Adoption FAQ's

We are constantly asked questions regarding our adoption and we want to be as open as we possibly can be so here are some of the FAQ's! We actually love when people ask questions about every part of the adoption, not only does it speak to us when people care enough to ask about it, but it is also an opportunity to share our hearts!! 

1. Why does it cost so much? (If I had a dollar for every time I have been asked this we wouldn't need to raise support - jk.....kinda!) AND How much will it cost?

The average cost for domestic adoption is broken down like this:
Homestudy fee                                                     $1,912
Agency Application and Program Fee              $14,161
Attorney Fees                                                        $3,548 
Birth Family Counseling                                      $1,085
Birthmother Expenses                                         $3,076
Travel Expenses                                                    $2,198
All other Expenses                                                $4,682
Total                                                                        $30,662

Again, this is an average! Absolutely every adoption is different with different costs and considerations, but average cost for domestic adoption is $25,000-$40,000
Our goal is to raise $30,000! That is what we are praying for and what we believe the Lord will provide! Our Consultant will work with us to make sure we only present our family profile to situations that will not exceed our funding! Sadly because of the great expense here are some stats!

33% of Americans consider adoption. 

79% of those are concerned about the costs, the biggest deterrent. 

Less than 2% adopt.

Of the estimated 153 million orphans in the world, 17.8 million are “double orphans” (without a mother or father)   250,000 orphans are adopted  14,000,000 age out of the system

If 1 family in every 3 churches in the US adopted a waiting child, every waiting child in the US would have a forever family.

2. How old of a child will you adopt? 
We have preferenced an infant! Most likely we will be able to take the baby home from the hospital. Again, each case is completely unique and there is no guarantee. We do not believe that we will take a child any older than E, unless God just makes it clear that that is what He wants! But at this point we plan on an infant! We fully trust that God already knows who our child will be, we just have to walk in faith! 

3. Do you guys want more biological children?
At this point we are just taking it step by step and child by child! We feel very very certain that we are following in the Lord's calling for our family at this time with pursuing adoption. We would love to have another biological child at some point, but only God knows the plans He has for our family and we want to live open handed and trusting Him!

4. What is the timeline?
We continue to pray that we will have our baby in spring 2014! Once we have our funds we will be able to move forward and things 'should' move quickly from there! 

5. What are you doing to raise money?
**We are currently raising funds!!! (**Read our February update for most up to date info on that!)
**We ran the Chosen Marathon in October and just received word that we raised $1520.00 through the race! We had an incredible team sign up to support us and we are so grateful for each of you that joined our team! 
**We have also set up a partnership with Just Love Coffee - where a percentage of purchases made will go towards our adoption! 
https://justlovecoffee.com/about/beneficiary/Forbis/
**Private gifts are also an option and we have had several generously given to us! 

Through all of these means we have to date raised $3,070

We will also be applying for grants! The average grant amount is 2,000-5,000! Most of the grants available are matching grants so keep an eye out for fundraisers! There will be a certain timeline that different organizations will agree upon and determine to match with a grant what we are able to raise!

6. What are you paying for yourself?
We have done a lot of shifting around in our monthly budget and are monthly setting money aside towards our adoption! We have already paid close to $3,000 out of pocket for homestudy and other fees that were paid upfront! 

7. Why don't you just adopt through CPS? 
We would love to adopt through CPS someday. We even completed all the training needed to do foster care in our home before we became pregnant with E. I say right now because we have a heavy heart for and fully believe that we will do foster/adoption later on. 
In order to adopt through CPS, we would have to be willing to take a child up to 8 years old. We do not feel like we are equipped at this point to take a child any older than E! We desire for her to have a sibling close to her in age.  As we prayed and prayed about what God saw best for our family after having E, we continually heard that adoption was what He was calling us to. With adoption once we add a child to our family, it will be a permanent addition, which we feel is best for E at this time. Through CPS we could have a lot of kids in and out of our home for years and they may never become available for adoption. So there are a lot of factors for us that really helped us see why God was calling us to do adoption now! 



Please add any other questions you may have in the comment section below!!!

