Our journey towards adoption started several years ago. It has been a journey of ups and downs and unexpected turns. To be honest, the journey itself was unexpected, to us anyway. However, we are sure that none of this was unexpected to God.
A little over nine years ago my wife, Julie, gave birth to our beautiful twin daughters. We were filled with joy and a little overwhelmed. By the time the girls were two there was a growing desire for more children in our family. Over the next few years we experienced the hopeful joy of three pregnancies followed by the devastating pain of three miscarriages. These experiences challenged our faith at times and made us question God as to why He gave us this desire for more children and His plan for our family. Ultimately our sorrows and doubts deepened our faith and led us to wanting to adopt.
In 2011 we started the process to adopt independently (without the help of an adoption agency) from Uganda. We completed the home study, filed all the correct paperwork and paid the fees in order to be approved to adopt. In early 2012 we sent our dossier to an adoption lawyer in Uganda, who came highly recommended. We sent letters to several baby homes and then we waited. Nothing happened. The lawyer said to be patient, but we never heard anything; received no referrals.
I knew this had to be a God thing, but was not sure how or why until late spring of that year when my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer and was given less than a year to live. She was in and out of the hospital and required more time and assistance from me. A few months later Julie’s dad passed away unexpectedly, which was hard on all of us, especially Julie. Then a few days before Christmas, my mom passed away.
It all made sense. God knew what was coming for us and that we would not be able to bring an adopted child into our home and provide the time, love and attention they would need in the midst of what we were going through. During the next year our plans for and thoughts of adoption were put on a back burner as we dealt with our loss and grief.
As 2014 rolled around our family found ourselves in a better place emotionally. Julie was ready to restart the adoption journey, but I was not sure yet. Not wanting to push and wanting me to lead the decision, Julie began to pray behind the scenes for God to lead me in this area. My daughters were not so discreet. Periodically during our evening prayer time, one or both of them would pray for God to “help us adopt soon.” Then, one night in June, one of our daughters prayed for us to “adopt soon” and I clearly heard that it was now time to answer that prayer.
So in July of 2014 we met with the people at Lifeline Adoption Agency. We learned that over the previous year there were increasing difficulties with adopting from Uganda and that several adoption agencies had closed their Uganda programs. After some discussion and prayer we started the adoption process all over again, but with a different destination. We are now seeking to adopt a child from China. With the help of Lifeline and our community we hope to complete this journey in 2015.
Please pray for us and the child God has planned for us to bring home. Also please prayerfully consider helping us with the financial aspect of this journey. You can make donations through Grace Klein Community by mailing your check to Grace Klein Community, Inc. 1678 Montgomery Hwy. #104, Birmingham, AL 35216 or at via PayPal at gracekleincommunity.com/donate. Please notate “Mallette Adoption” in the respective memo areas.