Overwhelmingly Grateful

Over the past week the amount we have raised doubled. We are now at $12,925!!!!! Our hearts are overwhelmed by the love and support shown by our family/friends and His grace towards us. Our baby is already so loved!! We are half way there and excited about turning in our paperwork this coming week and setting up our home study. Please continue to be in prayer for us, our baby, our birth mom and the event at Magnolia Motor Lounge on January 17th. We have a wonderful bunch of people organizing it. I can't wait to celebrate with everyone.

In case I did not fully express our gratitude, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you so much for your gifts of time, money and prayers. Such generous sacrifices to give a child a family point us to the One who sacrificed his life so that we could be His precious children.

Galatians 4:4-7

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 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.

Merry Christmas!!

Art Fundraiser

This beautiful art fundraiser and blog post is courtesy of my sweet, talented friend, Heather Essian. Thank you, Heather! 

This is a great way to support adoption and decorate your home or give a lovely Christmas gift. 

Thanks so much for your generous donation towards Ryan and Kaylan's adopted baby to be!  

PLEASE BE SURE TO EMAIL US YOUR DESIRED PRINT SIZE, ALONG WITH THE NAME OF THE PRINT YOU WISH TO RECEIVE AND PAY AT THE LINK BELOW.


*Each design will be printed on high quality matte photo paper.


8x10 $30

16x20 $55


*16x20 canvas wrap prints are available for $145

 You MUST have your order in by Monday to receive it in time for Christmas!

100% of the proceeds go towards the adoption of baby Keeney!

DONATE AT A SECURE PAYPAL SITE BELOW
YOUR ORDER WILL NOT BE PROCESSED UNTIL PAYMENT IS RECEIVED :)

                                                                                               

Magnolia Motor Lounge Event

The date is set.

We will be having a fundraising event on Thursday, January 17, 2013. Magnolia Motor Lounge has so graciously given us the floor from 5:30-9:00 pm. We will have live music, raffles and more. The tickets will be $10/person. More details to come...

Thank you so much to my friend, Jessica Gunter for planning this for us! We are so grateful! Check out her event planning business,  The Southern Socialite if you are planning a wedding or event.

Please share this with others who you think would be interested in supporting adoption. And don't forget to mark your calendars!! 

Donate & Download Advent EP

We are feeling very loved today. A dear friend of ours, Matt Allen, recorded an Advent EP with 5 songs you can download for celebrating this season. What better way to celebrate The One who was born to die so that we may be adopted by God than by giving toward adoption! Listen below, leave a tip, download and enjoy! We are grateful for your donation and would love for you to share this with others.

A Gospel Presentation with Adoption at its Heart

321 from Jeremy Poyner on Vimeo.

Making Progress

We are making progress.

Orientation...
On October 26-27 we attended our long awaited orientation. I know it was only June when we decided to adopt, but I guess the previous 5 years of attempting to add to our family made it feel like much longer. We weren't exactly sure what to expect from the orientation, but we were anticipating it as the next step toward bringing home our child. Since it was in Abilene and both of Ryan's grandmothers live just outside in Cisco, we also enjoyed visiting with them and being lavished with delicious home cooked meals and conversation.

The orientation was more than we could have hoped. We met the whole staff and 9 others couples who were in attendance as well. The first day was full of information shared from various staff members, our favorite of which was Bob, who had me and Ryan laughing the whole time. For some reason no one else seemed to think he was as funny as we did. :) They shared that their mission/ the heart of their agency was to care for, love, serve and share the gospel (the love, grace, adoption we receive thru trusting in Jesus' life, death and resurrection) with the birth moms. They provide homes, take care of their finances, provide counseling and help carry the weight of their burden. That is when I knew for sure we had made the right choice for our agency.

Shout out to CHFS (Christian Homes and Family Services); we love what God is doing through you! If you know of someone who is pregnant and in a desperate situation, please share with them about this agency.