{Read our full story here}

Advent - Family daily devotionals

Family Advent

[daily devotionals]

I am so excited about our advent this year!!! I have been wanting to do something with E that really focuses on Jesus and teaches her about His birth and why we celebrate Christmas! It has been a tradition for John and I to do Advent together each year, but this year we decided to start it with E! I think we will be able to use this one for the next several years - it will be short and daily will have something visual for her to see as we talk about the story!!! 

I bought this at Hobby Lobby and used scrap book paper to add the numbers!

Here are the verses we are using and the visuals we chose for our advent! Everything was from around the house or super cheap from the craft store! Most of them are super cheesy, but its just meant to be fun and give us a visual to look at as we read and talk about the Christmas story!!!

{one} Luke 1: 26-28; 31

‘In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.’

Angel Gabriel

{two} Matthew 1:18

‘Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.’

Engagement

{three} Luke 1:46-55

 ‘And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 

for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

And his mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 

he has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate; 

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy, 

as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”’

Mary's Song

{four} Matthew 1:20

‘But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’

Angel of the Lord

{five} Matthew 1:21

‘She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”’

The Cross - Save people from their sins

{six} Matthew 1:22-23

‘All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel”(which means, God with us).’

God with us (allowed Christ to be with us, bridging the gap between God and man)

{seven} Luke 2:4 

‘And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,’

Family Tree - lineage of David

{eight} Luke 2:5

 ‘to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.’

Travel and registering

{nine} Micah 5:2

 ‘But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to be ruler in Israel,

             whose coming forth is from of old,

from ancient days.’

Royalty (purple)

{ten} Luke 2:6-7 

‘And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.’

Baby Jesus (I know its creepy but its the only baby that I could find to fit)

{eleven} Luke 2:7 

“…[Mary] wrapped [Jesus] in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Swaddle Blanket

{twelve} Isaiah 9:6 

‘For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’

Prince of Peace

{thirteen} Luke 2:8-11 

‘And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’

Shepherds

{fourteen} Luke 2:12 

‘And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”’

Manger

{fifteen} Luke 2:13-14 

‘And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”’

Multitude of heavenly host

{sixteen} Luke 2:15-18 

‘When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.’

Bells - Making known

{seventeen} Psalm 95:6 

‘Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!’

Rock - bowing down on the earth

{eighteen} Luke 2:19-20, 33-35 

‘But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”’

Mary's Heart

{nineteen} Luke 2:21

 ‘And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.’

Name Jesus

{twenty} Luke 2:22-24

‘And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”’

Two turtledoves

{twenty-one} Luke 2:25-32 

‘Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”’

Eyes have seen your salvation

{twenty-two} Matthew 2:1 

‘Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,’

Wisdom of the wise men

{twenty-three} Matthew 2:1-2 

‘Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”’

King of Kings

{twenty-four} Matthew 2:9-10  

‘After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.’

Star

{twenty-five} Matthew 2:11 

‘And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.’

Gifts from the wise men

HOME STUDY FINISHED

We finally received our completed home study today!!!!! It seems like it took forever but it is finally finished!!!!!!!! This is a HUGE step in the adoption process!!!! This means that we have been interviewed about every personal thing you can imagine, we have been observed in our home and with Emery, we have completed almost 30 pages of questions and our home has been approved as a home that is not only ready for a new baby but it has been determined that we are ready to bring another child into our home and would be able to provide the love, care and support for our new baby!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!

So what's next? Now that we have the complete home study, we can start applying for grants!

This also means that as soon as the funds are in, we can start applying with agencies which could go really quickly once we get to that point! 

We continue to pray and ask God to provide for us! We know that He will be faithful!

Our race is this weekend and after that is done we will have a better idea of where we stand financially! I daily have to press into the Lord and remember His faithfulness throughout my life and remember that HE will provide in HIS timing and as HE sees perfect for us!

We are anxious, excited, and hopeful! We pray often for the baby, which realistically could already be conceived! We pray for the family and pray for opportunities to know them and love them!


As I seem to get anxious often these days just thinking about this baby, ready to know when we will get to meet and wishing that I could hurry things up.... The Lord has reminded me often of this verse:

^{Exodus 14:14} The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Such a sweet reminder that HE has us, in all situations I just have to be still! What a sweet reminder, especially on the days that I think 'if I could just do more then things would go quicker' -- ALL IN HIS TIME! So thankful for His constant love and care for His children!