Dear friends and family,
2016 is going to bring dramatic change to our family! My wife, Rachael Hall, and I are both scared and excited at the same time. We're hopeful and praying constantly (and desperately!) for God's intervention and leading in our lives.
Some of you know the struggle that we have had to grow our family through natural means. We've asked you to pray over us and with us that we might have a baby. It just hasn't happened for us. But over the last year or so and especially the last few months, we've both felt that God has been quietly telling us that we need to consider adoption. He's planted that seed and it's just continued to grow in our hearts.
Two months ago, my wife and I had a very real conversation about it and confessed to each other that we were ready to move forward with pursuing adoption. We had (and still have) lots of questions. How does this work? Where will we adopt from? How are we going to pay for it?!
The struggle is real, and being how Christmas is now upon us, our emotions are constantly jumping all over the place. Christmas is a time for rejoicing and celebrating with family and friends. But it's also a reminder to my wife and I that we have yet to experience the joys of being parents. We desperately want that.
I'm openly sharing my heart with you all on Facebook and asking for your prayers and support as we seek to adopt a child in 2016. The journey ahead for us is likely to be a difficult one, but one that we are hopeful will also hold many joyous moments and God willing, by this time next year, we'll be having a very different conversation!
We're moving forward, trusting in God and believing that He has a plan. We'll continue to send updates on our situation. So far, it's been a bit slow to get going because of the holidays. We have already been to one information meeting since November and have spoken with those we know who have been down a similar road that we are now on. One decision we have come to a consensus on is that we are seeking a domestic infant adoption. We have another information meeting scheduled for January 12 with Bethany Christian Services. We're gathering a lot of good information that's helping us to learn and understand this process better. There's a lot of steps involved and this process could take a year or more before we have a child in our home.
If you're asking yourself, "How can we help?" The biggest thing you can do is PRAY for us! We're going to need A LOT of prayer!! And we need your love and encouragement!
If you'd be willing to help us financially, that is also something we greatly need help with. Adoption is REALLY expensive! (Sad really, that it costs so much when there are so many children in need of a good home.) But without help, this is going to be a near impossible task for us to afford. We've already setup a gofundme account, but are also looking into other ways for people to give if they want. Every little bit helps and we would be forever grateful for any amount you could give to help with our expenses toward adoption!
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask us. Also, feel free to share this post and future updates as we could use all the help we can get!
Thank you to all who have been praying for us already and sharing words of encouragement! Thank you in advance for all of you who will now be praying for us and all of you who will be helping us along the way!
God bless you all!
David and Rachael
