of her life. She will be making the decision to give you to us, your mommy & daddy for life. Your birth mom loves you & that is why she will make this hard decision. She wanted you to have a life she couldn’t offer you, I will tell you more about this when you’re a little older. For now daddy & I will have to be patient & wait for God to bring you home to us. We are very excited to meet you sweetie. Mommy can’t seem to think about anything else lately. You will have siblings too baby, hopefully a few of them! God has called us to adopt you, YOU are our PLAN A. Please never forget that! You might have some questions for us when you get older & we want you to ask us whatever you want to. We love you & prayed for you long before you came into our lives...that’s what a lot mommy’s & daddy’s do, they dream about their babies long before they come into the world! It might sound a little silly to you but we loved you long before we met you, we just knew you would be perfectly ours.

I want to promise you something baby. Mommy & Daddy will always love you, support you and pray for you. We promise to teach you about the Lord & love one another forever. We have a dream for you too, we hope you will love the Lord & follow His call in your life. Mommy & Daddy are following God’s call & that’s why we’re adopting you. What a blessing you will be in our lives! I have always wanted to be a mommy, you’ve been on my mind for many years & I am anticipating bringing you home. We'll do lots of fun things together, daddy wants to teach you about sports & mommy will teach you about music & art.

With much love & anticipation,

Mommy

Love this book!

A friend of ours got me this book last week. She raved about the author & thought I would like it, she was right! I started it yesterday at the pool & am almost done:) It's one of those books you don't want to finish because it's SO good. Not a chapter went by with out a few tears falling on the pages...I am usually not a crier when I read but this book truly moved me. It was so real & applicable to what John and I are going through right now.

The book is a compilation of adoption stories, all different types. I could relate to the couple's anticipation & desire to grow their families through adoption, some by choice most due to infertility. Regardless, all the stories were about the miracle of adoption & how God's plan for our life isn't always our own. His way is the only way we can experience true joy & this book was a reminder of that truth.

I would recommend this book to anyone! Everyone has been adopted by our Father & everyone will have a friend or family member who has or will have experience with adoption so it's very applicable & just a great quick read.

On a side note, I CAN'T GET OUR BABY OFF MY MIND! :) Just had to share that with you!

Q & A

Today we met with our caseworker for the first time. She said it is usually an hour meeting & we just talk about the basics of the adoption process & she asks us some questions about ourselves and so on...welp, the meeting was 3 hours long! I'm sure most of you are not surprised at all, John & I can be a little chatty. Our caseworker is GREAT, I've read some horror stories online about caseworkers & the home study process but from what I can tell it will be a fun experience & a very comfortable relationship. We felt comfortable with her right away, we feel fortunate to have been matched up with such a kind, compassionate caseworker! It will definitely make the process that much smoother:)

We will be sharing the news that we have started the adoption process with the rest of the world today. We wanted to wait until we met with our caseworker & selected our agency. Now that we have we are absolutely over joyed to let the world know of our plans!

The next step is filling out a lot of paperwork & deciding when we will be starting our classes (we'll take 7 weeks worth), since we will be in ND most of July we might not be able to start until October which is a little ways away but we are confident things will work out perfectly. I think it will be challenging remaining patient but we trust everything will happen according to God's plan & in His time.

Some more exciting news is that Jania & Justin (John's sister) will be having their second baby girl TODAY!!!! We are anxiously awaiting the call! Aunty & Uncle are excited to meet little Olivia:)