November 18th, 2004 Update
We are so excited to be writing to you during this Thanksgiving season as we have some very exciting news to share! After spending many months thinking, praying and contemplating, we recently took a giant leap of faith and officially began the process to adopt our first child. We are happy to say that in as little as seven months, we hope to be returning home from the other side of the world with our very own baby!
The process of arriving at this life-changing decision has been a long one that started even before we were married. Ever since we both can remember, we have each felt strongly that someday we would be called to adopt a child from a foreign country. For a long period of time, we both believed that we would be open to adoption once we had our own biological children. However, during the past year God has been planting the desire in our hearts to adopt a needy child from an impoverished country.
When we first began to seriously consider adoption this year, we were not sure where to adopt from or even what agency to go through. After spending hours and hours researching numerous organizations and studying their rules and requirements, we finally felt led to a non-profit, Christian adoption agency called “All God’s Children, International”. We were really impressed by the agency’s strong commitment to pray about each child and to wait for God’s direction before placing them with a family. We were also excited to learn about the many humanitarian aid projects that this family-run agency operates around the world. These programs minister to pregnant mothers, children with special needs and children who have not yet found their forever family. (If you would like to read stories and see pictures of children who have been adopted through this organization, you can go on-line to www.AllGodsChildren.org.)
After choosing the agency, we had to decide on the country that we wanted to adopt from. This process was very hard since all the children in the brochures looked so adorable. Once again, it took some time until we clearly felt led to a specific country. Finally, one night while reviewing even more pictures of children, we were both drawn to the images of Russian orphans. As we researched more, we learned that multitudes of children in Russia are placed in orphanages every year due to poverty and inadequate parental care. The plight of these children spoke to our hearts and made us confident that we had found the right country.
At the present time, we are going through the process of completing our home study interviews and filling out stacks upon stacks of legal documents. We hope to be done with our paperwork and interviews by the first of the year, at which point we will begin the waiting period for our referral. Currently, the wait time could last anywhere between four and six months for our first trip to Russia. Once we make this first trip to meet our child, we have to wait an additional month until we can return to bring our new son or daughter home.
During the upcoming months, we would greatly appreciate your prayers and support as there are so many things that we are trusting in God for. Some of the biggest things on our minds right now are the well being of our future child as they wait in the orphanage, the ease of the paperwork and approval process, and our fundraising efforts as we are attempting to raise a large portion of the fees and expenses.
If you would be interested in receiving e-mail updates or seeing more information about our adoption, you can e-mail us or go online to our website at www.TheLockwoodHome.com.
We’re so grateful for your thoughts and your prayers as we progress through this long but joyous process. May God bless you and your family in this coming holiday season!