Our exciting news!

      Well this is very different for me because I have never ever put a blog together, but this whole situation that we are in is a whole new thing for me and my family. And as you can tell from our title we are adopting! I want to first say how amazing it is that the Lord has put adoption on so many of my friends' hearts right around the same time as us. I praise Him for that!

     Well, I don't even really know where to start. I have been praying about adoption for probably close to a year now. I have always thought that adoption was a great thing but thought maybe not for me because obviously we are able to conceive a biological child. As I was reading blogs of people I know who were adopting, researching on the computer, and of course reading scripture, I realized that adoption is not just something people do because they cannot have children. It is the very heart of our Father in heaven. We are commanded over and over in scripture to take care of the orphans, widows, and aliens. I know that everyone is not called to adopt, but we are called to take care of them in some way or another!  I started reading books on adoption. The first was Adopted for Life (awesome) and then I read Orphanology (awesome as well). As I read scripture and these books the Lord really emphasized the fact that at the age of 8 I was adopted into His family. I was an orphan in need of a Father. Praise God that he did not "leave me as an orphan, but came to me!" I realized that God was leading us to adopt, I just didn't know when and where. After all we just moved from New Orleans to Alabama to be a first time pastor at a church! I thought, people will think we have gone nuts! lol  Well maybe we have, but God has called us to step out in faith in this journey. We trust Him to lead us and provide for us not only with the funds we need to adopt ($30,000!) but to provide for us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. What I have already figured out is that Satan hates adoption and he will not go down without a fight. We must put on the full armor of God so that we may withstand the devil's schemes!

     Where are you adopting from???? I guess I should tell that! I have always always wanted to adopt from China. I knew of people who had and always had a heart for that country. Then my bubble got burst. Both parents have to be 30 to adopt from China. Ben turns 30 next week whereas I don't turn 30 for 3 1/2 more years! I started praying. I thought well maybe we should wait 3 1/2 years to adopt. We kept praying and soon we realized that maybe God wasn't calling us to adopt from China right now. Ben mentioned Africa. We started praying again. We started looking at Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Uganda. As we were praying and researching we realized that Rwanda is putting all paperwork on hold while they fix adoption laws in their country. So we started looking at an agency in Alabama that worked with Uganda. It seemed as if that might be it until we realized that you have to stay there anywhere from 4-6 weeks!! With us having a 2 year old son at home and Ben being the pastor (and only full time staff) at our church we knew that probably would not be the best situation. Then we started looking at Ethiopia and two different agencies. From the very beginning of praying about adoption I have looked at America World Adoption Agency because a friend of mine in New Orleans was using them. They are a Christian agency whose hearts are truly in the right place when it comes to adoption. Another agency we looked at was pretty much the same. A good Christian agency who would be awesome. The deciding factor was the fact that Ethiopia has now increased their wait time. This worried me because I thought "what if I accidentally get pregnant and I have to withdraw?" America World helped couples out with this scenario by changing some of their policies on that. That is why we have decided to use America World Adoption Agency and  are going to adopt a SON FROM ETHIOPIA!!!

      We cannot do this alone. We need the PRAYERS and support of our families, friends, and our new church family. We will need encouragement, prayers, and the funds to pay for this adoption. (No, we don't have $30,000 lying around!!!) If you feel led, we would love for you to partner with us by donating. I know that everyone is not called to adopt but as I said earlier we are all called to take care of the orphan so if you would like to do that by giving toward our adoption that would be an awesome thing! I will be posting some fundraising ideas sometime in the near future but in the meantime we have a paypal account set up and we have our address on the blog. Anything would be appreciated.
We are so excited about this new journey and hope you will be praying for us as we wait to bring our son (and little brother) home.
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Tori