[momthib]

We were going to adopt internationally from Russia and had all the paper work filled out and the money in hand when God led us in the direction of Fostering to adopt. You can also just adopt through your state without fostering. I feel so blessed to have been moved in this direction because there are lots of children that need homes. When you go through your state it's free. My state (FL)also offers other "insentives" if you will, like free collage, subsity, medicade for the child (the income doesn't matter) and other great things. It's worth looking into, and we've been truly blessed.

Sincerly,
Ashley

[tammy2]

Our adoption of our son is full of miracles. even since he has come home God just keeps blessing us financially and in love. It scares me now to even think that I almost let money stop me. Now I know that I would give up every posession I have to have this child. I did not even want a 3rd child and at the time my Dad was Dying and I begged God to stop calling me to adopt, but thank God he did not quit. Be obedient when the Lord is calling you. We have been more blessed than we ever thought would even be possible in a lifetime of living. Trust in him. Shahaonnahs Hope even gave us $3,000, but that is just the start of what God did!!!!!!!!!!

[Ians mom]

I always thought I would have children without any troubles....wrong.

After our son was born, we were not able to have another child. No medical reason, just no babies.

We didnt understand until one day a family friend showed up on our doorstep and asked us to take her 4 yr old daughter. After much prayer, research, and many meetings with social workers we have a beautiful little girl...but that is only the beginning of our story.

The state decided that our daughter was eligable for adoption subsidy. Each month we put that money into a savings account, we were not sure what to do with it.

Four days after her adoption was finalized I saw a photo of a baby boy on the internet and knew that he was ours...my family thought we were crazy but we started the paperwork to bring home our little boy. The cost for his adoption will be around$12-15 thousand dollars. We had no clue how to pay for it, but we just kept praying. During that time we got a call for a foster placement, they said it was an emergency placement for only 2-3 days. Well, it has been 6 months and we put the money from her placement in the savings account each month. Every time we have needed money for this adoption, it has been provided.

This is certainly not the way we intended on building our family, I am so thankful that God interveined!! Otherwise, we would never of found our beautiful children.

[twoinblue]

When we finally decided to adopt we didn't know where the money would come from. But we obediently went forward and applied.

Our process has taken longer due to family tragedies and other things but in the midst of this, every time it was time to make another payment the money would be there.

I volunteered for extra duty with my Reserve unit and pocketed the checks in savings. We cut out vacations and buying clothes or household items.

The blessings have been rolling in! We had to redo our financial statement for our homestudy five times because we kept getting raises!

We are not through the process yet but are confident that God will provide. We have been tithers and givers our entire marriage and know that God is faithful to us in return. I encourage anyone out there that you cannot outgive God!

[CashCrew]

Originally Posted by tammy2

I did not even want a 3rd child and at the time my Dad was Dying and I begged God to stop calling me to adopt, but thank God he did not quit. Be obedient when the Lord is calling you.

Tammy this made me get goosebumps because that's exactly what my last few months have been like!!! I have 4 very VERY active bio children. They don't just do ballet and like it. They have to do full fledge city wide performances. They don't just do gymnastics. They have to be on the gymnastics team working out 9 hours a week and traveling monthly to competitions out of town. YMCA sponsored soccer? NO WAY...my son has to do the all star traveling soccer league. I don't have time to even think about another child, much less the extra money lying around! Plus we're getting to that stage where it's a bit easier with the youngest being 3. We're getting out of the difficult baby stage. No diapers for the first time in 11 years! God is so powerful. He put this on my heart as He has several times throughout my life (since I was a very young child). I almost chuckled when God put this on my heart again recently because I knew even if He wanted me to adopt, He would never convince my husband at this point. I should have known better. My husband, who has been COMPLETELY against having any more children was brought to tears one night looking at a toddler boy on a photolisting. Since that moment he has been determined to make this work when when I haven't (a complete role reversal). I've begged God not to put this on my heart right now. It's so stressful from the money part of it to the time and energy part of it. It hasn't worked. I have dreams at night that my child is in Guatemala trying to get home and I'm frantically trying to find a way to get there to save it. Every single night. I'm consumed with this adoption. I am convinced that there's a child already ours just waiting for me to get my act together to bring it home. I'm, as always, in awe at the power of God.

