Kent and I have been working hard getting this website up and running. I've worked on the design and writing to agencies for information and Kent got PayPal to work for our site! We've gotten information packets from several adoption agencies and there are mixed emotions when reading through them. One part is the excitement of feeling that this process that we have prayed about for years is really beginning and the other part is fear over all of the paperwork, legal things, and cost. It amazes me that the average cost for domestic adoption (adopting within the states) is only a few thousand less than international adoption. $25,000-$35,000 are the numbers that I keep seeing for International and $18,000 to $24,000 for domestic. That is scary for us! As I've said before, we have over $2,000 that we have been saving for over a year. I joked with Kent that on our own we could afford to adopt by the time we were in our late 40s/ early 50s (never mind the fact that we want more than one child eventually). But God is bigger than we are and He has proven Himself faithful time and time again and that is what we choose to remember when it seems as if this process will never be finished!
I'm not really comfortable with the idea of asking people for money but we know that God may use His people to bring our child (whether he or she is even born yet) into our home. So that's why we put the PayPal account on our website. If you feel led to be apart of this process with us, please consider helping with the cost and praying for us. You can mail it to us if that is easier because there is a small fee taken from our donation when PayPal is used (contact me if you need our address). But the biggest help is PRAYER! We need prayer in deciding which agency to choose, and when to start the bulk of the process, applying for grants, getting the finances, and God's timing. They say that the adoption process can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. So, we really covet your prayers. As of right now, we have not decided on which agency we will go through but we will let y'all know as soon as we know! Thanks! ~ Kent and Jen