A new match

We are excited to announce that we have been re-matched with a baby to adopt!  A situation presented itself to us that was out of our original realm of consideration, but the Lord clearly laid on our heart that we needed to courageously follow Him.  He was asking us to trust Him and be obedient.  So, we are working very hard to do that.  Her due date is March 13th, meaning we could get a phone call any day now.  We are so excited about this opportunity to bring a new little one to our home.  The situation she is coming from is difficult, and to protect her, we have chosen not to disclose all of the details.  We just know that she needs us, and we need her.  We are praying for a healthy delivery for both baby and mother and for a chance to witness to the birth mother.  We are intending to be a reflection of Christ's love and are praying her heart will be receptive.   We have a conference call this week with the birth mother and it will be our first opportunity to speak with her.  Please pray that we will know the right things to say. Please pray for us as we are working out the travel details, finances, and all that comes with it.  Please pray with us for our baby and the birth mother. We are excited about where He is leading and we will keep you updated!

Unexpected Turn

Well, as is unfortunately too common in the adoption process, our journey has taken an unexpected twist. The baby girl we were matched to adopt was actually born this weekend, unbeknownst to us, and the birth mother decided to parent rather than placing her for adoption, as was the plan.  We just found out this afternoon and are more than disappointed.  We were really looking forward to bringing this baby girl to our family and being able to share our home and lives with her.  However, this baby was apparently not the child God has ordained for our family.  Despite our sadness, we are choosing right now to rest in His sovereignty.  There have been multiple times in our lives that God's greatness has overshadowed our human plans.  He has given us more than we could ever have expected through circumstances that looked dark and hopeless.  We only have to look at our amazing 5 year old, Luke, born with half of a heart, to be reminded of that.  Even in the most difficult of times, God has constantly been holding us in His hands.  We will continue to seek His will and wait expectantly for what He is going to do. 

We would ask that you continue to pray for our family in this process, for the birth mother that changed her mind, for her child who is now in a less than ideal situation, and for the birth  mother and child that we will ultimately be matched with.  Despite the difficult news today, there was a huge blessing in the midst, because all of the money previously raised for the adoption will be able to be rolled over to the next match.  This is amazing considering the risk involved with domestic adoption. None of the money will be lost despite the birth mother changing her mind.  So, we thank everyone who has helped us financially and want to encourage you that your support and sacrifice has been, and will be, used by God to change a child's life and change our family's life as we continue this adoption process. I will leave you with a song that we sang this weekend at our youth conference and that has always been an encouragement to Josh and I as we have been through difficult days:
                        Oh, no, You never let go, through the calm and through the storm. Oh, no You never let go, every high and every low.  Oh, no, you never let go.  Lord You never let go of me.



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We've Been Matched with a Child!

Today we received the amazing news that we have been matched with a child to adopt!  Last week we presented our profile to a birthmother carrying a little girl.  We have been waiting and praying for the past week and today we received the news that the birthmother chose us to adopt her child.  The baby's due date is February 15th.  We are so surprised, humbled, and excited all at the same time.  It is awesome to see the Lord orchestrating things for our good and His glory!

The next step for us is to begin the paperwork process with the agency and start figuring out the logistics to be able to bring Baby Reece home.  The cost of the adoption is still going to be a hurtle for us and we are praying for the funding to continue to be provided.  The first phase of the adoption costs actually have to be paid next week and we are not exactly sure where they are going to come from.  Please continue to pray with us for provision for the finances and the wisdom to prepare for a new addition to our family.  Please also pray for the birth mother to remain steadfast in her decision and to have a healthy remainder of her pregnancy.  


We have been given 2 matching grants from wonderful non-profit organizations.  If you would like to give and help us bring home baby Reece, you can make a tax deductible gift to either of the two organizations below:


1)  Hand in Hand Christian Adoption Inc.
     Landrum Family Adoption  (only put our name on the outside envelope not on memo line of the check)
     18524 Juniper Street
     Gardner KS 66030
    

2)  Lifesong for Orphans
     PO Box 40/202 N. Ford Street
     Gridley, IL 61744
     **PLEASE put Landrum Adoption #2402 in the Memo line


We are excited and waiting to see what God is going to do in and through us and Reece.
Thank you for partnering with us!

Good news!

We have good news: we have been awarded a $3500 matching grant from Hand in Hand Christian Adoption Agency to help up out with our adoption expenses.  We are so appreciative of organizations like these whose sole purpose is to assist families in adoption and ultimately bring children home.  We are now starting a new fund-raising phase of our adoption and are being continually reminded that God provides.  In fact, in this case, He will have to provide.  We don't have an extra $25,000, which is what our adoption will likely cost.  So, we are prayerfully considering different options for raising funds and waiting for His leading and His provision.  This is one of the many lessons we have learned from the adoption journey already--we have to rely on Him.  We can't do it ourselves.  But, I am continually encouraged by examples in scripture where the Lord provided what people needed at the exact moment they needed it.  One example is in the book of Ruth.  Ruth and Naomi were alone and destitute and the Lord provided for them not only food and sustenance, but a family redeemer through Boaz.  God will provide for us not only what we need through our finances, but so much more than we could ask.  What an amazing God we serve! Thank you for following our family as we follow His lead!

