Team Turley Member #5

Many of you may have heard the "starfish" story about one person trying to make a difference on a beach filled with stranded starfish. We may not be able to save them all...but we can save some, one starfish at a time!

I have toyed with the words I would write in this blog post for a long time.....and even now I having a hard time putting into words what I am trying to say. So I will just come out and say it.

WE ARE EXPECTING!

Many of you may rush to congratulate us before you know all the details, so here they are.  Our little one is not growing in my belly, but she is growing in an orphanage far, far away. That's right folks, we are adopting! Many months ago we saw a little face on a website and fell in love. Since then God has been stirring in our hearts. A little less then a month ago, we felt lead to finally take a BIG leap of faith, and so we leaped. 

In that short time we have already hit a MAJOR road block. Two weeks after we began our journey, our adoption came to a screeching halt. You see, our soon-to-be daughter lives in Russia. On December 28th, President Putin signed a bill banning Russian adoptions by Americans. This ban has effected so many families currently in the adoption process. All we can do right now is pray, pray some more and wait. There is word that an amendment is being proposed that may exclude special needs children from the ban, but we don't know any specifics right now. 

Other then the current political situation in Russia, we know that many of our family and friends may have some questions and/or concerns that we are wanting to address...so here we go!

1. You already have one son and one daughter, why are you "rocking the boat" adding another?-Yes, we already do have a wonderful daughter and son whom we love and cherish IMMENSELY. This addition to our family may "rock the boat" a little, but in the end our family will be forever molded by all this little one has to offer. Plus, have you seen the size of my family? My middle name is chaos! What's life without a few ripples? 

2. Are you really cut out for this?-"For we walk by faith, not by sight."- 2 Corinthians 5:7 God is calling us to open our hearts and home to this child of His. He is hand picking her as a member of our family and we are answering the call and being obedient. Will there be difficult days? OF COURSE! But even parents with all biological kids have difficult days. We are choosing her!

3. This is a life sentence!- We know what we are getting ourselves into. So your “concerned for me” questions aren’t going to change our minds. How about a hug instead?

4. Why are you choosing a child with "special needs"?- It's simple...extra chromosomes = extra special! 

5. Why not adopt from America?- I have the utmost appreciation for anyone that follows the call to adopt and act no matter where it takes place. Similar to missionary work, I feel that God speaks very specifically to His call for one's life. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a "thing" for kids with disabilities. Other then my family, they are kind of my world. God has called me to be the voice of many of these students as their teacher and show them compassion and encouragement in a world of obstacles. Very early into my teaching career I began feeling yet another calling. That calling said that I was not only supposed to teach these special young souls, but I was also supposed to mother one too. 

Early into our marriage, I brought this "feeling" up to the hubby...let's just say he did not feel the same calling at that moment in time. He did say that he would prefer starting our family off with a few bio kids before we started thinking about adopting....so I waited. 

While I was pregnant with #2, I came across a website that advocated and fundraised for families pursuing a international special needs adoption. Since that time, I have supported and prayed for many of the faces I have come across. 

As I was looking into the various countries listed on their website, I learned of the various requirements and costs involved in these international adoptions. I found out early on in my research that Russia was one of the hardest and most expensive places to adopt from. So I would try to gear my affections for children in other countries.....but God had other plans. He constantly kept bringing me back to the little Russian faces. I finally gave in and accepted that our child was a "Ruski". 

Adam often rolled his eyes, or tried to change the subject whenever I would show him the face of a little one. I had to trust in the fact that I knew God had a plan for our family and his timing was perfect, so when the time was right, Adam's heart would be moved to act.....and sure enough, it happened. All it took was a picture...

Here is the original profile picture of our daughter. This pic was taken when she was only 2-3 months old, so it is a little out of date, but isn't she gorgeous!!! This is the pic that I fell in love with! (She is currently 19-20 months old.)

In December I came across an additional picture of our sweet girl and emailed it to the hubby...and that was all it took.

Because of the security of our little one and the adoption process, we won't be posting more pics, specific info or where in Russia she is living. But we will update you as soon as we know more about all the "stuff" that is going on in her country.

Please come along side us on this journey. We will need many prayers and support to make it to the end of this process, but we know all the struggles we encounter will be worth it! We have set up an adoption blog for friends and family to follow our journey. Here is the link. Once all this political stuff blows over (we hope) we will be able to continue our journey to bring a special little one home to be...Team Turley member #5!

Reagan