7.18.2008

As promised I will answer some questions/issues that have been brought up.



"Will you have more children?" Clay and I have always desired to have a large family but we will let the Lord lead us in that. We are just taking one at a time for now. I would say yes we want more but we don't know what the future holds.



"How long will this process take?" The answer to this changes monthly. The paperwork says a year to two years. When I did my own research I found that right at 12 months people were about to travel and pick up their child. Many resent circumstances have slowed the process down. I am now expecting a referral(matching us with a child and sending us his info) any where from July to October. We would travel to Ethiopia a month to two months after that to pick the child up, we will be there for 1 week. The Ethiopian gov't closes down for 8 weeks late summer so we will probably be slowed down by that a little also.



"What does the Bible say about interracial marriage and interracial dating?"
There is nothing in the Bible that says it is wrong to date or marry a person of a different race.
There are a few incidental mentions of race in the Bible (e.g., that Ethiopians skin was different,
Jeremiah 13:23), but there is nothing saying one race is superior to another. Moses was married to a Cushite (Ethiopian) woman (Numbers 12:1-16), and God was angry with Aaron and Miriam for criticizing that marriage.

The Hebrews were forbidden to marry Canaanites (Exodus 34:10-17; Deuteronomy 7:3-4). The reason was because the Canaanites worshipped idols, not because of race; the Hebrews and Canaanites were racially similar.

The apostle Paul encouraged Christians not to marry unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14), but here again, the reason was religious, not racial.

Jesus and His apostles taught that we must respect and show compassion for all people of God's creation without regard to artificial distinctions like race and nationality. In His Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus told of a Samaritan man who was kind to a Jewish man even thought they were enemies of different religions, nationalities and ethnic backgrounds. At the end, Jesus tells us, "Go and do likewise."

The Apostle Paul banned all discrimination based on race, social status, etc. among
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (NIV, Galatians 3:26-28)


A long history of racism, particularly in the U.S., has made some people believe there is something immoral about dating and marrying outside one's own race. In fact, interracial marriage was illegal in some states until 1967, when those laws were declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A number of attempts were made to use the Bible to justify those bans on interracial marriage. Vague assertions were made that God intended for the races to remain separate. Some verses (Exodus 34:10-16, 2 Corinthians 6:14, etc.) were quoted in part or otherwise out of context in an attempt to show that God opposed interracial marriage. (source: www.twopaths.com)
Thanks for your questions and keep them coming!

7.15.2008

This and that

As of yesterday we received our family coordinator from America World Adoption Agency and got a massive email filled with papers, forms and instructions. Although she told me not to be overwhelmed, I was overwhelmed! I printed off the instructions and after putting the kids to bed I reviewed them and went to work.

Today my mom has the kids and I have:

Ordered birth certificates for me and Clay, Ordered our marriage certificate, Filled out visa forms, Contacted Clay's employer for verification of employment, contacted our insurance company and filled out a lot of forms. I feel good! I am not so overwhelmed today. This week we should get a call from our social worker and will start our homestudy. I forgot to mention we have 8 to 10 hours of online training to do within the next 8 weeks too! I have actually done a lot of mine but Clay hasn't quite started.


I do want this blog to focus on our adoption but I have to post a picture of my angels. I am so privileged to be a stay at home mom and love every minute of it. This picture may show you a little bit of the fun we have here.




This is my little girl's first time to finger paint or body paint! She loved it!







This is our son who will be 3 in September saying John 3:16. He is the sweetest child ever!







Our daughter sporting her Africa shirt!

7.08.2008

This is cool

I have to tell you what is going on and how faithful our God is! So far our adoption has cost $1925 and with all of the fundraisers and donations we have raised $1900. Wow! I am in awe of what He is doing! Thank you so much to all of the people who have bought T shirts, prayed for us, donated money or have just encouraged us.

So far we have been accepted into the Ethiopia program, started our online training and mailed in our first payments and agreements. This week we will hear from our appointed family coordinator on next steps. We will start our home study soon and will start "the paper chase".

7.07.2008

Kids Africa Shirts







My talented friend Laura Kelley made some hand-made Africa kids shirts. She is so sweet and wants to donate all of the profit to our adoption fund. They will be $25. Click here to order a shirt. Just let her know you are interested and she will get back with you regarding sizes, colors, payment, ect.... She can do them for boys or girls. You have to check out her art, its great! http://pitterpatterart.wordpress.com/

Happy #adoptionday2017

                        ADOPTION HAS FOREVER CHANGED OUR SWEET FAMILY!