Village People

We have been completely blown away by the support we've received from our t-shirt sales. I know I KEEP saying that over and over - but it's seriously crazy how this tiny little fundraiser has brought such a huge response!  I told Clay in the beginning that I would love to sell 100 shirts - and we've now sold almost 500!  The LORD continues to be our provision and teach us that HE is our provider!  

We are also very excited to announce that we are now at 60% of our needed funds to complete our adoption! 

I do not want to only focus on the financial aspect of our journey - I only say this to celebrate what the LORD is doing!  I do not ever want to forget how the Lord has used so many of you to teach me of His own character.  He is our provision.  He will always provide all that we need in His timing and in His ways.  

Four months ago we would have never been able to conceive of where any of this money would come from - but we knew we had to step out in faith and trust Him.  What a journey it's been!  Thank you all for your sacrificial giving and your obedience to the Lord.  I could not put into words how much the Lord has you to teach me about His heart and how He can use others to teach us about Him.  It is so humbling.  

Getting your "Village People" pictures does nothing but warm our hearts!  It has seriously been so fun to see all of you who bought one wearing them in support!  I CANNOT wait to show Baby C the pictures of you all and how loved he/she was before we even knew their name.  

If you haven't sent us a picture - please do!  We would love to include you in our book!  

Thank you all for your continued support!  May God get the glory from every little step in our journey!  

We are ready to meet our little one!  

Waiting Joyfully, 

Stacy and Clay 

Open-Handed Faith

Many of you have asked about an update - and to be quite honest there is not much of one other than the same thing we've been saying for a while now:  "We're just waiting for that phone call!"  [Please know that you are welcome to ask me this question ... I might just have the same answer for a while :)]

My dad has also told me that I can no longer call him unless I have news that his new grand baby is on the way! He said he is tired of almost having a heart attack each time he sees mine or Clay's names on the caller id. ;)

However -- we have completed 1/2 of our home study visits so expect a post about those details soon!  (There are some of you like myself who love knowing details so I'll try to make it detailed ... if any of you out there would want to know!)

While I knew that this waiting would have many different emotions and lessons attached to it, I could not expect the blessing that it has become.  It must be noted that blessing does not mean that it has been all fun and easy - no, that's not true.  There have been a few tears and some conversations with Clay hashing out my need for control.  The phrase "I just wish I knew..." followed by several different statements have been coming out of my heart and mouth in the last few weeks.

The blessing is that I (and Clay) have been able to walk by faith in ways that I never understood before this journey.  It seems that is one of the most precious ways that the Lord works - by teaching us through our obedience in the midst of uncertainty.  There have been no deep theological truths revealed, or emotional mountaintop experiences, or big revelatory moments so far.  Instead, I am learning to walk with every step as an act of open-handed obedience to the Lord.

Proverbs 3:5-6 have been so refreshing and challenging to me as we are waiting.  I can remember a day a little over 2 years ago as Clay and I sat on our couch discussing our plans to expand our family and this was the verse that he mentioned in that conversation.  At that time, these verses were nothing but the verses that Mrs. Margaret taught me in Sunday school years ago.   

But oh how God has deeply used these two verses to teach me about walking by faith.  Trusting the Lord is not always easy but it is always good.  Leaning on my own understanding will get me nowhere.  I may never understand why or how or when, but God does. In fact, I may never grasp why things happen if I leave it up to my own understanding.  He is in control.  He has a sovereign plan that does not need my understanding in order for it to be in place.  

For now I am learning to build my trust in my Sovereign Father.  I can do this by acknowledging Him in all my ways.  This is a lesson in putting one foot in front of the other and clinging to God's promises and His commands.   I want to always view this season of our lives in this way as we wait for our precious little one!   

The Village People

It has been so fun and humbling and awesome to see people wearing our adoption t shirts.  I have nicknamed you all the Village People - it may be corny but I think it's fun!  ;)

We've had such an overwhelming response to this fundraiser! Thank you for your generosity and support of us in this journey.  I have been completely blown away by the faithfulness of the Lord in every step of the way.  Why do we ever put limits on the Lord?  So far we have sold twice as many shirts as was my original goal! It's one of the many stories we have and will have about how the Lord is teaching us through this process.  

We are thrilled to announce that we are now at 38% of our needed funds!  Through our t-shirt sales, we added 10% of the money needed to bring our precious little one home.  It is incredibly humbling to see all that happens when you surrender to God's plan and walk entirely by faith.  You guys are all a huge part of that lesson!  

There are still people out there who have ordered shirts, and they are on their way to you!  We ran out of all the ones we did have but we are printing more!  AND if you would still like to order one - we are taking orders until next Friday, April 5th.  Just shoot us an email, Facebook message or text and let us know what size and whether you would like a crew neck or a v - neck!  

And don't forget to send us a picture if you have already gotten your shirt!  You can appear in a "Village People" post soon!  You will also be included in the book for our child to have one day!  

