Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Ponderings on Adoption

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways."
Isaiah 55:8

Yesterday I read this verse (along with others) on Kim's blog and it stuck out to me. Today I read a blog I've recently found and low and behold...there's that verse again. I think the Lord is telling me something. :) I hear you, Lord!

One thing that's been on my heart a lot lately is adoption. Matt and I feel the Lord leading us in that direction and have since we were first married. The biggest step of faith in all of this will be trusting Him to provide the finances because it is NOT cheap. In fact, it's crazy expensive.

I have always wanted to adopt. Probably since I was 12 years old. Every time I see a little Chinese girl with her Caucasian parents I want to cry because I think it's the sweetest thing ever. Matt and I really want to adopt from China. This has been "our plan" for about 5 years. There are over 15 million orphans in China. 95% of those are girls. Most of those girls are abandoned because of the one child per family laws.

The reason we haven't actually adopted from there yet is because Chinese law requires you to be 30 years old. Since we are approaching that big birthday, I requested information from several different Christian adoption agencies. We could start the paper work at 29 1/2 years old. That's only 6 months from now. It seems a couple of the laws required to adopt from China have changed since last year. Much to our disappointment! One being you have to have a net worth of $80,000! I don't know many 29 or 30 year olds that have that kind of net worth. I have been very discouraged. Our hearts have been in China for so many years. It's not to say we can't adopt from there one day, but I want to now! :) So, Matt and I were discussing it the other night. Maybe the Lord doesn't want us to adopt from China. Maybe His plan is somewhere else. His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. We are trusting and leaning on Him to lead us in the right direction. Please pray that we will know His voice and trust Him alone as we follow.

Though we are very sad about not adopting from China at this time, this means we can adopt sooner and have our little one quicker! China is the only country that has an age limit of 30. Other countries, including the US, are much younger.

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3


13 comments:

Jamie {See Jamie blog} said...

Thanks for visiting me today. We're in the process of adopting, too, but in our case we're working on adopting through the state (a child in foster care). I'll be checking back to see how it's going for you, stop in and see how things are going for us, too. :-)

Unknown said...

Thank God for adoption! We also wanted to for many years but nothing happened. If not for adoption we would not know our Matt,who is so special and what a blessing he has been to us. You have my encouragement, prayers and support in this endeavor. Stick with it and don't give up. God has a plan and only He controls it.
Love you for wanting to do this.
Punkie

The Walker's said...

Jamie, Our friend whose name is also Jamie adopted, I need to put the two of you in touch, she is totally for it. She has the sweetest little man, straight from the hospital too. He is biracial. Would you like for me to hook you two up, he is like a year old now.

jamie b said...

Punkin-your comment made me tear up! You are exactly right! If it weren't for adoption, Matt wouldn't be my husband or the daddy to our precious Bryan. He is truly a gift to our lives! love you!

Lana Walker said...

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart.And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

I will be praying along with you and Matt. I am proud of you and Matt in your desire to follow after Him and His will for your life. Keep trusting and following and he will lead you to His perfect will in all areas of your life, including adoption. I know you guys are doing that and it is hard to understand His ways. His thoughts are so much higher than ours. He sees the big picture.Don't be discouraged! He may not be saying no to China. He might just be saying not now or if not China something else He has planned just especially for you.
Love you,
Mom

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear you are discouraged. Please know that I am praying for you, Matt and sweet Bryan as y'all take this journey with God as your guide. I pray God will soon reveal His will to you and give you a peace that passes all understanding. I know you and your family would be such a blessing to whoever the little one is. God Bless!

Unknown said...

Hey girl! You could not be MORE right. Adoption is such a blessing. Our good friends have adopted 7 years ago, Kennedy (a little girl from China) and then this past June they adopted Kannon (a little boy from Ethiopia). Not only are there limitations on age for parents but certain countries allow you to adopt only certain age children. Keeping all these "limitations"/"legal aspect aka financial" in mind.....first an foremost NOTHING can put a limit on God...and if He desires that your family adopt then girl HE will make that happen money wise and all. I'm sure you and Matt are in prayer mode and don't you worry God will work it out in His timing. I'm sure He is so pleased to hear your open heart reaching for His little kids in need. You are awesome girl!

The Englands said...

i feel like i'm still adjusting to us having one each! i can't imagine you having two! :) haha or maybe three...what if you adopt twins!!!!! haha ;) not sure about how all of the adoption stuff works but if you guys get to meet the birth mom/parents i have no doubts that you guys will be such a witness to them! love you and can't wait to see how all of this pans out :)

redmaryjanes said...

We are currently waiting for the referral of our daughter from China. It has been a tough journey, but I would recommend it to anyone. I have a large community of women who are in different places in their adoption journeys to China that I blog with. You should come by.

Stephanie said...

Jamie,
Our recreation minister and his wife (Jay and Emily Flynt) are in the process of adopting a little girl from China. Emily's email address is rebsandhogs@juno.com if you want to contact her about the agency they are using. I'm sure she wouldn't mind talking with you about it!
Love,
Stephanie

Lyndi Soles said...

Amen Punkie! Adoption is such a wonderful thing! Jamie, do not be discouraged... God's timing is perfect in every way- Look at Baby Grant!! He will lead you and Matt in the direction you should go. I know He has placed this urgency in your hearts, and he will not lead you astray. Just continue to trust Him, and He will take care of the rest. We love you, and are so thankful for what God is doing in your lives!! Keep running the Race!!

Kimberly said...

Hey Jamie,

I just read your blog today (been busy this week and have 15 posts to catch up on reading! Whew!). I think that is awesome that y'all are thinking about adoption, and I will be praying for you guys. I am so glad that God used those Scriptures I posted to encourage you. I hadn't heard from anyone else about them, but that was OK, because I just wanted to post them b/c they meant so much to me. But it sure is cool to see God using them in others' lives. Anyway, Tony & Kimberly Merida, the interim pastor and his wife @ the church I attend here in H-burg are in the process of adopting from the Ukraine. He really has a heart for adoption, so as a congregation, we get to hear about it a lot. I have learned much about what God thinks about widows and orphans and adoption through Tony. Anyway, here is a link to Kimberly's blog: http://www.betheglory.blogspot.com/. She has some links to the adoption agency they are using and to her sister-in-law's blog (they have adopted 3 boys from Ethiopia). OK, so this comment is as long as a 3-page letter, but I just wanted to share! Love you!

Anonymous said...

Maybe your little girl in China just hasn't been born yet! My husband and are finally getting our net worth up there. Hopefully we can start our paperwork by next Christmas. I'm 32 now-you are right, it is so difficult for people our age to have that large of a net worth-but we're trying!
I just want you to know-you aren't alone! If you are called to China-it will happen! She will be waiting for you in perfect timing!