If you are reading this you have no doubt received our letter or seen our links on Facebook. We would like to welcome you to this slice of cyberspace where we plan to document our journey to bringing home our children.
This journey started in early 2012 when I (Erin) felt adoption really being laid on my heart. I kept pushing it away saying "we just made the decision to be DONE having more kids!" We were at peace and settled with that decision. But, adoption was still there in the back of my mind just fighting with all my other thoughts to get to the front of the line. Eventually I poured out my thoughts in written form to Petey. He resisted the idea at first, too. We tabled further discussion until we both had a chance to pray about it and really think it over. When we approached the subject again we were both 100% on board and ready to move forward. Without much discussion we both agreed we would be pursuing an international adoption. The where was a little tougher to figure out. Due to our age, the number of children we already have and the limited time we can spend in country we were automatically disqualified from several countries. Initially we were drawn to Ethiopia and nearly submitted applications but something just wasn't right and we held back. We just weren't at peace with pursuing an adoption for an infant who wouldn't even be conceived for another 2+ years. So, we researched more. Knowing some families from our former church had pursued an adoption from the Democratic Republic of Congo piqued our interest. When we started learning the facts about life for many of that country's orphans we knew this was where our children were waiting for us. Our eyes were opened and we could not turn away knowing what we knew. So, the researching for a new agency got underway. We joined message boards and connected with many other adoptive families. This was how we learned of DRC Adoption Services. I had been in contact with a couple other agencies we were seriously considering but after speaking with Amy I was convinced we had finally found the path to connect us with our kids. So, we jumped in. We submitted our homestudy in mid-August and finished it mid-November. We are very anxiously and excitedly waiting for the next steps that will bring our children HOME to us. Adoptions from the Democratic Republic of Congo generally move very fast compared to many other countries. We will hopefully have many frequent updates about our process and our fundraising efforts. We hope and pray that you will join us in this journey - celebrating our big news and praying us through the hard days.