You can email your picture to us at:  ourroadtoadopt@gmail.com 

OR you can text it to either me or clay

Waiting Joyfully, 

Stacy and Clay 

The Shirts Are In!

We have been completely humbled by the overwhelming response to our t-shirt fundraiser. Our child is certainly blessed by many people who already love him or her.  I cannot wait to start getting pictures of you all in them so we can start putting together our "Village People" book for our little one!  

Something that was really fun was that Clay and I actually got to be part of the screen-printing process for our shirts!  Some of you may or may not know that I work at a t-shirt and promotional product store in our town, and my boss amazingly agreed to help us out with our fundraiser.  Clay and I got to go and be a part of the whole thing and help print our shirts!

This is the screen that was used to print our shirts!  Clay stood over by the printer and loaded and removed our shirts as they went around and were printed.  He then placed them on a dryer for the ink to dry.  

I stood at the other end of the dryer and caught shirts as they came through.  It was so much fun to get to be a part of this process.  My bosses Petey and Sara and their daughter Dakota were all there helping us print.  I was so mad after we left because I realized I didn't get a picture with them!  We are so thankful for them and their help to us in this process!  

We then took the shirts to my parent's office and used their conference room as a sorting line.  My sweet mom came and helped to get all the shirts sorted and labeled.  

And this is what our living room has looked like the past few days!  The shirts are now done and are ready to go out to all of you!  If you are a part of our church, Clay has them in his office and you can run by there and get them.  If you are in our area, I will be contacting you to work out the details of getting them to you.  If you don't live close, you should be getting yours in the mail soon!  

And one more thing I don't want to ever forget:  these precious cards a sweet friend made for us to put in each bag.  We would love for each of you to keep this card as a reminder to pray for us and this entire process.  We have sincerely been so encouraged by each one of your sweet prayers over our growing family!  

If you still would like to order one, please let us know!  We have a few extras but are going to be doing another printing run as well! 

Words do not seem to be enough to express how thankful we are for each of you.  Please know that every day the Lord is using the people He has placed in our lives to teach us more about Himself and His working in every day lives.  

Waiting Joyfully, 

Stacy and Clay 

Already Spoiled

Baby C already has a few things waiting for him or her at home.  Our family and friends have been blessing this baby from the moment we announced our adoption.  This little one does not even know what is coming!  I have only allowed myself to buy one thing outside of these gifts ... but I'm afraid all that will change when we know he or she is on the way!  (Who am I kidding?  I am not sure how much longer I can hold out!)  

And yes, that is a teeny tiny 6M cardinals tee ready for our little one!  Clay was ecstatic!  

I really want to use this space as a way to keep others updated, but I also want to make sure I'm documenting special moments along our journey as well.  There have been some cute moments thus far and I don't want to forget them because they mean so much to our story.  

Along with our families, we told a few friends of our plans before we went "public" with our news. Clay wanted to tell a few guys that he is really close to about our plans to adopt so he asked them to meet him for lunch.  None of them really knew what he was going to say.  One of them walked in and immediately said, "Ok so you are about to tell us 1 of 3 things:  Either you and Stacy are pregnant, you are leaving the church, or you have cancer.  Now which one is it?"  Clay laughed so hard! 

  One of my favorite moments came the night we announced we were adopting to a dear family in our church.  The entire family was there waiting for us as we announced our news.  Clay had mentioned a few days before that we wanted to talk with them about something.  They were scared to death of what we were going say, but the sweet grandma of the family jumped up as soon as we could get it out of our mouths.  She exclaimed, "I knew it!" and got up and ran into the kitchen and came back with a small baby gift.  It was such a fun moment for me as I opened it and realized that I was receiving my first baby gift!  It was surreal.  

Wednesday will mark one month since we signed our sign-up paperwork.  These are such fun days that we never want to forget.  I want to continue this journey with the same joy and excitement that we've had the last month.  I know that as the waiting goes on and the unknowns remain it is bound to get harder.  I am thankful for this as it is a daily lesson in placing my hope in Christ.  I have written the words "My hope is found in nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness" across my bathroom mirror.  Each day when I look at it I remind myself that my hope does not come from getting that much awaited phone call; it must come only from the hope that the gospel brings to my life.  I pray our child will one day know the same hope.  

I realize more and more every day just how ready I am to meet our precious little one.  It is amazing how much love you can feel for someone you do not even know!  

Waiting Joyfully, 

Stacy and Clay 

It Takes a Village

This process has been incredibly humbling as we have seen God use the body of Christ to minister to us.  We have received notes, fun things for our little one, and lots of hugs and encouragement.  There have also been those who have been sacrificially giving of their financial resources in order to make our adoption happen.  All of these things have been mind blowing to Clay and I.   We are immensely humbled and grateful, but we are also learning more about community and how God designed for us to live.  It is amazing to see how God weaves our lives together for more than just surface level friendships - He designed us to share in and support one another in all things.

