About Us

We are Stuart and Jessie - a couple imperfectly pursuing God's will for our family, which so far has included having and loving 3 children, getting debt free, and now pursuing an international adoption.
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Friday, June 21, 2013

Full Circle

We get asked quite frequently how our adoption process is going.  I don't mind being asked at all; we've been fairly public about our decision to adopt, and we've also received a heck of a lot of support, both verbally and financially, that we feel a sense of obligation to keep inquiring minds in the loop.

However, since our name went on the list back in November, we haven't had much to report.  Well, until last week, kind of.  We spoke with our caseworker and Stuart asked some pointed questions about information I had read, about wait times, about our adoption in general.  And yes, the question even came up about switching countries...again.  Needless to say, we hung up the phone dismayed.  We're in an odd situation where we don't qualify for many countries because we're not 30, or because we have 3 children already, or because we don't have a Hague-approved home study.  The last is the easiest to fix but requires a bit of money and more time.

To say I felt confused is an understatement.  I like knowing what to expect, I enjoy planning, and I definitely like feeling prepared, and I can't do any of that right now.  Stuart and I have been doing a lot of praying and talking about what direction to take, but going in circles.  So two nights ago I laid in my bed and demanded to hear from God (yes, I do that occasionally), and I formulated a blog post in my head.  I fully intended on getting on my computer yesterday morning and writing this lousy update, because it was about as good of an update as I could pull off.  And for the most part, it's still a lousy update.

Except it's not.  Read on....

I pulled out my computer yesterday morning and did what I always do - checked my email first.  One of the emails was a notification from Paypal.  I quickly asked myself "what was I selling on ebay??" and "ugh, I don't want to have to pack it up."  I hate selling things on ebay for the sole reason that I have to pack it up and address it.  That's such a hassle for me.  I wish I could just drop the dang thing in the mail box, am I right?  Anyhow, the email from Paypal included a name I was very familiar with, because two years ago almost to the day I found her blog and we started a friendship.  Please read about it here.  Things still weren't clicking in my head, so I opened it up and read this note:

"Jessie! While we were waiting to adopt from Russia, some dear friends of ours who didn't have much money wrote us a check for $2000. They told us a story of how another couple had given them $2000 when they were adopting years earlier. The couple told them, "Don't ever pay us back. This is a gift, not a loan. But someday when you have $2000 again, please pass it forward to someone else who can use it." Our adoption has fallen apart and our decision is to proceed locally with foster care. So the money left in our adoption account, which includes the $2000, isn't all needed to move forward with our new plans. [My husband] and I have been wanting to bless you and Stuart somehow, and now we know how! I stumbled upon your blog again this morning and saw that your remaining balance to have the $27,000 is $2,280. So there you go, my friend. Fundraising complete. Now go focus on your precious family and we will be with you in prayer that God is working diligently on your hearts as well as that of your future child to ensure a lifelong bond between all of you.  : ) Love to you guys!"

I joked that this was quite a return on my measly investment into their adoption two years ago.  But what gets me is how it came full circle.  After they spent a week praying and waiting on God, God prompted me to reach out to them.  And after Stuart and I spent a week praying and demanding God speak to us (hey, it's the truth), God was gracious, very gracious to us by prompting them to reach out to us.

What a humbling position to be in.


 jessie