Newmans Adoption

Hello, so I’ve had several people inquire about how it is we came to this idea to adopt and things that have transpired in the last year. First I have to say that anyone that knows me well knows that I have spoken ofmy adoration of African American people for YEARS!! I find them absolutely gorgeous and intriging. I don’t mean that in a bad way I truly love seeing them and always have. Anyways, Levi and I have had several friends in the past 4-5 years adopt most often from Ethiopia. I have LOVED watching their journey, supporting them when it was super hard and cheering and celebrating when the victories came. The whole time I always thought WOW that is AWESOME but I could never do it and to be honest nor did I feel that it was God’s desire for my life. I believe you can give to those less fortunate in numerous ways and not just by adoption. So a year or more ago we decided to sponsor a child from Africa through Compassion. It was neat and I loved seeing her picture as well as knowing we were making a difference. As I watched another friend go through the Adoption process over this last year or more I again was just in awe and loved sharing in their story. More than 6 months ago I was walking with a friend and remembering telling her, “sometimes I wonder if God isn’t going to ask us to adopt. I feel like sometimes those feelings are getting stronger.” She told me not to ignore those feelings and that often God works in one spouse and will often plant the seed there and then the other will come along. I remember specifically telling her, “that’s nice, I’m most definitely ignoring him! haha 

So then life went on but I continued to find myself in awe and overcome by love as my friend continued her journey of adoption. In September she brought her son home and I went to the airport to celebrate with her. It was an awesome opportunity and I was so glad to be a part of it. I remember thinking again that I would like to talk to her sometime about how she knew she was suppose to adopt etc. I never said anything to her as I really didnt want to venture out too far into this crazy idea. Probably a few weeks after that I was talking with Levi and asked him what he thought about Adoption. He said, “well we have waaaay to much going on right now, we couldn’t do it right now.” I agreed and nothing more was said.
Since that time in October I spent some time with this friend and told her that sometimes I wondered if it was something we were suppose to do. She encouraged me to pray and how amazing her experience was even though it was hard. Again I kind of brushed it off honestly really hoping it would go away and besides Levi wasn’t on board so I was SAFE right??
Then fast forward to the middle of November and we were in church and the topic was on false things Christians Say. The one that day was that we often say “God will never give you more than you can handle” and how FALSE this  is as he will because he wants us to get our strength through him and rely on him.  I remember literraly coming to tears as a flash of the boys playing with a little black girl ran through my mind. I remember thinking, “THAT WOULD BE MORE THAN I CAN HANDLE!!!” I cried and cried in church but said nothing to Levi. When we got home I immediately cornered him in the kitchen telling him I had no idea what was going on and I needed to see what he was thinking. (I was fully waiting for him to say NO WAY so he could confirm for me that this wasn’t right) INSTEAD he just smiled and then smiled and shrugged his shoulders saying very little. I panicked and we kind of stopped at that point discussing anything else. We were out on our own that afternoon so chatted more and both agreed we were feeling the lead to explore this although truly in complete fear but also admitted we would love to help another child less fortunate. That night we went to our small group and asked them to pray for us on answers etc.  Levi and I sat down more and I asked him what changed?? Before he was not on board with this so I was trying to figure out what made him now in favor of it. He said, “I can’t explain it, I HATE TO ADMIT IT, I just feel it’s the right thing to do.”

A few more things that had changed is that after I had Rhett I truly felt that our family was complete.  I was SOOOO HAPPY we had 4 children and not 3.  After church that Sunday for the first time EVER I looked at our family picture and didn’t feel our family was quite complete, that something was missing it seriously terrified me.  Levi also had gone from not desiring more kids to now being open and feeling lead in this as well.  We have 4 healthy children and adore them to pieces.  To be open to another truly had us baffled.

Monday I called numerous adoption places really having no idea on what I was doing. I felt completely defeated. Tuesday I tried again and felt I got a little more answers. Levi and I needed to decide if we were feeling lead to go Domestic or Internationally. So we left for Thanksgiving and prayed and chatted about that. We did feal led to stay in the United States and so explored a few domestic consulting agencies recomended to us. I spoke with 2 women who used each of the agencies and after more prayer we chose one the only problem was we needed a certain amount of money to even apply and use them. Levi and I then felt we were at a point where we could pause as we didnt have the money on hand so could sit on that as a reason to stall this. Within 3 days Levi came home and had been paid a lump some of money for a job he hadn’t even completed yet. Our one excuse on why we couldnt proceed had been answered so we prayed more and chose to complete the application and turn it in. Now we have been accepted and are waiting and praying for Gods leadership. Whether he continues to open doors or close them we are okay with as we trust his leadership and want his will in our lives. Thank you again for all your support so far.