[danimom2005]

with us we were handed the baby said do u want her and of course we said yes then the worry began.well hubby took a part time job to try and make extra money so i could be with the baby.Everything i said i needed for the baby managed to walk in the door by itself. I mena everything diapers wipes clothes changing table baby bed bassinet whole nine yards. Well after talking with a few ppl at church one lady came up to me and asked how much was the adoption going to cost so i told her everything that i new the cost of. Long story short she gave me a check for 750 to pay for the atty. when we started the home study we only had 700 to start she imediately gave us another 700 to finish paying for that.So God can put ppl in your life to help and he can place the money right in front of you too. So good luck ill keep you in my prayers.

[Marie8888]

We weren't able to have bio-children. The whole time we tried I refused to consider adoption, and got angry when people suggested it. When I finally was completely broken God moved my heart to adopt, and start the process right then. We had no idea how to pay for it, in 3 days we had all the paperwork to start and all the money we thought we would need. People in our families gave us money when we asked for a loan telling us not to pay them back. (Our adoption ended up costing signifigantly more but everytime something new has come up God has provided in abudance)
In just a few short months from when we started we were placed with our son. We have had a lot of paperwork issues, but before we got our son when ever I was ready to give up things moved. After a failed placement the week before I almost emailed out agency that I had decided not to adopt at this time and my husband and our pastor's wife begged me not to but just to wait a little bit longer. That day our son's B-Mom signed over custody to us, the agency didn't let us know we had been picked and had a son to the next day. If I had emailed that day we wouldn't have our son.

[PastorStephanie]

My parents knew that they were to adopt but they were a young married couple with no resources to do so. My dad was a high school teacher and my mom was a receptionist. They knew they were unable to conceive but believed that they were destined to be parents.

They went ahead with the adoption process- as if they had all the money in the world. Filling out all the paper work, enduring all the background check and sitting for all the interviews… doing everything they could to qualify- except write a check for the fee. Somehow they got on a list.

Years of waiting… the fact that they had not paid all the fees went unnoticed until one day the agency called and said that they had a baby boy for my parents. They had to get their fees “up to date” but if they were ready, the birthmother was about to deliver any day now. My dad confidently said that they would bring the check down on the next Friday.

Rewind three month. My parents had been out on the Bay of Green Bay boating with some friends: laughing, skiing, sun tanning and watching children splash and play in the water. My mom saw a boy swimming way out beyond what “her maternal instincts told her was safe.” His mother was preoccupied with her changing her toddler’s diaper. It was getting late and everyone was packing up to head back in when a storm caught them all by surprise. As the rain began to fall in torrents and the wind began to pick up force, the waves grew strong. My mom saw that the boy out swimming was in trouble.

She called to my dad and his friend who were quickly shoving lawn chairs and coolers into the boat. The men took off in the boat in the direction of the flaying little boy. By the time they reached where he’d last been seen, he had gone under. My dad (who can’t swim) dove in and swam around frantically, diving under trying to find the child. His friend did his best to keep the boat steady in the wind.

My dad’s arm grazed the boy and he pulled him up by the hair. Against the raging waves and pounding wind… my dad lifted the boy up to his friend in the boat. In doing so, the boat hit my dad in the head, knocking him hard. My dad went under. His friend dove in and pulled out my dad. The boy was coughing and spitting up water but was otherwise ok. They brought the child back to his terrified yet grateful mother.

