This is the question we asked when we first considered adoption. Then, once the adoption takes place, how can we afford to raise a 4th child? Finances are usually the biggest roadblock for those who consider adoption. We cannot tell you how God will provide for you, but we can share the ways He has provided for us. Just this morning, as I was preparing part of this post in my head, I began thinking back over the past several months. I realized there were numerous financial blessings God had provided for Elsie alone. Here are just a few.
#1 After we had Grant, we assumed we were done having kids. I gave away most all of my baby girl clothes, thinking I would never need them again. Then we began the process of adoption. Even then, we were so sure God wanted us to have a boy that we even considered turning down girl options. (We still had boy clothes; we thought he would share Grant's room; it would be a perfect 2 girls and 2 boys) And so our human line of reasoning went, until God convicted our hearts of selfishness. Had I become pregnant with a child, I would have gladly accepted boy or girl. So before we left for Cleveland, I went through all my baby clothes and picked 2 or 3 suitable outfits for a baby boy. I could not find 1 complete outfit for a baby girl. When we got the phone call that it was time to pick up our baby girl, we actually had to go shopping to pick out a couple of girl outfits! Here is where God provided this first financial blessing. When we returned home, a couple of friends were happy to share their baby girl clothes with us, providing for those first few months. Relatives purchased outfits to fill in some needed gaps. And we've been able to purchase anything else she needs by keeping an eye on the clearance racks. Just the other day, I walked out of Sam's Club with 3 complete outfits that cost $2.81 each!
#2 Formula and food. A formula-fed baby is an expensive one! Friends and family have helped keep this cost down by giving us their free samples and formula coupons. When I do have to buy it, the coupons take the cost down considerably! We started stocking up on jar baby food before we even knew Elsie existed. I'm just now getting to the end of that stockpile and have been finding lots of sales. Soon, she'll be eating our table food and I won't have to buy anything special anyway.
#3 If formula is expensive, diapers are even more so! Since Grant is not potty-trained yet, I have 2 kiddos in diapers. While I had to purchase some diapers early on, it has been a couple of months since I have paid a cent for diapers. Some of you know that I am in the database for diaper research studies for Proctor & Gamble. So over the last couple of months, not only have I been putting both kids in Pampers for free, I have also been paid to use them!
As if these financial provisions weren't enough for this post, God topped it off this afternoon when we checked the mail. Since we brought Elsie home in March, we have been paying off a $17,000 loan with interest. We were anticipating that the adoption tax credit would provide enough of a refund to pay off this loan in January. However, God provided in His way once again. In our mailbox today was a check. A check for $15,800--enough to pay off the remainder of this loan.
In summary, let us just tell you that the only way for most people to afford an adoption is just to rely on God. We did not have $23,000 last September when we plunked down our first $1400 for our home study. But we felt God's call to adopt. We made necessary adjustments in our budget and determined to do what we could. Even when Jason received a 10% pay cut at the first of the year, we prayed and kept going. Today, just 13 months from our first payment, Elsie's adoption is almost completely paid for. We plan to make our final $4,000 payment to Lifesong when we receive our tax return in 2011. Our God has supplied all of our needs, just as He promised.
