Adoption

Adoption

Monday, July 18, 2016

The heart of our story: Why we adopt internationally

I have debated about writing this post over and over again.  I want to begin by saying, I LOVE ADOPTION...domestic adoption, foster care adoption and international adoption.  One is not better than the others.  They are all needed and they are ALL God's heart.  Our pastor preached from James on Sunday and there the verse was again...staring me in the face....

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

I can't read that and walk away.  We are asked some variation of this question A LOT..."Why do you adopt from other countries when there are so many kids in America who need families?"

It's a complex question and a personal one, honestly.  The short answer is that we felt God specifically speak to our hearts about international adoption in 2001.  I believe God can specifically lead you where he wants you.    The US has a foster care system.  It's broken, it's not perfect, but kiddos with be with a family at least until they turn 18.   We are adopting from China.  In China, when a child is 14, they are no longer eligible for adoption.  They.Have.No.Options.  I don't know about you, but when I was 14 I was naive an immature and in NO WAY capable of caring for myself on my own.

My friend Judy Wheeler used the same agency we are adopting through.  She just arrived home from adopting a sweet kiddo right before he aged out and shared the following post, which I am sharing with her permission.

"Tears and Heartbreak from Children Who Have "AGED OUT " told to Amy E. of LWB

Tears from Jenny, who broke down on her 14th birthday when she realized that she had aged out of the adoption system without being chosen. The final realization that she would never know what it meant to have a mom or dad of her own caused her to fall into a deep depression. Tears from Lily, a 17-year-old girl whom I had given my jacket after she admired it. When she refused to accept it initially, I put my hand on her shoulder and said, “But of course you have to take it because you are like family to me.” And it was at that one word, “family,” that this normally stoic young lady broke down and sobbed uncontrollably, as it is the one thing that she longed for.
By far, however, the most emotional moment of my time in China came one night when I was able to meet with a group of older orphaned teens I had watched grow up over a five year period. Every time I would visit their orphanage, I would enjoy getting to know them more. They all seemed so close, such good friends, and they always had smiles for me when I arrived. That night, however, was a night when the kids finally let their guard down. It was a night of real conversation and sharing what it means to grow up as an orphan. Toward the end of the evening we were all in tears. Afterwards, one of the older boys stayed to talk with me privately. I am hesitant to even write of it now as it was such a deeply personal and emotionally raw conversation.I will share, however, that he told me that growing up without a mother or father “hurts more than death.”

 Again, I LOVE my friends and family who have adopted from the foster care system.  They are Jesus to precious kiddos who need a family! And so are we and my friend Judy and my many friends who have adopted internationally.  God leads us each where he needs us.  My heart is with these precious kiddos who if they continue in an orphanage will never know the love of a family.  I hope this helps to give you some insight into our hearts and our decision.

Much love from the Shuberts!

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Loving Our Boys Home


You are the missing piece!  Help us bring Josiah and Gideon home!  We need to raise funds for our adoption and we wanted something meaningful for our boys' room so that they will be able to see who helped to "love them home."
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We have purchased an Asian-themed puzzle.  For each $10 donation you make to our adoption fund, we will write your name or the name of your choosing (your mom, dad, child or grandchild’s name) on the back of the puzzle piece. You can buy as many puzzle pieces as you like!  When our boys come home, they will be able to look at the back of the puzzle and see all of the people who gave so they could become a member of our forever family.  I love this so much!  I love that our boys will be able to know that each of you shared a part in bringing them home!

We have $5830 in fees coming up when we file for our visa and submit our dossier.  This puzzle coupled with the t-shirt fundraiser we completed will help us raise those fees.

So, how do you buy a puzzle piece?  Email me at adoptionrocks4@gmail.com or private message me on facebook (Heather Bishop Shubert).  I will reply with our home address, where you can send a check and the name(s) you want written on the back of the puzzle piece(s).  You can also donate through our tax deductible giving site, www.adopttogether.org/shubertfamily Just make sure to let me know what name(s) you want on your pieces.

You can follow our adoption and the progress of this fundraiser here or in our private facebook group. If you wanted added to our facebook group, comment below.

P.S. For those of you who gave in 2013 toward our puzzle fundraiser, this is the same puzzle and you will finally get to see it completed.  (We were planning to adopt from Taiwan and stopped promoting the fundraiser when our agency wasn't able to process adoptions anymore.)


I will update with puzzle progress and you guys can see if you can figure out what the image is!

Love y'all!



Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Timeline

Many of you have asked questions like "When you you be able to bring your boys home?"  I thought I'd give you a timeline of this adoption to help you know how to pray for us.

We are adopting through a medical needs program from China.

January 19, 2015--Medical checklist received by our agency
March 23, 2016---Referral accepted for Josiah
April 1, 2016------Adoption application accepted
April 2, 2016------Home study began
April 5, 2016------LOI to China for Josiah
May 18, 2016-----Referral accepted for Gideon
June 6, 2016-------LOI to China for Gideon

Currently we have one document we are waiting for our home study provider to receive to complete the home study.  Brian also has to complete some financial info.  I requested the document a second time this week hoping to get things moving.  At the same time, I am assembling our dossier documents so that when our home study is completed, we can move forward ASAP.  Will you pray that we can get this completed in a timely manner?  Thank you all for your support of our adoption!  Here are some pictures of the boys just because that's what you're here to see, ha ha!

 
We just received the above updated picture of Josiah last week.

Zoom in on this picture of Gideon.  He is adorable and this picture is very telling of his personality.  He was uneasy around strangers with cameras, so they had to take this picture from far away.

In other news, we sent care packages to our sweet boys today.  They should receive them in 7-10 business days. I'm so excited!!!!