Here We Go!

We are writing to share a story with you that will help you imagine what we pray the next chapter of the life of our family will hold.

Back in December, Kameron and I were discussing how much we love our (then) four year old, J. Henry, and our one year old, Amelia. They are healthy, smart and happy, and we could not find more joy or receive more grace from being their parents. We count our blessings everyday that we enjoy the love of God and each other in our home. We also talked about our plans to have a third child and began to seriously consider adoption – something both of us had always felt drawn to do. God has been to good to us by adopting us as His children, and we feel called to participate in the action of adoption as a result of that grace. J. Henry further affirmed our desires with frequent comments about wanting another sibling. We recently visited a friend and her newborn in the hospital shortly after the baby’s birth. J. Henry was able to hold the baby. When I told him it was time to leave, he said, “I don’t want to give the baby back; I just can’t stop kissing him!” 

We decided to make an appointment a couple of weeks later with a local adoption agency to learn more about the process. We met with them on a Friday morning in January and discerned from that meeting that international adoption would be the best fit for us since, in their words, “In America, there are families waiting for children. Internationally, there are children waiting for families.” While we were excited and filled with hope about this possibility, we were also sobered by the fact that international adoption costs can range from $25,000-$35,000. For while God has blessed us in many ways and we enjoy a generous life, the reality of graduate school loans and raising two other children gave us pause to consider the feasibility of such an endeavor.

Later that same evening, Kameron went to a church service to interpret for a hearing impaired couple. She did this for them again on Sunday evening that weekend. At the end of the second service, the family member who had requested for her to interpret approached Kameron with a gift in an envelope to express her gratitude. In the envelope was a check for the exact amount needed to cover the application fee to begin the adoption process! This couple knew nothing of our recent visit to the agency or the prayers for wisdom we had been offering – we had told no one. While some people may say this is a mere coincidence, we choose to see it as a reminder of God’s provision for us as we step out on faith to follow God’s calling.

So on behalf of Kameron, Henry and Amelia, I am so excited to share the news that we our application to adopt a child internationally from Ethiopia has been approved! We are in the very early stages of the process and making preparations for our Home Study. We will be working through Lifeline Children’s Services here in Birmingham. We are filled with joy when we think that one of the 800,000 orphans in Ethiopia right now could become a part of our family within the next two years. As we have prayerfully considered our current family structure, we have decided to pursue adopting a boy or a girl no older than three years of age. 

We have adjusted our family’s budget in order to put as much money as we can into a savings account for the most immediate costs. We also plan to organize fundraising activities for this goal, such as providing monthly “Parents Night Out” babysitting services for our local friends. In addition to the “Ethiopian Adoption Manuel,” our summer reading list includes a book called “Adopt Without Debt: Creative Ways to Cover the Cost of Adoption.” We are hoping it will be a page-turner.

As our friends and family, we are asking for your support. We have created this blog for you to follow our story along this journey to Ethiopia, and we hope that you will enjoy sharing in our setbacks and successes. 

Many of you reading this are already a part of our family’s story, and we are filled with gratitude for your presence in our lives. We pray that you will feel called, with us, to be a part of a child’s story, too. We deeply desire to show God’s love to one of His own by making him or her one of our own. Please be in prayer for all five of us during this journey.

In God’s grace,

Nathan, Kameron, J. Henry & Amelia (and Number Three!)

“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”

Matthew 18:5, NRSV