I have been extremely nervous and excited to talk about this on the blog for quite some time now. I kept waiting for that “right” moment to break the news. The moment where all the stars align and I say “Today is the perfect day to tell the world….”
Except I kept finding that no day was ever the perfect day.
I worried about how people might receive the news.
Will they be happy for us? Will they be faithful in praying for us? Will they think we have lost our marbles?
So I decided that no day will ever be perfect and the sooner that we have your prayers…the easier this process will become.
And if I’m being honest…I am nervous right now to click publish…
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We are adopting.
There I said it.
I am so glad that is off my chest.
Phew.
I know what your thinking.
“Mandy, you already have 3 kids, why on Earth would you need to adopt?”
Your right. We have been blessed BEYOND belief with 3 biological children of our own. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to get pregnant and carry a child. I am so grateful to have my boys.
At the same time, I feel like our family is not complete. I also feel like God has put adoption on my heart for quite some time.
I think I always knew that I wanted to be a mother. From the day I learned to play with baby dolls I had that “motherly instinct”. It wasn’t until I was in college when I began to think about how cool it would be to not only have my own children (if God so allowed), but to also be able to adopt a child that needed a family.
I can’t say that the thought crossed my mind much more until this past year. I just felt the thought of adopting keep coming to my mind. Over and over and over.
God is funny like that, right?
I was actually thinking….wow…I’m a lunatic for thinking these crazy thoughts. And God, your even crazier for putting these thoughts in my head.
And then one day I got the courage to ask my husband what he thought about my crazy thoughts.
It went something like this:
Husband walks in from work and sits down at the table.
Wife says, “So babe…I have something I want to talk to you about.”
Husband looks at wife like “Uhhhhhhhh oh crap…what did I do now.”
Wife giggles.
Husband is thoroughly confused.
Wife can not get the words out because she is so nervous he will reject her idea and think she’s looney.
Husband stares.
Wife finally blurts out (as she is looking in a completely different direction – in hopes of not facing the weird face she is about to receive), “Soooo………………what do you think about adopting a baby?”
PAUSE>
PAUSE>
AND MORE PAUSE>
Husband is the coolest husband on the planet and actually doesn’t shoot my idea down.
Yea. That’s how this all began.
There really was no easy way of bringing it up. I am so thankful that he didn’t just dismiss my idea, but that he actually heard me out.
We began praying about it and asking God to reveal to us if this was the right decision. For me, I knew instantly what God was asking. For my husband, it took him a little longer.
After a few months of praying and researching and thinking and praying, I made my first phone call to an adoption agency (in January 2012).
We will be adopting from the Phillipines (my husbands nationality). It’s going to be a long process. Right now the wait time for a child from the Phillipines is 3 years. Yes…THREE years.
We just finished up our adoption training last week and are closer to having our homestudy complete. It would be so great if you could pray for us through this?
I will be writing about our journey the whole way through. Don’t worry, this blog won’t become an adoption blog, but I will throw in posts on how it’s going here and there. In fact, I have already been writing the posts since we started over 3 months ago.
I think six is our number. The number that will make our family complete.
Similarly, bringing a person into a family by means of adoption is done by choice and out of love. “His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave Him great pleasure” {Ephesians 1:5}. As God adopts those who receive Christ as Savior into His spiritual family, so should we all prayerfully consider adopting children into our own physical families.
Sorry about the typos! Late night commenting from my phone! 😉
OMG, HOW EXCITING! I SWEAR WHEN I WAS WAITING FOR YOUR BLOG TO LOAD I WAS THINKING “I WONDER IF SHE IS GOING TO DROP A PREGNANCY BOMB ON US SOON?” LOL! I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT ABOUT ADOPTING AS EEL, RANDY AND I HAVE TALKED ABOUT IT, MAYBE IT WILL BE SOMETHING WE DO IN THE FUTURE AS WELL! CAN’T WAIT TO HEAR MORE ABOUT IT:)
Hi there! I just came upon your blog and I love it! Your home and family are beautiful. I am a mother to 4 little kids and needless to say I feel very blessed. Our oldest child (9) was adopted. She was adopted from the thousands upon thousands of children who are desperately awaiting homes right here in our home, the USA. She was in the foster care system. All adoption is a beautiful and amazing experience, just how I wish more people considered adopting from our country. I know many do consider it but have their personal reasons why they do not. It seems that so many don’t realize that there is another option other than expensive private adoption. There is FREE adoption as well! Many people do not know that when you adopt a child from a state, the parents get a monthly stipend until the child is 18. The child gets free medical care until 18. The child gets guaranteed admission for FREE into any state university in the United States! These are the incentives offered to make these children more “appealing”. It’s sad, because these children are enough all on their own.