Fast forward again (to the week my parents needed the check to cover their fees). The day after my dad had promised they would bring the check down they received a second phone call. This one was from the Fort Howard Paper Company. The boy my dad had saved three months before had written an essay for a contest held by Fort Howard entitled: “My Hero.” The company now wanted to honor my father as a local hero and reward with a check at banquet to be held on Thursday… could he come? My parents, of course went to the banquet. My dad was awarded a check for $1000 (the exact amount that was needed to bring the fees at the agency up to date). The next morning my parents walked that check into the agency… declaring that God had provided for them to adopt my older brother.

[Yash]

Pastor Stephanie,

What an aspiring story. What heroes you have in your mom and dad. Thank you for sharing. I've found whenever I start having doubts about God providing the money I amazingly get sent an email or read a story about others who had complete and faith and how God gave them exactly what they needed and right on time.

Thank you so much.

Merry Christmas,

Yash

[danabyers]

I'm glad to share! I'm as passionate about being debt free as I am passionate about adoption. We, too, knew God was calling us to adopt but didn't know where the money would come from. We raised around $20,000 in about 4 months' time. Our small group hosted a garage sale, we had a benefit concert led by our worship pastor, and we partnered with a great organization called Kingdom Kids and sent out fundraising letters. Also, God worked out our situation uniquely (as He does for all His children! - never quite what you expect to happen) so that some of our agency fees were adjusted and our agency paid for us to make a visit trip due to an error. I can't post all the agency-related cost changes that occurred on this site, but you can visit our site at www.familydashboard.net/adoption.

Best of luck! God is always on the side of the orphan. He defends them to no end and will ensure they safely arrive in a loving home without a family having to add debt.

[PastorStephanie]

Originally Posted by danabyers

God is always on the side of the orphan. He defends them to no end and will ensure they safely arrive in a loving home without a family having to add debt.

Hello Dana, I appreciate your testimony of God's faithfulness to you and your family... and maybe I am taking your thoughts beyond what you intended... But I was hurt that you refered to adoptees as "orphans". While, of course, some adoptions do work with orphaned children- many do not. I find the stero-type to be a hurtful one rather than a healing one. Many birthparents would be horrified to know that aparents they chose for their children considered the children they placed in their arms to be orphans.

As an adoptee, I would never consider myself to be or to have been an orphan. God always planned for me my parents... both my bparents and my aparents. As an adoptee, I was never parent-less, I always had five parents: my bfather, my bmother, my afather, my amother and my Heavenly Father.

[danabyers]

Hi, PastorStephanie-

I certainly understand your perspective and hope you know I meant nothing to come across as offensive. We have not had our daughter placed in our arms yet. She is in foster care in Guatemala. I assure you, we do not consider - not will we ever express to our darling girl - that she is not a full member of our family. We simply long for the day she lives with us and we can have legal custody of Mackenzie.

I believe the term "orphan" is generally used to define a child who has no legal guardians but is a ward of the state. Her mother signed over her custody for Mackenzie at birth (over 15 months ago), yet no family has been able to receive full custody yet (due only in our case to the slowness of the Guatemalan adoption process at this point in time). These circumstances are why I classified her adoption as being an orphan adoption. In fact, we learned that had our case not picked up speed this past Fall, she would have been removed from foster care and literally placed in an orphanage due to having no legal guardians stated yet.

In no way did I intend the term orphan to sound negative. To date, no family (though I have faith it will most certainly be ours) has legal custody of her, even though she is our daughter in our hearts. I could not agree with you more that God has always intended Mackenzie to be in our family as you were always intended to be in your family. I'm so grateful for that!!

[danabyers]

Wow! What an incredible testimony to share with your children as to how God provided for you all with the $15,000 cashiers check for your Russian adoption. Thanks for sharing! I'm so happy for you. I truly hope the rest of your adoption goes quickly and much more smoothly.

[PastorStephanie]

Dana~

Thanks for clarifying! I do appreciate what you have to say about your daughter! I understand why you chose the wording that you did and hope that your process can be completed soon to bring her home. May God Bless you and your expanding family!