"To redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God" (Galatians 4:5-7). The Lord adopted us into His family; what a wonderful amazing gift He has given.
This is a blog dedicated to our daughter Hadassah (Haddie). My name is Rachel and my husband Andrew is a wonderful Godly man. We met and started dating at 16 years of age. When things got more serious we talked about our hopes in having kids someday and how adoption is something we would like to do when God provided the opportunity. God had a lot of work to do on us before He opened the doors to adoption.
A little history: Andrew and I were married in 2000. In 2003 we had our first son then 5 years later we had our fourth child a girl. So that is four children 3 boys and 1 girl, in a 5 year period. My what a joy they are and blessing to our lives and to God's world. Through these years we experienced many trials, temptations, mistakes, set backs and joys; but our constant has been our Lord Jesus. The one thing that has grown in our lives, more then the kids, through the past 13 years has been our relationship to Jesus and His calling in our lives. Andrew works in construction management as well as providing a wonderful example in our children's lives and I have the honor of mothering my babies and answering the call to ministry in Pastoral/Christian counseling.
After years of prayer and subtle nudges the Lord showed us it was time. In early of 2012 we signed the initial application to adopt through Holt International. Now to those who have never adopted before there is one thing that you have to decide before starting the whole process and that is which country you want to adopt from. We took everything into consideration like cost, nationality, and adoption logistics; but when we started reviewing the subtle hints that God was providing we realized He was calling us to India. Some of these subtle hints were God providing us with wonderful friends who adopted two wonderful girls from India, a friend He brought into my life who was in the states for a short time, and through those influences a love for the people of India. So we filed to adopt from India even though adoptions can cost up to two times as much as from other countries. We hold on to the promise and knowledge that God will be in control of not only the cost but all other aspects of this process.
In November 2012 our home study was taken and approved which started the process of our name being thrown into the CARA list of potential adoptive parents. We were approved for a girl 0-3 years of age with or without special needs. Let me note that the paper work involved in the early stages of adoption is endless and a little overwhelming. We had to take each task a day at a time and stay on top of it or it would consume our lives. After the home study approval we started our I800A applications and the process that follows those documents which include a Dossier, again another endless stack of documents needed for adopting. In this time we were listed into CARA's. On April 5th of 2013 we received the heart pounding call from Holt with a referral of a little girl named Bharathi. This first information we received only provided us with minimal information. Even so we looked at her picture and knew right away she is our daughter. We fell in love with our little girl from that second. After we accepted the referral we found out more information on her. She was born April 19, 2009! This is also her daddy's birthday, of course 31 years later. This fact confirmed that God had planned this little girl for us from the moment she was born. Thus began the ride we are on now.
Through the months after finding her we have completed many more documents that consist of an I800, Visa applications, acceptance papers, court papers, fingerprints, and many more. We did get some more information on Hadassah throughout all the paperwork which described her in detail. Quick explanation we had decided to name our daughter Hadassah before we started the process. Back to the details she is 4 years old, 20 pounds, 2 feet 6 inches, and very malnourished. This breaks my heart to even think about her need for nutrients not only physically but emotionally and spiritually. I do hold on to this verse though and God reminds me He is in control: 10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish" (Matthew 18:10-14).
So where are we in the process right now? We just received our Article 5 from the Delhi embassy which has opened our eyes to the fact that we are getting so close to the day we can get on the plane to get our sweet Hadassah. By the way the Article 5 was given to us on Jesus' birthday! What a precious gift. We are now patiently waiting on our NOC and a court date. I have to say that this process has really been teaching the gift of patience.
We decided to start a blog because we want to be able to show the world and Haddie how God has brought this all together and how He helped us find our daughter. Our Lord Jesus is the maker of heaven and earth and is the center of our lives. We know He will provide for her until we can go pick her up and through her life, as He has and does for our lives. Stay tuned for the rest of our adventure as we patiently wait to bring Hadassah home...
