How it all began

 

Flashback to early 2011. Brad and I had decided our family was complete. We were selling baby equipment and giving away Drew's baby clothes. Finances were free and we were looking forward to moving out of the "baby stage". Our lifelong dream of purchasing property seemed within our grasp. We even started talking with the girls about riding lessons in preparation for when we would purchase and care for our own horses.

So how did we get from there to adopting a baby from Russia? God doesn't always work in mysterious ways. In our case it has been very obvious. Time to catch you all up:

Journal entry Wednesday, April 13, 2011:
We've had some rather unfortunate events in finances lately. (For the purpose of privacy, I won't include details here, but we were experiencing serious issues with income and concerns at work.) For the first time in 9 years of being home owners we are considering not making our mortgage payment. I am so grateful to have a wonderful partner to tackle this with. I know we'll find a way through this togther. It is now our focus to keep the kids secure and confident despote the serious discussions they overhear. Ah well, on with the adventure.

Journal entry Friday, April 15, 2011:
Happy 11th wedding anniversary to me. What a doosy. We were just hit with a huge tax bill this year right in the middle of our financial woes. I guess Brad's withholdings were not adjusted after his last pay raise. Apparently we made too much money last year. Wonder where it all went. But we have decided to make the mortgage payment and "white-knuckle" the next few weeks. Brad feels spiritually prompted and confident so I know this will work. I have to admit I am holding my breath a bit. Although I do feel better making the payment. I hate the idea of letting go of a committment like that. God is good.

I will spare you the journal entries over the following months. But we found ourselves scraping by for the first time in almost a decade of marraige. We realized all too quickly how inadequate our savings account was and how unprepared we really were to weather a financial storm. We learned how to pinch pennies in every corner of our lives. I stopped driving and started walking the kids to school. We turned our water heater down and removed more than half the lightbulbs in our home. We cancelled our cable service. We let go of every "luxury" we had and realized how spoiled we had allowed ourselves to become. How in the world could experiencing financial woes play a part in our adoption? We believe this experience prepared us for the financial commitment God was going to ask of us. Check this out:

Journal entry Tuesday, October 11, 2011:
Brad was able to get half of his pay cut back about 3 weeks ago. But we have discovered God has something in mind for that money. It has become clearly evident that we are being asked/lead/told adopt another child. The Spirit has been overwhelmingly strong since we have begun pursuing this prompting. We are a little frightened by the idea of adoption costs and the unknowns regarding an orphan. But we know with assurity this is what we need to do. God will make a way.

Journal entry, Wednesday, November 8, 2011:
I am amazed at the foresight of my Father in Heaven. As silly as that sounds, 'cuz duh, of course He knows all. To watch as God makes things happen in our life is stunning. Since April we have been scraping by and living paycheck to paycheck with white knuckles and quick shallow breathing. Yet now that we have committed to adoption we have had over 9 thousand dollars flow through our adoption account. How is that possible? All things are possible through the Lord my God. I give all praise to Him. We are truly blessed.

Because of the dicipline we learned and the wake up call we received regarding our excess spending, we were able to committ to saving $2000 per month from our family budget toward our adoption. Adopting from Russia costs an average of $50,000 (yes, that is the correct number of zeros). Being able to contribute such a large monthly amount has allowed us to bring our son home within 12 short months of deciding to adopt. Why the rush? Remember that journal entry in October of 2011 mentioning the adoption for the first time? We did not know it then, but God had placed a very special baby on the other side of the world with every intention of us going to get him and bring him home. He was born just a few days before that journal entry in October. We were prepared by our experiences beginning in April to sustain our family on just enough that we could spare the neccessary monies in just the right amount of time to go get our son.

God is good.