The Journey Begins...

November 12, 2005
Dear Friends and Family,

We are writing to share some exciting news! Our family is expanding yet again :). We are expecting 2 children; however not in the traditional sense but through the miracle of adoption. My Hubby and I have had a sense since our engagement that one day God might lead us down this path. When our littlest guy approached his 3rd birthday we realized it was time to prayerfully reconsider whether or not this was in fact the Lord's will for our family. In the spring we did make the decision to pursue international adoption but we did not have a definite sense regarding which country to pursue.

On my 40th birthday, a friend came over for a visit and shared an article in a magazine entitled "Above Rubies." In this article the plight of Liberian children was clearly laid out. We can describe it in no other way than to say we felt compelled to research and pursue any information we could regarding adopting from this country. We learned of a Christian non-profit organization called Acres of Hope which has an orphanage in Liberia and has aided in placing many abandoned and orphaned children in forever families. We have learned that many siblings are placed for adoption due to the death of one or both parents (as a result of the Liberian civil war) or the inability of family members to provide adequate nourishment and shelter to these little ones. We decided we would like to adopt siblings because of our desire to keep a family unit intact after they have already lost so much and also to ease in the transition expected because of cultural and racial differences.

The past few months have been a flurry of collecting information and corresponding with other families who have adopted from Africa; especially from the country of Liberia. We have also begun our home study and filing of legal documents to bring these children home. Our hope is that we will adopt a brother and sister under the age of 4 .We plan to have them escorted to the United States. Acres of Hope will help us to decide which children would best fit into our family. We don't know for sure, but it seems that the likely time frame will be late spring/early summer 2006. Here is a link for those of you desiring more information about Acres of Hope and details about Liberia www.acresofhope.org

All of our children are all very excited about welcoming their new siblings into our home. We have spoken openly about the adjustments to come and they remain enthusiastic. They have several cousins and friends at church who are adopted or who have adopted siblings so they are very familiar with the culture of adoption. B3 has been praying at bedtime for about 1.5 years for an adopted baby sister. Our little guy regularly tells me to put a toy or article of clothing aside for his adopted brother and sister. Last week when he knew the social worker was coming for the home study he asked if we would go get his brother and sister later in the day~ he obviously doesn't quite comprehend the complexities of international adoption!! Our 2 oldest sons have each on their own accord given generously to our "adoption fund". In typical sibling fashion (i.e.: rivalry) they are trying to out give each other!!

M. and I are confident that the Lord will indeed provide the supernatural grace and wisdom required to parent 6 children ages 11 and under. As you can imagine, it is a definite walk of faith to trust Him with the finances (and energy !!) to do this.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this letter. We covet your prayers as we enter this new season as a family!! We look forward to having some news/pictures to share in the future.

By His grace,
The B's