Stepping Further: Part One {#2}

This is Part 1 of a long-awaited blog to answer a frequent and important question -- where are we in the adoption process?

Last time I wrote about adoption, I said that "2013 will see us doing mountains of paperwork and making life-changing decisions and trusting God for financial provision to bring our next daughter home."  That was certainly true but not necessarily in the ways I expected. 

Let me go back a bit, to the beginning of our marriage.  I worked full-time and Hubby part-time for the first two years that we were married as he completed his Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems.  After that, we learned the crazy mess that at-will employment is in this area.  In 8 years, Hubby has worked for 5 different companies, with both voluntary and involuntary switching of jobs.  Two periods of unemployment and a couple of lower-paying positions have left us with some “bad debt” that we are not comfortable having (ie. debt not tied into a home, vehicle, or business venture).

Finally, in July 2012, Hubby got a stable job with decent pay – and he is still there!  We have used this stability to begin to whittle away at the debt.  And it 2013, we filled out a LOT of paperwork while refinancing our house.  Just in time to cover car payments on a new-to-us minivan after our station wagon’s A/C decided to go kaput (again, LOTS of paperwork).  Incidentally, our station wagon only allowed for 3 booster/car seats.  Our minivan will hold at least 5!

We have also reached a point where our self-employment (both mine and Hubby’s) is going straight to debt reduction.  This is a wonderful point to have finally reached as we desire to be good stewards of what we have been given.

So, you may wonder what that has to do with adopting?  Well, the “bottom line” is that adoption from China costs ~$32,000.  Additionally, there are strict guidelines about income and debt that need to be met before you can qualify to adopt.  So a huge step that we took last year is to begin to line up our finances to be ready for this next adventure.

Soon, we will begin the specific process of setting up our adoption fund, allowing for gracious gifts, our own deposits, and fund-raising proceeds.  And where we are called, He will provide!