Day 2 we shared in the stories of 3 young ladies who had been adopted, 3 birth moms and 2 adoptive families (who were in orientation this time last year and already have their children, yay!) It was beautiful, heart warming, encouraging, heart wrenching and hopeful. So many emotions! Each perspective gave us more insight and understanding, but hearing from the birth moms totally changed me. Listening to their hearts and seeing their pain opened my eyes to this other person who will also be forever a part of our story. This person who is essential to how we will grow as a family. As they shared how the adoptive moms of their children loved and ministered to them, I wanted also to do the same. I had entered in to this journey with a very narrow scope. God keeps pulling the lens further back so I can see the bigger picture of what he is doing and it is so much bigger than just us and even bigger than rescuing a child. This is huge, and I will share more in my next blog.

Paperwork...
I wish there was some way I could express to you the amount of paperwork involved in adoption. Those adoptive families out there, you know what I mean! When I first started I was hoping to just knock out some forms "real quick" so I could feel like I made progress. Real quick.. hahahahahaha. Every form I opened was pages and pages of every detail of our life, our parents, sibling, grand parents, etc. Im talking research. Just figuring out all of my addresses for the last 10 years was work in itself! We are nearing the end of the paperwork and have the remaining to complete: our autobiographies, letter to our birth mom, 10 page photo album and home study. Then we will submit everything for approval and wait.

Fundraising...
We have raised $6,150!!! We are so thankful for those who have given so generously and sacrificially. In order to complete our approval process and have our profile shown to birth moms we are needing to raise $3910. Then the remaining money will be due at the time we are matched with a birth mom and when the adoption is finalized. We hope to do this through continued donations and the December event that has been postponed to January (details to come shortly). If you have planned on donating a basket for the raffle at this event, or want to, please let me know and please get them to me by the end of December.

Off to work on our paper work....

Help Needed

Hi Friends! Through this journey we are humbly aware that we are going to need lots of help from friends, family, neighbors and anyone willing to lend a hand.  If you are interested, a great way to help us right now is by signing up to donate a themed basket that I will turn around and raffle out from my blog/facebook and from an event that we have in the works for December. You may want to get your family or church small group or co-workers to put one together. The "baskets" do not have to actually be in a basket, you may even want to get festive and use a wreath. Get creative! Below are some options to sign up for.

Date night basket (dinner out, hotel, B&B, movie, musical or theater tickets, etc.)

Baby girl or Baby boy basket

Wedding/ newly wed basket

Home decor basket (art, candles, throw, etc.)

Herb garden/ gardening basket

Christmas basket

Housewarming basket

Wine basket

Beauty basket (lotion, nail polish or mani pedi gift certificate, etc.)

TCU basket

Grill basket

Pet basket

Outdoors basket (hunting, fishing, camping)

Accessory basket (scarves, earrings, jewelry)

If you have more ideas, bring 'em! Or if you are crafty, own a business or have a particular skill set that you would like to donate to raffle off, please do. I will need the "baskets" by November 21st, if possible. Please sign up in the comment section of my blog or Facebook. Thank you in advance for all your help!!

If you are looking for others ways to support us through this journey, here are some options:

1. Prayer. Pray for our hearts, pray for funds, pray for the birth mom and pray for our baby.

2. We will ALWAYS accept monetary donations! To give through Paypal, you can use the link to the right hand of my blog that says "Help Us Adopt". This will take you to a Paypal website where you can donate using your Paypal account or credit card. You may also do a money transfer thru Paypal using our email keeneyadoption@gmail.com (this would help us avoid the fees the accrue thru credit card payments). You may also send donations to our address at 3418 W 6th St., Fort Worth, TX 76107.

3. Buy a shirt through adoptionbug.com. This link will take you to our store: http://t.co/L4E1Sq2b.

Costs & Misconceptions

$25,150. That's the estimated cost for our adoption. We had slightly underestimated the cost of adoption. When we first explored a few agencies and were made aware of the associated costs, we were blown away. So, I am assuming some of you may feel the same. This fee schedule, provided by our agency will help you to understand why we need to raise $25,150 at minimum. Some assume the money is due at the end when you are matched with a birth mom or when you bring your baby home. That is not the case. There are fees due all along the way. So, in order to keep the ball rolling we need to have money raised to pay these fees. These fees go to help the birth mom with a home, counseling, and medical costs. They also pay for our training, home study, interviews, legal fees and tons of other little things necessary to bring home our baby. Here is the list broken down:

