Ten amazing days …

It was only ten days ago that Kayla and I officially announced that we were adopting. Ten days does not seem like (and really, is not) a very long time and yet so much has happened in this short period of time that I wanted to write a blog post to give an update and to say some ‘thanks’.

First, an update … 

On October 16th, we attended an information meeting at Bethany Christian Services. This is the group that we will be adopting with and are very excited to partner with them. At that meeting the explained some of the costs associated with adopting. Here is a very rough breakdown.

$500 to apply.

$500 to begin the home study process

$4,000 to finish the home study process

~$20,000 upon adoption placement.

Although this is certainly a lot of money we know that this is what the Lord is leading us to do and therefore trust the Lord give us clarity and help with the finances along the way. It is not surprising therefore that God is already blessing us in many ways! More on that in a second though …

I can happily say that on Friday, October 24th I was able to drop off our initial application to Bethany Christian Services. We will now wait to hear back from them about some interviews and starting our home study process!

And now, some ‘thanks!’ 

There are countless people who have shared words of encouragement and prayer with us … That means more than we can express! If I could, I would thank each of you by name here on this blog but that would be A) impossible and B) take a very long time. Please know though that we appreciate all of you very much!

I do however want to recognize a few people/groups that have especially been a blessing to us!

1- Sharon Baptist Church – Our wonderful church body blessed us with a special check for Pastor Appreciation Month/Performing extra duties this past year. This unexpected, but absolutely wonderful, gift has helped us tremendously and made it possible to turn in that application fee!

2- Shane Johnson/Eight6Designs – Shane has been a friend of mine for over 15 years and he means the world to Kayla and I. He put in countless hours to make this blog/website to look the way it does and he did it all for free. Web design/development is how he makes a living and I highly recommend him to anyone needing such services!   

3- Brent and Suzy Beaird/Screen Graphics – This was the only place I would order t-shirts from while living in Paris, Texas and the first place that came to mind when thinking about our first fundraiser! Brent designed the t-shirt for us and will be printing them when we place our order. If you are looking for high quality t-shirts and high quality people Screen Graphics is your place! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4- Harry and April Bryan/Q-We-Do BBQ – Kayla has known this wonderful couple since she was a baby and in addition to loving her they have even adopted me into their ‘family’. They have the best tasting BBQ I’ve ever had and are hosting what might be the biggest (and definitely the tastiest) fundraiser we do!

Again, there are so many more that come to my head but I do not want this blog post to become so long that you stop reading it! Kayla and I are blessed and look forward to what the next ten days (and more) hold! Remember, if you would like to order a t-shirt or some BBQ pork you can do so by checking out our earlier blog posts!