We're Adopting!

We are so excited to announce that we will be adopting a 3 year old little boy from Zimbabwe! :o) His full name when we adopt him will be Anesu Matthew. Anesu means "God with us" and Matthew (the name Jeff and I have chosen for him) means "Gift from God" I think it is a very fitting name! Anesu will hopefully be coming to Canada in mid-July. It has been a whirlwind past couple months but I'm sure it is nothing in comparison to what it will be like with a toddler in our home! lol! Let me give you a little taste of what's been happening...

On March 31st I woke up to find an e-mail in my facebook inbox from a friend of ours who we went to Bible College with in Winnipeg. Busi was an international student from Africa. She had written the e-mail to several friends saying that she had many losses in her family and due to those tragedies was now the legal guardian of 8 kids in total. She went on to say that she had been praying about how to care for these kids, since she was in school doing her masters and so finally made the decision to place 3 of them for adoption.

As I continued to read I believe my heart stopped...

"The youngest from my sister who passed away last year is Anesu a normal 2 year old full of life and so so cute."

As I read that sentence my mind began to spin. Could this be our child? I went immediately to Jeff to see what he thought; should I write her back or not? he said go for it. And so I wrote her saying that we were in the middle of our homestudy and we would be willing to start praying for little Anesu and whether we should be his parents.

Later that day I had a reply that she would call me that night. I was so anxious to get that phone call. Would she want us to be his parents? And if so, what were we getting into! Where was he living... in Africa or in Winnipeg? Was he healthy? I had so many thoughts flying around in my head.

When the phone rang that evening I think I was a little more calm and maybe more "realistic" about the whole thing. I kept thinking that maybe some other people had responded to her e-mail and she wouldn't choose us anyways. But as we talked I realised that she was seriously thinking of placing him with us if we felt God leading us that way. I asked her to send a picture so that we could put a face with the name. We talked a little about the details... Anesu was in Zimbabwe living with her brother. His mother passed away last year and his father has never been in the picture.

We only talked for a few minutes but she promised she would send some pictures and would get her sister in Zimbabwe to find out how an adoption would work. We were hoping that it wouldn't be too complicated since Busi is the legal guardian and lives here in Canada. The hope was that she would be able to go over to Zimbabwe and get Anesu and then bring him back to Whitehorse. That way we can be looking after him while the adoption goes through (which can take a long time).

Later that evening she sent a picture of Anesu... I was in LOVE! He was so gorgeous.

Over the next couple months we talked almost every week. Busi was making so any phone calls and talking to proffesionals trying to figure out all the logistics. I felt so bad that she was doing all the work. Unfortunately because we live in the north our resources are limited. We don't even have an adoption agency here (there is only social services... who we did our homestudy with). Nothing would have happened if it wasn't for Busi's dedication. Every time I got off the phone with her I would thank God for what she was doing for us.

And so here we are with enough of the pieces together that we feel we can FINALLY let people know. Right now the plan is that Busi will leave for Zimbabwe the end of June. While there she will get all the paperwork done that is needed to get him to Canada. Hopefully that won't take too long (we are hoping between 2-3 weeks) and then she will fly him back here to Whitehorse. She will spend a few days with us as we get him adjusted and then fly home to Winnipeg. Over the next couple years we will work on getting him his citizenship and then legally adopt him.

Unfortunately, like everything in life, this all costs money... LOTS of money. We figure we are looking at $8,000-$9,000 for the whole thing. To some people that would seem like pocket change I'm sure, but for Jeff and I it seems pretty large. We don't want to go into debt because it will take FOREVER for us to pay off that kind of money and as well we don't want to start off our life with a child with a huge debt hanging over our heads. So, if you know of any way that we can raise some money to help bring Anesu home please let me know.

It's been such a weird feeling to think that we are going to be parents to this beautiful little boy in the pictures. Every time I look at him I feel like I'm dreaming. Is it really possible that God will give us such a gift? That he will entrust Anesu's happiness and well-being to us? And even more important trust us to raise him to love Christ? It just amazes me!

You know I feel sort of like I'm pregnant. I have all the anticipation of being a mom but still a little of the anxiety that it may not happen. Because this adoption is a little abnormal there is a chance that we may run into legal and immigration problems. My heartbreak from the past 6 years of riding the infertility rollarcoaster has made me very sceptical of anything good happening to us and I find myself wanting to hold back from telling people about Anesu because maybe it isn't going to happen... but I feel like God is telling me to trust. So it really is like being pregnant... you spend 9 months planning for the future, decorating a room, buying all the items you need but there is still a chance that something may happen and that child may never get to come home with you. Well I've decided that we will plan for the future, decorate a bedroom and buy all the items we will need and pray like all parents that we will get to bring our child home.

So you know what the best part is? No matter what happens God is in control. That has given me so much peace these last couple months. Even if the worse happens and we can't get our son I know that he is in God's hands and that in the end it will be okay. Would I be heartbroken? Of course... he's already my child. But God is so amazing that I know it would be okay. That peace can come from no one else... how awesome is that! :o)

Well I'm going to sign off... there is so much going on in my head right now that I just can't get it all written out. Hopefully over the next month and a half I will have time to tell more of the details and to explain my feelings as we prepare to become parents to a toddler. All I ask right now, as always, is for your prayers that everything will fall into place and we will have Anesu Matthew here with us very soon!

Shannon