waves

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

the starting point

James 1:27
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."


I'm sitting in Sweet Tea Studios in Oxford, MS as I type this, in awe of everything God has done in the last couple years.
"The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps," says Proverbs 16:9. That has never been truer for me than right now in my life. Kevin and I are coming up on our 6 year wedding anniversary, and we always thought little kiddos would be with us by now. Wow, how God laughs at our plans sometimes. We learned a little over three years ago that infertility was in our life in a big way. I'm still not 100% sure what that means for us, but I do know that God is sovereign over that and we are trusting Him with the desires of our heart. While praying and crying and losing sleep over this massive boulder in our road, God showed me that the heart I had for adoption prior to getting married needed cultivating. This was about 18 months ago. I started listening closer to the ones around me who were adopting or had adopted. Their stories were amazing and all had the distinct fingerprint of God. For me, adoption has never been something you do if you can't have your own kids, but it was something to do after having our own kids. I knew I would adopt; I just thought it would be after little Huguleys were here. God's thoughts are bigger and higher than my own and I'm learning that one day at a time. After almost a year of talking with Kevin and praying about when to get started, we finally felt the green light. That is the quick version of the story that brings you up to speed to today. Kevin and I have spent the last several weeks sifting through adoption agencies, trying to find the "right" one. I'll spare you all the tiny little details of how we made our decision, and I'm happy to say that we have started the process of adoption. Holt International is our agency of choice, South Korea is the country. Where are we exactly in the process? We have submitted our application to Holt and by the end of the week we'll have our home study application finished. Then the fun will start!

As heavy as my heart has been for biological children, God has graciously turned that energy into an excitement for adopting from South Korea. I cannot wait to share this journey with you! Please, please, please keep us in your prayers during this process. From our very limited knowledge, we are understanding this to be at least a year's long adventure with a lot of ups and downs. We have a huge support system of people that have adopted and are still in the process, and they have been honest about the good, bad, and ugly. We are mentally prepared for it....we think. :)

The first big hurdle that we will face is fundraising. You'll notice that there is a donate button on my blog where you can give whatever amount you feel is appropriate. I'd love for you to pass the blog address along to your friends and family so we can gather support from all areas. Know that we are in need of your prayers first; anything above that is icing on the cake.

Love!

10 comments:

  1. I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU GUYS!!!! YES!!! I wish I could hug you! This is just awesome! I know it's a big decision, but I also know God is going to bless it immensely! I can't wait to hear all about the process and to pray with you guys through the "downs" and rejoice with you in the "ups" :) Thanks so much for sharing this process with all of us! Love you both and can't wait to meet your little one (hopefully someday soon! :) We are praying God's FAVOR over this process!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ps- I'm not sure if you know Kelley Brown from Auburn or not, but she and her husband adopted a little girl (2 years old) from China, and are in process to adopt another little girl (11 years old) this year. She shares a lot of details from the whole experience on her blog, just thought I'd share in case you wanted to check it out! http://www.scottkelleyandcarter.blogspot.com/

    Also - have you thought of doing a silent auction for a fundraiser? They are a great way to make a chunk of money quickly - I'd be glad to give you some tips!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes please send me some tips on that!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am so excited for y'all for starting this journey! And I'm excited you are blogging! Praying for you, Kevin, and the future little Korean Huguley. Love, Liz

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm so excited for y'all! Praying for y'all and we wait anxiously to see what the Lord will do and what child he has made perfect for your family!! Love y'all!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. We are super excited for you guys!!! I can't wait to read about your journey! We love you and will be praying for you as well1!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It makes my heart happy when reading this. You know Jennifer and I are here for y'all in this journey. We can't wait for what God has in store for your future. Love you guys.

    ReplyDelete
  8. We are so happy for you and Kevin. What an exciting journey. Your heart is about to be blessed in more ways than you know Sister! Love you, PB

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yay yay yay and another YAY! I'm SO excited for you both! We will be praying for you and the little one that GOD has already picked out for you!
    Praising God!

    ReplyDelete
  10. SOOOOOOO Excited!!!!!!!! Matt and I are praying for you as you take the jump of faith! If we can help you in any way, please let us know!

    ReplyDelete