Application - The Official Beginning

Nothing deep or intriguing, just a status update! :)

We have now officially started the process. Last Wednesday, Oct. 15, we submitted our official application for a Guatemalan adoption to our agency, EAC.

As some of you may know, Guatemala has been closed for adoptions for the past 10 months as they reformed the adoption policies. It is our prayer that they begin to open back up at the beginning of 2009 as most agencies are anticipating. For more information, please feel free to visit the link to EAC in the right hand column of our blog.

For now, we will receive updates from our agency concerning Guatemalan adoptions, but for the most part, we just wait.

We'll keep you informed!

The Beginning ~ Our Story

Aaron and I met in 1999, and from the beginning we knew we'd be spending the rest of our lives together. After marrying in 2001, we've had a lot of obstacles thrown our way ~ some unexpected, some due to our own mistakes. Through it all, our marriage has proved strong and our friendship and love for each other even stronger. Most importantly, though, we realized that in order for everything else to work, our personal relationships with Christ must be the first priority in our lives. As many out there know, this can be quite a struggle at times, as our flesh just loves to take over .... but the rewards are unfathomable.

Anyway, one of our ongoing issues has been our inability to become pregnant. We have been trying (though not always consistently) since 2002, with no success. After several tests and appointments over the years and fixing all of the "problems," we have not been able to conceive. I'm not telling you this for sympathy, though, as we are so completely at peace with this!!

Since the 8th grade I have had the desire to adopt one day. I met my friend, Amy, that year, and the first time I went over to her house and met her family I learned that she was adopted. After hearing her story, I thought it was the most amazing thing. I look back at that now as a God moment, as ever since I've had this "nudging" in my heart. As for Aaron, he has had the same interest in adoption. He has a wonderful cousin, Jacob, who was adopted from Nepal by Aaron's aunt and uncle, and as a result, he has always wanted to/been open to adoption. We've seen it in our own families and friends close to us ~ just because these children haven't come from our own bellies, doesn't make them any less loved or any less our sons & daughters. They need parents, a home, and unconditional love, and there are a lot of us out there with that love to give.

Over the past two or three years we have been considering and researching different methods of adoption, along with various agencies. After weighing pros and cons, studying the information we've gathered, and most importantly listening to our hearts, we have decided to pursue international adoption from Guatemala. Why Guatemala? You know, I don't know. All I can say is that our hearts are leading us there. We know several missionaries that serve in Guatemala, we are intrigued by the Latin American culture, its one of the easier countries to travel to, we speak a little (very little) Spanish, etc. The best answer I have is that maybe the nudge toward this country is God letting us know that he's getting ready to birth our baby there.

Are we scared? Yes! Of course we are! We've been dragging our feet on getting started because of our fears. For so long we've felt that we have to be in a perfect position in life ~ financially, emotionally, etc. But isn't life a process? Aren't we always striving to improve ourselves and our situations? If we waited to be perfect, we would never get there. It is scary, though, and we are going to ask for a lot of prayer (we'll list our prayer requests at the end of this). The price of adoption (even if you adopt domestically) is astronomical, seriously crazy. We are going completely on faith. The concerns of self pop into mind, too ~ What if I'm not a good parent? What if I can't provide for my child/children what they need? What if I'm doing this for selfish reasons and its not what God wants? Are we rushing this decision because we want what others have? What if I'm not adequate?

We love God. We love each other. We have love to give to a little one. We are going on Faith.

So .... we begin the process!!

Our prayer requests are:
~ For clarity and peace throughout this long process
~ For Guatemalan adoptions into America to reconvene at the beginning 2009 and for our agency to be properly approved/meet all of the qualifications, etc
~ For the financial resources to fund the adoption
~ For the health, birth, and care of our future son or daughter
~ For strengthening of and focus on our personal relationships with the Lord
~ For God to provide us with clarity and comfort in dealing with our stress levels & work and changes that we are going to make there

We appreciate and love all of you! Please keep in touch, not only with our blog, but we'd love to hear how you're doing, too!! Our e-mail address is AandLMills@columbus.rr.com and our phone number is 740-417-4623.