Our Journey to Avree- January 4, 2010
Since July of 2005, we have been waiting for our little girl. Randy had always had a desire to adopt a child from a foreign country since he was a child. He had always had a heart for children who were not wanted by society. However, Stephanie wasn't very keen on the idea. When Kailee, our oldest, came to us and said something about adoption, our family prayed God would direct us to the decision to adopt. After hearing Steven Curtis Chapman's adoption story, we knew God was calling us to get a child who needed a family to love. Wary of the expenses, our family saved and offered every extra bit to our "adoption fund." Sometimes Kailee would come home from babysitting and put her money in the jar. Eli and Buck would offer extra dollars to go towards getting our "China girl." And so the process began. In '05, China had been one of the shortest adoption wait list programs that were offered to families in the US. We had planned to recieve a referral within 8-10 months. Little did we know, that would turn into 4 years. For different reasons, the wait became longer and longer for Chinese adoptions to the US. After much prayer, disappointment, and waiting, we finally decided to give it all to God, knowing it would all happen in His perfect timing. And it happened on October 14th of 2009!! We will have a new addition to the family before we know it!