P.S. Some people have asked how they can help us.  If you would like to donate towards helping us raise our funds you can send a check to 

Hand in Hand Christian Adoption, Inc.  

Landrum Family

18524 Juniper St                                                                                                    

Gardner, KS  66030-9147

This will go into a separate account for our family and will be matched dollar for dollar by Hand in Hand.  They do ask that you only put our names on the outside of the envelope and not on the check for tax purposes.  They will then send you a return receipt and it will be a tax deductible donation for you.  

Writing and Waiting

Hi, everyone.  Sorry it has been so long since my last blog.  I wanted to update you on where we are in the adoption process.  Actually, things have been pretty eventful since our last post.  Two weeks ago we were made aware of a situation of a birth mother who was looking for an adoptive family for her daughter.  Feeling like it was the Lord's leading, we decided to present our profile to the birth mother as a possible match.  The catch was, the baby was going to be born before the end of November! We submitted our profile and waited.  I would like to say patiently, but mostly we just waited impatiently.  About a week later, we found out the mother had decided to go with a different adoptive family.  But, we are ok with that.  We know the Lord has the right child for us at the right time.  It is so comforting to know that we can rely on God's sovereignty instead of our own intellect in figuring out this situation.  We know the Lord has a plan for our family and His timing is perfect.  Our job is not to fret, worry, or even make plans.  Our job is just to hang on for the ride and be obedient when opportunities arise. So, in the meantime, we are doing a lot of writing and a lot of waiting.  The writing is referring to grant applications.  Lots and lots of grant applications.  The estimated cost of our adoption is $25-30,000 and we are going to need some help raising that amount.  So, we have applied for several grants and fund raising ideas that can help.  The waiting also refers to the grant applications.  Most of them take 6-8 weeks to process before we will know if we have been awarded a grant.  We have been made aware of other possible situations of of children due to be born in the upcoming months and are praying hard for wisdom.  Please pray with us that we will be able to wait upon the Lord and draw strength from Him as we seek to do His will in growing our family. 

Here goes nothing!

Hi, friends.  I have decided to start a blog chronicling our journey through the adoption process.  Our goal through this blog is to first of all, bring God glory, and next use this exciting adventure of adoption to explore God's love more and involve others in the process. 

I guess I should start at the beginning since this is my first post.  Josh and I have been blessed to be joined at the hip since we were 16.  After dating for 6 years, we were married.  Since that time, we have both as a couple and individually felt the call to adopt.  We did not always know the time, the method, or the place that this would occur, but we always felt open to the possibilities. We are so blessed to have two sons--Luke who is 4 and Colby who just turned 2.  Each of our boys has his own special story of how the Lord has guided him to this point in his life and a unique way of showing God's providence.  Luke was born with a congenital heart defect known as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.  In essence, he was born with half of a heart.  He has undergone 4 open heart surgeries in his 4 short years, and multiple hospitalizations for complications.  He is a daily testimony of God's sustaining strength and our dependance on Him for our very breath.  Colby was born 2 months early after a complicated pregnancy for me.  He weighed only 3 pounds 11 ounces and spent 2 weeks in the NICU until he was strong enough to breath on his own, keep up his temperature, and start gaining weight.  He is a daily reflection of God's favor and constant source of joy and laughter to us and everyone who meets him.  These boys are such a blessing for us and we are thankful for each moment with them and what they teach us. 

Over the past few months, Josh and I have felt more urgency in God's call on our life to adopt.  We have prayed about this and spent many hours talking about the impacts of this call. Some of the thoughts that run through our minds are: are we crazy for doing this? will this be too hard on our boys? will we feel overwhelmed with having 3 kids? where will we get the money? how will this affect our family and our church? Even though we don't actually have answers to all of these questions, we always come back to the assurance that God is sovereign.  He will provide, and this is what he wants us to do.  Afterall, if we are Christians, we are all adoptees.  We have all been adopted into the family of God through the sacrifice of His Son.  We have been brought from death to life and are made new creations.  This is the ultimate picture of adoption.  This is what drives us to do something that may not sound logical, and may be very difficult.  We are praying for God's love to be shown through us in this process and opportunities to share the Gospel.  We are asking you as friends, family, maybe even strangers, to please partner with us as we journey through this process and try to be hands and feet for the One who loves us more than we can comprehend. 

Stay tuned!  More to Come!!!