Connections

If you have spent some time with Travis and I, you have probably heard us talk about our church--we love it, we can’t help it. Recently, we joined in relationship and prayer with our partner congregation to match with another family/couple/individual to be prayer partners. We somehow managed to be paired with a fellow adoption journeying mama! She lives in our neighborhood and has recently begun the process of searching for agencies and programs and we are so grateful to have made another connection on our journey--especially one that includes daily prayers for each other! We’re excited to continue our journey with our new-found connection beyond the 5 weeks of prayer as we support her in her journey as well. We pray that she find clarity amidst the heaps of information when choosing an agency/program; that she find peace in her decision to choose adoption; and that she feels supported and encouraged by the people in her life as she embarks on this new journey.

We have also begun the process of being connected to several additional agencies who will be showing our profile books. We will be added to four agencies (one that has a tri-state region), as well as an outreach director that works with 16 different agencies across the country. Reading about and researching all of these agencies and thinking about the potential matches to come has made this new leg of the journey more real! It has also opened my eyes and heart to the negativity that is out there about adoption, open adoption, and the legal systems in place for both birth parents and adoptive parents. I hadn’t anticipated coming across opinions and ideas that could be so negative and degrading to all parties involved. But it made me think. And reflect. And pray. And I am just as certain as ever that this is journey that we need to be on. Just as thankful as ever that the negativity we face is minute in comparison. Just as appreciative as ever that we have all the support that we do.

With these new connections, we have been working on updates in our home with increased fervor! Travis has been working tirelessly in our basement as we prepare to re-do and finish a portion to be a “man cave”/office/craft space. I am very grateful that he is learning all sorts of new found trades and really earning that handyman title! We are hoping that all major work is complete by the time our profile goes live so that we (mainly I) am not stressing. We’ve also been starting the more ‘major’ work on preparing a nursery--refinishing a dresser and changing out hardware for a changing table, choosing items that we will need and deciding which things we should buy, which things we should add to a registry, and which things we can find second-hand to lessen our impact. One thing I’ve learned in the past year of “preparing” is that there is a massive amount of waste in the ‘baby industry’. So many items that are hardly used and then thrown away...it made me think about the impact that we are making and what I can do to reduce it. I’ve found many items second-hand and hope that I am able to pass them along when we no longer need them. I hope I can connect with fellow environmental conscious mamas to hear some other ideas about what we can do to reduce the “stuff”.

For now, we will continue to grow our connections and build a strong, deep foundation to bring our future child into. And we will hope, pray, and continue to wait.