MLJ Adoption Conference

On Sept 15, Ashley and I had the opportunity to travel to Indianapolis for the Crossroads of America Adoption Conference. The conference, hosted by MLJ Adoptions (www.mljadoptions.com), had various sessions that dealt with all aspects of adoption, as well as sessions on the different countries that MLJ works with for international adoptions. We were a little concerned that, being very new to this process, we would be a little out of place there. To be honest, our first 30 minutes there didn't really assuage those fears. We sat in the back table of a large hall and watched as everyone who came in sat somewhere else. It was to the point that Ashley asked me if we were the "smelly kids"  or something. We were starting to feel as out of place as Jed Clampett driving through Beverly Hills for the first time, but we were eventually joined by 2 other couples who came in together. Eventually they introduced themselves, and told us how they were both MLJ clients. They asked where we were in the process and were very encouraging to us about the adoption process, making us feel less Clampett-like with each passing minute.
After the opening remarks, it was off to our first session. The presenter was Julie Gumm, author of the book "Adopt without Debt". We've heard Julie before on The Dave Ramsey Show, and were excited to hear her ideas. She didn't disappoint. There were fundraiser ideas we'd never thought of and grants that we didn't know existed. We each took a full page of notes and were beginning to wonder if our pen would survive all day. Julie is an outstanding resource for anyone considering adoption. You can read her work at www.adoptionwithoutdebt.com and follow her on twitter @JulieGumm.
While that was our favorite session of the day, there were many outstanding speakers. A panel discussion we attended on fathers in adoption was particularly beneficial and featured one of the gentlemen who sat at our table and encouraged us earlier in the day. This conference really offered us everything we were hoping for. Everything from a session on childhood nutrition to a panel with some adult adoptees was covered in the afternoon, along with several breakout sessions dealing with specific adoptive countries.

At the end of the day our heads were spinning, we were exhausted, and we were more inspired than ever to get to this process moving. (Which is probably why Ashley decided to announce our adoption plans via facebook as soon as we got back to the hotel.) I was blown away by the service provided by MLJ in their role as host of this conference. Their entire staff was courteous and helpful from the time we registered online a month ago until we left the conference that evening. If any of you ever consider international adoption, call them first. Other than lunch, (too fancy. Couldn't they just get some White Castles?) the day couldn't have gone any better.
In addition to learning more about this process, we were able to meet and talk to people who were in all stages of adoption. We were able to meet people like us, who were just at the beginning all the way through people who were attending the conference with their new children. It was a constant reminder that day of the journey that we are about to take, how this process defines families, and how, in the end, it will all be worth it.

-Adam

Just the Beginning

Why would two people whose idea of an exciting Friday night is to call in an order to El Toro, rent a redbox movie, and stay up past 9:30 write a blog? I mean, seriously, who is that bored that they would read what we had to say? These are the first two things that popped into my head when Ashley said, "Hey, we need to write a blog." If you're wondering the same thing, I should tell you first what this blog is about and what it's not. This is not about our day to day life. Trust me, nobody would want to read that. This is our effort to keep everyone updated on this incredible/frustrating/rewarding/stress-filled journey that will be the adoption of our first child. This will also be our way of showing our future child how much he was loved and wanted by so many and for so long before he ever physically joined our lives. As we go through the process of adopting him, we also adopt you, our friends both old and new, into our family; and show our future child that he has more aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers & sisters than could ever fit on some family tree.
    We should start by giving you a brief snapshot of how we arrived at this decision. For weeks I had felt a calling toward, and an interest in, adoption. I mostly passed this off as daydreaming, but I could never really shake it. The disappointment was that I couldn't make it clear either. I never felt that it was something we definitely should be doing, but I never could quite dismiss it either. That was until Ashley said, "You know, I think I'd be ok with adoption." Yep, that did it. It was clear to me almost instantly that what I'd been thinking about was something that we actually needed to investigate fully. The more we researched this process, the more we felt pulled toward it, until finally we were locked in. Without getting into too long of a story, we knew that God was guiding us in this direction and that we wouldn't be happy unless we went with Him.
     This will be difficult, we are well aware of that. We know that this can be a painstaking, time-consuming, checking account-emptying process. We are aware that this seems like a difficult task, this is why our mantra has become the quote that you see at the top of this page. Our child exists, that much we know. The Bible tells us that before God formed us in the womb, he knew us, so whether he is born yet or not, he is known to God and exists. The question for us then becomes not whether this is worth the time or effort, but what do we have to do to get our child home. Some of these posts will be short and some will ramble on (like this one). Some will be by Adam (the ones that ramble, also overuse of commas) and some will be by Ashley, but they are all designed for the same purpose: to keep those we love involved in this process. We look forward to sharing this time with you and appreciate all of your prayers and kind words as we move forward. Welcome to our family.