Through all of these things we have come to realize that this adoption is not just an effort of Clay and myself.  It is so much more than that.  It is truly an undertaking of our community. And for that we are grateful and humbled.  To you who have made the time to write a note, give a hug, buy something for our sweet little one, give of your finances, and spent a moment in prayer over us - please know that we are thankful for you.  You are truly the family of God to us, and we pray that our child will learn to know of this same Love that is in you.

Because of that we are also excited to announce another fundraiser to help support our adoption costs.  We have been blessed to have received about 25% of our adoption costs so far.  In an effort to help raise money for the rest of our costs we are going to be selling these super fun t-shirts!

We know that it takes a village to raise a child, but as mentioned above it also takes a village to adopt one!  This is something that God has been teaching us daily and we are excited to see how God will use these t-shirts to teach us that even more.  We would be so humbled and thankful if you would consider purchasing one for yourself - all the proceeds will go directly to our adoption costs.

Here are the details:

• The shirts are $15.00 each.  
• They are a dark heather color with white ink.  (And they are super soft!)   
• You can order a regular tee in YS-YXL and AS-A3XL
• You can order a v-neck tee in AS-A2XL    

If you would like to order one, please email me at ourroadtoadopt@gmail.com or send me a Facebook message and let me know what style and size you would like.  I will email with you about payment and shipping options.  We will be taking orders through March 4th so they won't be ready until after the first week of March.  

We have one other favor to ask of you. If you purchase a shirt, we would love it if you would email us a picture of yourself wearing the shirt.  We are going to collect these pictures into a photo book for our child to have one day.  We cannot wait to show him or her all the people that were a part of bringing them home!  It truly does take a village!  

Waiting Joyfully, 

Stacy and Clay 

Some Common Questions: How it Works

As mentioned a few posts ago, we get asked a lot of the same questions as we share our news.   Here is some more info for those of you who are interested in learning more about our story!  

Why did you choose domestic adoption through an agency? 

When it comes to adoption, there are lots of options.  With options come a lot of decisions!  Domestic or international?  Agency or attorney or through the foster care system?  Newborn or older child?  Open or closed?  

With us, the decisions were all made very easily, believe it or not.  The Lord was truly orchestrating every step by putting Clay and I on the same page from the beginning. We met with some friends of ours who have not only adopted internationally but also have worked in domestic adoption for years.  This couple brought us a lot of invaluable information.  As we learned from them and then began to research on our own, we knew the Lord was leading us to adopt a newborn domestically through an agency.  (There was a lot more to this but for time and space's sake I'll leave it at that.  If you want to know more, please just shoot me an email!)  

We chose this route because of the ministry to the birthmother that occurs during and after the pregnancy.  She is cared for on every level - physically, emotionally and spiritually.  As we talked and prayed, we realized that adoption was not just about Clay and I getting something but also a way for us to be a part of God's working in this woman's life.  It is more costly than some other routes, but for us we really felt that God was leading us to partaking in this ministry to the birthmother.  

Are you going to know the birthmother?  
That is a good question, but one that really will depend on our particular circumstances.  There are all kinds of different adoptions - open, closed, semi-open, etc.  We are saying at this time that we are open to whatever situation God brings to us.  There is a lot I could say about this issue - it does open up a lot of questions and concerns in some people but after a lot of prayer and discussion, we feel that we are not going to limit what God might want to do in our life through this kind of situation.

So, the short answer to the question is - we may know her and we may not.  :)  There is a lot that is unknown at this point.

How long will this process take?  
Oh, how I would love to know the answer to this one! :)  With adoption, there is no normal situation.  There is no average because each and every circumstance is different.  It could be next week, but it could be a year from now.  For a control freak like myself, this is whole new territory for me to be living in!

Because our agency is small, there is a very good chance that this could go quicker than some adoptions.  We are hoping for a child within the year, but we know that God's timing is different than ours sometimes.

How does the process work?
I'm throwing this one in even though I didn't include it in our original list of questions.   I will try to briefly give an overview.  The way our agency works is through a matching system.  Clay and I have submitted a profile (a book with lots of pictures telling about us), and the birthmother is shown profiles of waiting families that might be a good fit for her situation.  She will then choose us from the selection of profiles she is shown and then we just wait for the baby to come!

Depending on the circumstances, there is a chance that Clay and I will get to be at the hospital when the baby is born!  I will write and explain more about this as the time comes, but each circumstance is different depending on the case.  The birthmother does have a right to choose to keep the child once the baby is born.  In our state, she has 10 days to make this decision.  However, our state does have a law allowing the birthmother to waive 5 of these days if she so chooses.  We have heard a lot of birthmothers are waiving these 5 days knocking the wait time down to only 5 days.

Once the time period has passed and the adoption will go forward, we will then wait for a court date when the judge will officially declare the child ours!!



I'll answer the rest of the questions in another post - I don't want this one to get too long!  :)  Please continue to pray for us in our journey.  We are we are wading through the home study process (don't worry I'll write some more about that), trusting the Lord with our finances and praying for the precious one who will be carrying our child!

Waiting Joyfully,
Stacy and Clay