Our Adoption Blog is Here!

Let the journey begin! It’s official…we’re adopting! This is the blog that will facilitate our journey through the process. This is the “background” entry. Holly will be contributing to this blog as well, and being that she has an M.A. in English, you will be able to easily differentiate between our entries. We have thought about adoption for some time now, but have decided to take the plunge. We are applying for an adoption of an infant baby girl from Guatemala. We are so excited. It is amazing; once we started talking about adoption we were introduced to so many other people that have either already adopted internationally or those who are in process. You will see in the next few entries that we had a couple of tough decisions right up front regarding from where we were going to adopt and what agency to use for the adoption process. We attended a seminar a couple of weeks ago in Birmingham that was sponsored by an agency called America World Adoption Agency. Holly and I were deeply moved after seeing the presentation. My initial reaction to the whole adoption process was less than perfect. I was always open to the idea of adoption, and even looked forward to it…someday. In the midst of all of this, I thought it would be nice to have a family while taking a child out of a poverty stricken situation. You can’t help but think that you could bring hope to an orphan’s life. However, in all of this, I was wrong. I see now that my family, our family, will not be complete without the adoption process. Sometimes we have moments of otherness, moments when we are so aware of the presence of God that we can truly understand what some call “the will of God.” Holly and I have had our lives open up in such a way that we have come face to face with God in the face of people around us. Even when looking at the pictures of the children in the orphanages in Guatemala and China, I have this feeling that I have a window into something that is sacred, something that is holy. I consider times such as these as sacramental. I refer to these moments as sacramental because of God’s grace that is experienced through such windows. Needless to say, Holly and I both consider this adoption an extension of our spiritual journey. Thanks for taking the time to begin the journey with us.