All of us can do something.
Not all of us are called to adopt, but we can all do something to support the care of children in need of families.
My husband and I couldn’t have adopted without the love and support that was so generously given to us through our church and biological families. The experience we had was unlike any other we’ve heard of and the outpouring of grace from the body of Christ was exceptional.
We took the first step towards adoption at an information session in May of 2016. We didn’t fill out the application until January of the following year. We knew we wanted to adopt and were pretty set on doing so internationally, though the information session really opened our eyes to all of our options. We took each of those first steps slowly, as we were totally unsure where the funding and resources would come from to enable us to adopt. The cost seemed insurmountable. Sure, we both worked, but we were also both saddled with college debt and wanted to enable me to stay home for a while with our new child. The numbers did not seem to add up. Regardless, the Lord graciously provided more than we could have imagined.
Aside from the people across the country who donated financially to our adoption, we were so grateful for people who loved us in other ways. We couldn’t have done it without them.
Here are some examples of the tangible care given to us:
SHARING our GoFundMe link, enabling thousands more people to see our fundraising efforts (enabling total strangers to donate)
Taking wonderful family PHOTOGRAPHS for our dossier and fundraising campaign
Providing NOTARY PUBLIC services for free
Offering advice, SHARED STORIES, and laughter from other adoptive families (it was so encouraging in the midst of hard times)
PRAYING with and checking in on us by our small group
Creating a t-shirt design and RUNNING THE FUNDRAISER for us
CONNECTING us to a psychiatrist who could help with the evaluation for the dossier
Granting us TIME OFF WORK (thanks to compassionate bosses) to accomplish the numerous tasks we faced (doctor’s appointments, psychiatric evaluations, notary signatures, background checks, job confirmations, visa photos, and the list goes on)
STOCKING OUR FRIDGE and pantry the day we got home from China
SHARING TRAVEL POINTS to Marriott Hotels
TALKING WITH US about the countless unknowns, such as :
The where/when/how/why questions regarding adoption
How to work through special needs lists
How to help our child medically
How to communicate with our friends and family about helping adopted children come home and adapt to their new surroundings
How to be new parents (and still love and enjoy one another through it)
How to help our son through his numerous developmental delays
Throwing a BABY SHOWER for our not-so-baby
Giving us cloth DIAPERS their kids no longer needed or extra packs of wipes
Giving us CLOTHES and TOYS their kids had outgrown
Talking with us about how to NAVIGATE SPECIAL NEEDS in our school system, walking us through the IEP process
Our story would look very different if it weren’t for the countless ways that the body of Christ had come around us during our adoption. We learned so many humbling lessons about how we are to serve one another and how each of us plays a unique role in the call to care for the least of these. Someone may think that providing a discounted service or an extra pack of diapers doesn’t make an impact. But it is the compilation of those small acts of service that can truly change a life, or in our case, three lives. Without a doubt, when all of us do something, the impact is immense.