I am so happy your family is going to grow- you all seem to have so much love to share. I will keep you in my prayers that the process goes smoothly for you. Thank you for letting me post about local adoption because so many people don’t know enough about it and it seems your blog is very popular, and for good reason. If I could build a home from scratch it would look identical to yours! Take care and beat of luck to you and your beautiful family 😉
Happy to post this because this is all information that I didn’t realize either!! Thanks for commenting! I know MANY families who choose NOT to adopt because of the cost so I truly appreciate this info.
Thank you Mandy:) This was our experience in Florida where we found our princess, and I also know that the state of NC where we are currently, offers the same incentives. Nearly every state has a website where you can literally “browse” the children available for adoption. Sad:( But thank you so much for posting, I don’t usually post about adoption, but your story sounds so much like ours. God bless!
Hi! I have been searching for stories about adopting from the Phillipines, and came across your article which is relatively recent. I saw that you said the wait is currently 3 years. Is this for infants? I am interested in adopting older children (1 or 2 – would consider sibling groups…and any age from 3-9). I wondered if you knew anything about the wait time for these types of children. I don’t want to ask adoption agencies b/c I know they will all want to sugar coat it.
Also, do you recommend any particular agencies to go through or to avoid? I live in Ohio, but understand that I don’t have to go through one in Ohio.
I am so new to this process, just searching for answers…trying to decide on a country to settle on.
Thanks so much! And by the way… you and I have much in common. I also have three biological children of my own, but have always been drawn to adopting b/c I feel that it’s in God’s plan for me!
Hi Brandi! The 3 yr wait time is typically from the time you start the process (home study) until you receive your child. We just got on the wait list in November and from there they said it’s 12-18 mths before you receive a referral. We are using an agency out of Minnesota. If you want their info just send me an email to mandy(at)houseofroseblog(dot)com and I’d be happy to give it to you. Also, we are adopting a child 0-3 yrs. The wait time is definitely shorter for older children or children with special needs.
I found your blog through Pinterest. Cute house! Good luck with the adoption! I think that’s awesome. I was also surprised and delighted to learn that your husband is Filipino. My husband is Filipino as well. Where I live that seems to be a rare find, usually in my experience the wife is Filipina. Anyway, good luck with everything!! 🙂
Mandy,
So happy to find you on Pinterest. I think I’m going to paint my bathroom similiar to yours with the rose stencil! My family thinks I have a painting disease but I really love to do all types of decorating!
We have three biological children and when the youngest was 6 we adopted a baby girl from Cambodia, after that we adopted another and then a baby boy. That little boy is now 13! Anyway, God placed it on my heart but it took a few months for my husbands heart to change. We are so blessed to have all 6 of our children! (Hoping for lots of grandkids in a few years!
God bless you! Maybe you’ll end up with 6 also!
Jan
This is so awesome, and exciting! I have 2 boys. And I have been thinking about adopting for years. Recently I brought it up to my husband but he keeps shooting it down. I’m hoping that if I keep bringing it up he will change his mind. When I look at my boys and see the joy they have, it obviously makes me happy, but it also makes me sad. Knowing that there are children out there that don’t have what they have, it breaks my heart. I would love the chance to save a child. But we’ll see. My husband knows I follow your blog and I told him awhile ago that you were trying to adopt, so the other day when I tried to bring it up again, he asked me how it was going for you. At least I know he’s paying attention lol
Well I’m praying that your family is complete soon. Thank you for sharing this! I’m reading all the posts, so I can get an idea of what to expect….if he ever changes his mind.
Hi Mandy,
How much is the cost of the whole process, we are considering adoption from the Phils. but was told by the agency est. is $30,000!!! whoaaa