We have an update from the Eloges!
Josh and I have always known that God had big plans for our adoption story, but our “something bigger” is actually much bigger than we ever expected. On Friday, April 8, we heard a few words that would completely change our lives:
“I am confident that I want you guys to be the parents.”
After talking to an incredible expectant mom for over two hours on the phone, it was so clear to us that this was where our story was leading … and in less than two weeks we will fly to Utah to meet our TWIN GIRLS!!
So many doors had to open to bring us to this beautiful and strong expectant mother carrying twin girls, and Josh and I were amazed when the pieces just continued to fall into place.God has been so faithful to us, and we know that doors will continue to open to bring these girls home in just a few days! The adoption costs (birth mom expenses, medical expenses, legal expenses, travel expenses, etc.) for this situation are more than we were expecting, and we need your support! We are hurrying to apply to as many adoption grants as possible, and working with the medical providers to bring costs down. Please consider coming alongside us financially and help us share the update video (above) to get the word out! We can’t wait to to have these two precious girls join our family!
If you haven’t seen our adoption announcement video yet, click here!
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Finally, the news is out! On August 25th, 2015, Josh and I signed papers to start the adoption process. This has been a day in the making for about six years. When Josh and I were dating and things were starting to get more serious, I asked him if he would be open to the idea of adopting someday, and with Josh’s huge heart, he said yes.
Shortly into our marriage, conversation changed from wondering if we would adopt to when we would adopt. We always thought that there was something powerful about starting our family with adoption, with choosing this child first. Not a plan B, but our plan A.
We have been married for five years, and after a great trip to Europe this summer, we felt like God was moving and that something was about to change.
At the beginning of the school year we were talking more and more about what our family would look like, and the conversation again led back to adoption. A few days later, we were driving in the car and I thought I would trick Josh by saying “When should we start adopting?”, knowing very well, he would say “Someday”, “after Medical School” or “Once we have more money”. But when I shrunk down in my chair and sheepishly asked this question, he sat up, and with a huge confident smile said, “Ready when you are!”
Honestly, my first thought was “What?!?! What is he thinking?” Followed quickly by, “Ok. Let’s do this.” We didn’t know that this new school year would also involve a very new chapter of our life, but we are convinced that now is the time to begin this next great adventure. Of course there are fears, we are going through medical school, we have very limited funds right now, but we know that God will provide and this is a part of God’s plan for our lives.
It has been so fun to share the news with friends and family the last few weeks. When we have shared the news that we are adopting with a friend it’s been so reassuring to hear how unsurprised they are and they usually go on to tell us about a moment that they vividly remember of us talking about adoption.
I have found many journal entries that date back to 2011 and 2012 thinking about adoption and asking what it would look like for us and when it would happen. These little moments have been such great reminders of God’s faithfulness and how this has been slowly growing in our hearts for a long time.
But the biggest surprise out of all of this to us is that we are pursuing domestic adoption. I work for a global orphan care organization and many of my co-workers and friends have gone through the international process and that’s what we always pictured we would do. When we made the decision to go forward with the adoption in August, Josh said that he was leaning towards domestic adoption. At first, I was a little surprised but the more we talked about it, researched domestic adoption and prayed we felt confident that this is the way we should go. We love the idea of potentially having an open adoption with our son or daughter’s birth mom.
We aren’t sure where this adventure will take us, but we know that it will end just the way it should, with a new little one in our life and the amazing mama that will forever be a part of our story.