Me: "We're having a BABY!!"
Them: "Ohmygoshyou'repreg--"
Me: (Interrupting) "But I'm not pregnant!"
Them: Confused silence. "Whaa...?"
WE'RE ADOPTING!
Some of you will be super surprised at this news, but it's true! Let me fill you in a little bit on the whole story.
Paul and I both have always had adoption in our hearts separately. Before we got married, when we talked about the plans for our family, we talked about adoption. We both felt strongly that God would use adoption as a means to grow our family one day. Of course, we didn't know the details.
Last December, Paul and I began praying about starting the Riner clan. Because we knew adoption would be in our future, we talked about adopting and also about trying to conceive. We even attended an informational meeting in January about adopting. At that meeting, the social worker told us that while there is no way to know how long it will take to get a placement, because we were open to adopting from any racial background, we could have a baby in 3 months. Or it could take a year. Honestly, all we heard at that point was "3 months."
As excited as we were about starting our family, we were definitely not prepared to have a baby come home in March! So we decided to put off adoption and try to have a biological child first. Long story short, 10 months later, still not pregnant. I won't go into the details, but medically speaking, now just isn't the time for us to conceive on our own.
We both felt like we heard the message loud and clear from the Lord. We knew that God was calling us to adopt. Although it took us a little time to get there, we're finally on the same page as the Lord, and we are so excited for the journey ahead.
We hope that you will pray for us and catch some of our excitement for Baby Riner - wherever and whoever he or she is. My goal (in all of my current unemployed time availability) is to keep up with this blog as much as possible - filling you in on what's happening on the adoption front, life in general, and the whatnot. Please only share this blog with family and friends that know us - we're not super interested in the whole world reading our story, but we do want you to be a part of the process!
Thanks in advance for your prayers! We are PUMPED!!
Overjoyed at your news...What a beautiful family you will be! It will be an honor to pray for your little one. Thanks for blogging Laura and Paul. I will be excited to keep up and pray up with and for you.
ReplyDeleteThis news (and your blog title) makes me smile! Definitely awesome sauce!! I am so excited and can't wait to meet my new little niece or nephew!
ReplyDeleteYay for a baby! I know God will bless you guys with the perfect child for you, and the child will be blessed by you as well. We'll def be praying for your journey! :)
ReplyDeleteOh, wow! OK. Praying. With and For. All of you. Known and unknown. Our family started just that way! A blast. Love you.
ReplyDeleteCan't put in words how excited we are! Some lucky kid!!!!
ReplyDeleteSo ecstatic for you guys & honored to be among the ones praying over you & your family. Your title made me think of a time long ago, sitting in the Wal Mart parking lot, looking at the picture you took of Cam & I from youth retreat, and exclaiming, "We're a FAMILY!" :) sweet memory...and so excited to be praying over you & the family you, Paul, & God are building. Thx for the blog, too...OVERJOYED to have this connection! LOVE YOU!
ReplyDeleteWe are so excited to hear your news. Thanks for keeping us in the loop. We will keep you in our prayers, especially for patience. The two of you are the start to a beautiful family, we look forward to hearing how God will grow your family. Laura, you probably know I am a little technology challenged. It has taken me a couple days to figure out how to respond to your blog, but I have been answering my phone right-side up.
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