Review & processing Fee              $95

Orientation Fee                              $250

Training                                           $255

Application Fee                              $750     

Home Study                                    $1,500   

Social Service Fee 1                       $1,300   

Social Service Fee 2                       $3,500  

Outreach Fee                                  $6,000

Match/Placement Fee                   $10,000

Legal Fees- Finalization               $1,500

Total                                                 $25,150

Raised                                              $4,500

There are some common misconceptions when people first hear of the HIGH cost of adoption. Some are tempted to think its all a big scam or some might think to themselves, "are they BUYING a baby?". NO!! Absolutely not. No doubt some agencies might have their own interest at heart, but we took time and prayerfully evaluated multiple agencies to find a reputable Christian agency that's heart is to place children with "forever families", not to make as much money as possible under the guise of well doing. Some may be fearful to donate or move forward in adoption themselves because the misconception that if the birth mom chooses to be the child's mother (there is a small risk of this happening), we will lose all of the money and lose our opportunity to adopt. Let me set your mind at ease. We have no risk of losing the money. The match placement fee will be refunded to us until we are matched with another birth mom.

This is a difficult topic to discuss but we do so because of the high price paid for our adoption, Jesus' blood, and for the opportunity to extend that to a child in need. We believe Jesus' heart is for adoption, that he has called us to adopt and that his plan to provide has already been written.

Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

Ephesians 1:4-7

Exciting News!!!

Yesterday was a beautiful day. First, we got to rejoice in hearing 14 beautiful stories of God’s grace in our church family and then watch as they followed Jesus in baptism.  I was even honored to be a part of baptizing a dear friend. Then, when we came home Ryan pulled an envelope out of his pocket to show me what some of our friends had given us. He was aware of my anticipation, so he proceeded to move ridiculously slowly to open it up. Imagine a drum roll…………. and out came a check. He opened it up to show me a check for $2,500!! I, of course, immediately began to cry (tears of joy) and we praised Jesus!

How is it that even though I know of his care and provision and that He has with out a doubt called us to adoption, I still doubt that He will come through? It's not that I don’t think He will eventually, I just wonder how much work it will take and how long it will be. Kind of sounds like I want it on my terms… I annoy myself!!!  Though I desire to, I do not always trust him perfectly. This goes to show you, this has absolutely nothing to do with how good I am. He is so faithful in spite of me.

Our hearts are filled with gratefulness, worship and anticipation.  Romans 8:32 comes to mind, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

We enjoyed the afternoon doing pre-marital counseling with a couple we love. It's been a blast watching them grow in their relationship as they understand the gospel more deeply. It has been such a blessing to spend time with them and get to know them.

Bringing you up to speed...

Currently we have raised $4,500 all before announcing a single fundraiser. Woot woot!  It's hard to say "we have raised" when God has led hearts to give. It's crazy that I have been so anxious to get a fundraiser going so that we won't get held up in the process, and now God is showing me quite obviously He's got this. Right now we are awaiting our Orientation on October 26-27. At the completion of Orientation, we will finally be able to begin the Application process and Home Study. This looks like loads of paperwork and interviews, background checks and fingerprints, creating a profile for the birth mom, etc. In the next week, we will also be announcing fundraiser plans to raise the remaining $20,000.

We are in such a busy season right now; I could use tons of prayer. Pray that I will continue to trust Him and not become overwhelmed. Pray for God to impress the hearts of some to give toward providing a loving home for a child. Pray for the birth mom’s heart during such an emotionally grievous process. Pray for our sweet baby.

Waiting & Celebrating

After 5 years of trying to conceive, you might think I have gotten good at the waiting game, right? Wrong! Though I have spent so much time waiting, I remain a student in the class of patience. And, each step through this process requires more waiting. Choosing our agency was such an important decision it took us over a month. It was tempting for me to "eni meeni mini mo", just so we could make a decision. I keep trying to hurry things along. I am just so ready to hold our precious baby in my arms, to snuggle, and kiss and enjoy with Ryan. Why does every step take so much time!!?? AHHH!!!! Thankfully, Ryan is so patient with me when I attempt to pressure him and want to take control. I am continually running to Jesus asking for direction and joy and rest and being reminded that His timing is ALWAYS best! 

As God is continuing to teach me patience through this adoption journey, he is revealing to me my need to celebrate.

