National Adoption Month

November is National Adoption Month (and also the month where many churches celebrate orphan Sunday). I never knew November was Adoption Month until adoption directly affected my life.

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you are familiar with why Dustin and I were led to adopt. If not, here are a few blog posts to get you caught up: Our Path to Adoption and My Thoughts on Adoption.

I understand completely that not everyone is called to adopt. Adoption is costly. Our adoption into God’s family was costly–the price was Jesus’s blood. There are so many ways that you can be part of a family’s adoption:

1. You can pray.

I know our family was covered in prayer during our adoption process. Never underestimate the power of prayer. There are so many things you can pray for during an entire adoption process–pray for the expectant mother and her heart, the waiting family and their hearts, the social workers, the health of the baby, finances to made available either through a loan or donations, ease of anxiety or worry, ICPC to happen quickly, etc.

2. You can provide meals.

I was incredibly grateful that our ABF (Sunday School class) organized meals for us once we got home from Texas. Harrison was already three weeks old, so I felt silly accepting them at first–especially since it’s not like I was recovering physically from childbirth–but I quickly learned how much we needed those meals prepared for us. Dustin went back to work as soon as we got home to Alabama so I was exhausted from getting up to feed Harrison every 3 hours. The last thing I wanted to worry about was cooking food, so meals are a wonderful thing to do for a family who has just adopted!

3. You can donate baby items.

Many families who adopt may not choose to have a baby shower until they come home or they may not choose to have one at all. Items such as baby bathtubs, pack and plays, clothing, blankets, etc. are great to donate so these families–who are already spending money on adoption fees–do not have to worry about having all of these items before baby comes home (or during ICPC).

4. You can donate financially (or support a fundraiser).

This is an extremely important way to help those who are adopting. I can’t tell you how appreciative I was when people either donated to us directly or supported one of our fundraisers. It really meant so much. The Lord provided so much to us along the way, and then when it came time for Harrison, He provided a quick way to borrow money from Dustin’s 401K while we were still in Texas. Our adoption agency was so kind to wait on our money to get transferred instead of requiring us to pay it by their stated deadline. None of that was possible without the people who selflessly gave to our adoption fund!

Our pastor said Sunday during his sermon that our church has 22 children who were adopted. How amazing and wonderful that Harrison will grow up in a church where adoption is supported and normalized by the church! If you feel the Lord leading your family to adopt–whether domestically like we did, internationally, or through the foster care system–please feel free to email with any questions! I won’t answer questions about Harrison’s story because that’s his to tell someday if he chooses, but I’ll answer anything else 🙂