BIG NEWS!!

Hi friends,

We are so excited to share with you all that WE’RE ADOPTING!! (again) 

As you know, Cody and I have such a heart for adoption. The Lord has placed it on our hearts three times before to grow our family…and now a fourth! God has been working on both of our hearts in a really neat way—first a thought, then the back and forth until we came to the conclusion together that God is definitely prompting us to adopt again. Last week, while we were still on the cusp of making that decision, I got a call from one of my dearest friends who told me about a program in Japan that her agency was working with. The program is very small and would almost always be closed to new applicants. BUT instead, the agency is in a position they have never experienced before, and they are SEEKING out families to hustle through the United States' paperwork and be ready to fly to Japan to adopt a baby in need of a family…quickly.

This is still a little unreal to me, and I am feeling more like I am walking around in a dream. Because of the way this program works, we will actually be bringing home A NEWBORN! I have never had a newborn, and I am going from excited to overwhelmed and back to excited. I have so many sweet thoughts throughout the day, and then of course a little panic sets in too! 

PROGRAM DETAILS 
Japanese adoption is very rare because there isn’t a government adoption program in place. As I have researched more, I have been so saddened that while there are children in orphanages in Japan, there is an exceedingly large percentage of abortions—HALF of all pregnancies in Japan end in an abortion. I saw this staggering statistic over and over again. 

In Japan, the birthrate for unmarried women is almost zero. In order for the child to be recognized as a Japanese national, the mother must be legally married to the child’s father; without this, the baby will become a stateless person. And, culturally, they think it is wrong or shameful to bring a child into the world without an arrangement of marriage. Our agency told us that an unwed mother would also never be able to find a husband. So, you can imagine the pressure from their families to resolve this and the shame that they feel. 

This program is in place to help the mothers while also taking action for these unborn children. They offer help to mothers, counseling and advising that there ARE other options while offering help every step of the way. Some mothers need housing, transportation to doctor appointments, and financial assistance. They are often under 20 years old and don’t have anyone supporting their decision. What brave women!

All this to say, when this fell into our laps, it was a lot to take in.

WHAT THE NEXT FEW MONTHS WILL LOOK LIKE
There are two rather LARGE obstacles keeping me up at night:

1. The timeline for this adoption is incredibly fast. We are # 4 on a waiting list, and that means that there is already a mother in Japan who is pregnant and has made the choice to give up her baby through international adoption with the help of this program. That’s a whirlwind…

2. The REAL obstacle for Cody and me is not knowing how we can come up with $45,000 for adoption fees in 2-4 months. We have money allocated for this adoption but we don’t have nearly enough. Not by a long shot! 

Some people might ask, why would you say “yes” to something you can’t financially cover? Our “yes” is scary. Our “yes” is really uncomfortable. Our “yes” really is keeping me up at night. BUT GOD IS BIGGER!!! And we would not be saying “YES!” without believing that this whole thing is from our Lord and Savior, and that this baby across the world God has already planned to knit into our family. 

We’ve already seen that GOD IS BIGGER…

I *thought* I never wanted to have children — GOD IS BIGGER
We adopted Mae in 10 months' time. She was supposed to have epilepsy and had a lot of seizures while she was in China, but has never had another seizure! —GOD IS BIGGER
We started our process for another adoption, and then Cody felt like we were called to bring home TWO at the same time —GOD IS BIGGER!
We raised $24,000 of the $43,000 need for our adoption fees for Ian and Jovie —GOD IS BIGGER
We brought home Jovie with a severe heart defect. It was a miracle that she was even alive, and we had open heart surgery 3 months after we came home from China… this was the hardest thing this mama has ever gone through, but GOD IS BIGGER!!
Ian was born with imperforated anus and the doctors didn’t know if he could ever have continence of stool. Y’all, this boy is completely in big boy underwear!! GOD IS BIGGER!!!

God is so much bigger than our limited view, expectations, and me-sized ideas. GOD IS BIGGER!!! 

HOW WE NEED YOUR HELP
Our goal with this adoption is to raise $20,000 by the end of July. Even as I type this, I am overwhelmed by all the zeros here, BUT if we have 1,000 people give $20 we can make our goal! We'd like to invite you to prayerfully consider how much you are able to contribute financially toward the cost of our adoption. And friends, we need your influence… would you share our page? 

We will be posting updates of our adoption story and fundraising on this blog. Check in again soon!