We are in a season in our church that our pastor has called the Autumn of Awesome; drawn from the desire to celebrate what God is doing more often. Although I don't think Pastor Jim wanted "Autumn of Awesome" to ever be repeated due to its cheesiness, it has made me realize that I usually do a poor job celebrating. My mind easily gets overwhelmed with all the things we need to do, all the money we need to raise, or the stresses of the day instead of reflecting on what He has done.  I am learning how to be thankful in all things. My thanks does not end in the enjoyment of the gifts He has so generously given, but my heart is stirred to worship the Giver of all good things. Because He has given so much, we have a lot to be excited about. Below is our ongoing list of Celebration. I keep it in the note section of my phone, so I can add to it often.

We ...

 • Are ADOPTING!!

 • Have chosen our agency (Christian Homes in Abilene)

 • Have completed our Pre-app and 9 reference forms

 • Have been approved and paid for Orientation October 26-27

 • Have signed up for 8 hour infant child care training course

 • Received gifts of $1500 toward our $25,500 goal

 • Have been gifted a brand new sweet rocking chair 

 • Signed up for our First Aid/CPR course

 • We have a loving and supportive family (biological and church) and friends helping, encouraging and celebrating with us

 I am excited to see how God continues to provide. 

A Child of Our Own

Why adopt when you can have children of your own?

This is one of the many questions we have been asked by friends and family who have known us through out various chapters of our life. This post is dedicated to those of you who are curious about what led us in this direction.

We have tried for almost 5 years now to conceive a child. Outside of fertility treatments, I have tried every natural treatment you could find and endured a couple of surgeries- all to no avail. It has been a painful few years. But it has also been extremely GOOD. Good, only because the one who designed this plan is good and his plan always far outweighs what I could possibly consider being an awesome plan.

Shortly after we first started trying to conceive, thoughts and conversations about adoption began. Ryan has always desired to adopt; in fact, he had a more difficult time understanding my desire to conceive biologically, and why I wanted to so desperately. It made complete since to him that there are thousands of children in need of a family. Why wouldn’t we rescue and provide a loving home for one?

It took my heart much longer to be completely ready (to let go of my “better” plan). I would always say, “Lets try all we can to conceive our own and then we can adopt in the future.” Though adoption has been on our radar all along our journey, God had to remind me yet again that his plan is better. He walked me though a lot of lies that I believed about adoption, about my control/ his control in conception and then through the grieving process of not being able to bare a child before I could totally rest in and rejoice in the plan he had all along. 

There has been numerous times along this road that Jesus has tendered my heart toward adoption. Whether it be through understanding our own adoption into the family of God through Jesus, or through convos with strangers on planes, getting to hold someone else’s baby they had just adopted, or the Holy Spirit stirring my heart, He has continually led my heart toward adoption. Most of the time I would respond in fear that this meant we would never have our own, and then I would hold even more tightly to my expectations. Some how adoption was a less satisfying way to build our family.  I believed that having our own child could only come from our DNA. It just wouldn’t be the same any other way.

Just 2 months ago we were presented with the decision to move forward with IVF. I was certain we would.  We had even given our doctor the consent to begin treatment the next month, but there was still no peace within me. This was our opportunity to finally have our own child. How can it be that I feel so conflicted?! This is something I have waited for years for! An interesting thing had happened. I suddenly felt sad about the child we would not get to meet through adoption. It’s such a beautiful and loving thing what Jesus did. He suddenly made me have infinitely more joy and excitement for my "last resort" than what I had been hoping in for 5 years. Did I say yet, "he is good’?

The question was asked, “Why adopt when you can have your own”? I now understand that children our chosen by God no matter how they make it into our home. Who knows? God may allow us to conceive a child from my womb in the future. But, that child will be no more my own than the child God gifts us through adoption.  He has perfectly picked the child for our family.   

First Things First

First there was a girl who met a boy and they got married! Then they wanted to have a baby...through a long and painful 5 year journey of infertility, boy and girl's hearts were drawn toward adoption by a loving God who has been with them every step of the way and had a much better plan than they ever imagined. Check back often to read about how this loving God is orchestrating a beautiful union and making boy+girl=baby.

Hi, I'm Kaylan, I'm the girl in the story, and I can't wait to share our journey through adoption with you!