Adoption the process

We are in the process of doing our home study. This is the first step when doing an adoption. We have all gotten our physicals. We have ordered all the paper work from the different states that we need. Bret and I have been finger printed. We are now waiting to get all the papers back. We will than set up our first of two social worker interviews. We think we will have one before Christmas and another after we move in the beginning on January. We will than have our home study complete and ready for our Adoption. We are also working on preparing our paper work for the Liberian government. The process is quick once we are done with our home study. The adoption should take 3-4 months. We will keep you posted.

Our Letter

We are writing to tell you about some exciting news happening in our family. While Bret was gone on his last deployment we talked a lot, and one of the things that kept coming up was the possibility of adoption. I kept hearing the still small voice of God telling me that we cannot help everyone, but we can help one. For a few years I’ve been working with a company called Bead for Life. These are women from Uganda making necklaces in order to provide for their children. We now feel like we want to take it one step further and offer a forever family for a child that doesn’t have one. We might not be able to provide the most lavish lifestyle, but we can offer a warm home and unconditional love. There is a song with the line “break my heart for what breaks yours,” and we feel like our hearts have been broken for the orphaned children in Africa. Currently there are over 10 million orphans in Africa, and the number continues to grow every day.

After researching the different African countries that are open for adoption, we’ve landed in Liberia. Liberia is on the West Coast of Africa, right next to Sierra Leone. It is a war-torn country, with many children who have been orphaned by war or AIDS. Liberia has a high number of toddler boys available for adoption, which is one of the reasons we chose it. We are looking to keep our birth-order intact, so we are trying to get a child younger than Brayden, but older than 2 years old.

Our family is going to be forever changed as we move forward with the adoption. Our hearts are ready, and our kids cannot wait to welcome their new sibling. Brayden asks every time he sees an African American child whether this might be his new brother J.

We humble ourselves before our friends and family and ask you to pray for us as we embark on this great adventure. There are substantial costs involved, and if you would consider making an investment in this child’s life, you can send a tax deduct-able donation to the below address. If you would like to follow the progress of our adoption you can check out our blog at: JoelFamilyAdoption.blogspot.com

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter and for considering our requests.

Sincerely,

Bret, Kristy, Hayley, Alyssa & Brayden