The day we knew our family would become a family of 6

For as long as I can remember I have wanted a big family. In 2005 I knew in my heart that part of that family would include adoption. I didn’t know what it would look like, when it would happen or how but I knew God was calling me to love a child I did not carry inside of me, or as many say one that was conceived in my heart. Before Eddie and I got engaged we talked about my desire to adopt and he agreed, he joked about wanting 10 kids back then, that was before we had Kaleb. In 2007 shortly after we were married we had an opportunity to foster a child from a local orphanage but at the time we agreed we were not ready. So we waited until we both knew the timing was right and that it was God calling us onto this journey. When we found out we were moving back to South Africa a little over 1 year ago my heart skipped a beat, I have known since we got married that one day we would adopt from South Africa, now that one day is getting closer and closer.

Over the last few months Eddie and I have prayed and talked many times about adoption, what it would look like for us and if we were ready to take this on. Soon our ‘ifs’ became ‘when’ and it was settled, we would adopt. We are already falling in love with a child we have never met. She or He is already a part of our conversations, prayers and thoughts. When we rented our house we talked about where the new child would sleep and when we signed our will before leaving the USA we talked to the lawyer about our plans.

Yup we are allowing God to grow our family. I write this because even though we are just starting the long process and it could be a few years before we welcome a new child, we would like to invite our family and friends along for this journey.

The process for us will be a long one, because Eddie is a South African citizen we can do a local adoption but because I am not a South African citizen we have more hoops to jump through. There are things like showing steady income and proving that we are establishing a life in South Africa, both things that will take time. We have started with the 1^st steps for us: letting family and friends know, started an adoption fund and started on getting my status in South Africa changed. We are reading books and talking to anyone and everyone we can find who has adopted, I went to a very helpful adoption training and we have spoken to one agency so far.  Once we start the process the opportunity to travel to the USA as a family will be unlikely until the process is complete (could be up to 3-4 years) so we are praying for the opportunity to visit the states in Sept of 2016 (more details on that soon). When we are back in South Africa we will start the home study process and officially get registered as adoptive parents. We could have a new member of our family as early as Christmas of 2016 (some local adoptions take 6 weeks before the placement of a child, some are closer to one year). We know this journey is in God’s hands and His timing and we are doing our best to be patient and prayerful as we take each step.

Over the next year I will write more on the emotional journey we are on. I can tell you this, while I know in my heart that having 3 kids is a lot I also know there are thousands of kids all over the world who need a loving home. Eddie and I are not the best parents in the world but we love our kids. My heart breaks to think about children growing up not knowing what love is, not knowing what being wanted or special feels like. We know we can’t change the entire world but we know we can change at least one child’s world. Am I scared? Yes but I am also beyond excited and I have a peace that can only come from God.