A Christmas prayer

Just wanted to put out a little Christmas prayer as we get ready for the countdown to the big day!  As an adoptive-father-to-be, I am constantly thankful to God who adopted us all as sons through Jesus.  And this week I am turning my thoughts to Joseph, our most famous adoptive father.  God breathed life into creation, but we would eventually succumb to sin.  Then He promised us a seed delivered through a woman that would crush sin and save us all.  Joseph was faithful to God, and adopted Jesus as his own, raising him, shepherding him, teaching him.  I pray that I can be half the man that Joseph was as I become a father to this little boy.  I pray that I can be faithful to follow the path that God has laid before me.  Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope it brings joy and wonder to us all.  We love you!

Ken

Yes, you CAN cut down a
Christmas tree in Alabama!

Ballet princess Suzy Snowflake! 

Home Study Complete!

Yesterday, Friday December 2nd, we finished our home study!  This is a milestone for us, the last of five meetings.  It will take a couple weeks for our social worker to put everything together, and then it will all go off to immigration.  This is the first big step to get past.  Once we get immigration approval we will send our dossier to China (the next big step), and eventually get our "log-in date".  That's when we will be ready for placement.  So our home study should go off around Christmas, and probably about 3 months later we should be accepted for placement.  That's about as far as we can think right now, anything else would be getting ahead of ourselves!  We saw video this week of a little girl being adopted from the Mao Ming orphanage.  It was amazing to think that our little boy might be one of the faces there among the crowd, yet we don't even know him yet!  It's easy to feel a little helpless at this point, but DeAnna and I believe strongly that God is sovereign in all this.  The day we were born we were destined to adopt this little boy, just as the day he was born he was destined to be ours.  We have to have faith that he will be cared for and protected until the day we can bring him home.  It reminds me of one of my favorite verses, Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And it is not your own doing; it is the gift of God."  It is amazing to me how simple God's plan is for all of us.  And we take comfort in knowing that this is the same salvation He offers to every one of us, even a little boy born across the world in China.

And as we appreciate His simple road to salvation, I hope you all enjoy this season as we celebrate the birth of our savior.  Let's try to see past the traffic and the lines and open our hearts to the love that He brought into the world.

Merry Christmas!
Ken

Dear Santa:

A couple of weeks ago Zoe and Zander were working on a Christmas list.  Zoe was writing, and Zander was contributing thoughts.  They were even taking requests from Zuri.  What they produced was a list that combined all their interests.  It melted out hearts to see the list...

Of course, they won't get their little brother quite so soon, but with Christmas fast approaching, their list prompted me to make a request.  I guess most of you know that international adoption is expensive.  On average it costs $25-30,000.  The federal tax credit, which we will hopefully get back in 2013 is $13,170.  Needless to say, there is a lot of saving going on in the Horton house, and every little bit helps!  So, our request is this:  If you're planning presents or gift cards for our family this Christmas, please instead contribute that amount to our adoption.  The kids know we're saving and making sacrifices for the adoption, and they are excited by every dollar that goes into the fund.  After we complete our home study (probably late December/ early January) we may be able to establish an account with an organization called Lifesong that will allow donations to be tax-deductible.  We'll take an IOU if you want to wait and see if that gets up and running!  Please don't feel pressured to donate.  Just consider this request before you buy us that gift card!

We had the home visit portion of our Home Study today.  Mallory toured the house and verified that everything was safe and appropriate for our little boy.  She even counted smoke alarms and fire extinguishers!  Then we sat down and discussed parenting skills, discipline, and everything else related to raising a child.  The last home study meeting will be in a few weeks.  Until then we will be hard at work completing our "education" (reading assignments and online videos).

It is our prayer that the process will go smoothly, that God will be with us as we face the challenges that lay ahead, and that our little boy will be safe and happy until the day we can bring him home.

Ken and DeAnna

When Love Takes You In - Steven Curtis Chapman

04 When Love Takes You In by kslice

Hurry Up and Wait.

Well, we're learning that when it comes to adoption, everything takes time!  After exploring various options, we decided to pursue international adoption in... CHINA!  Our goal is to adopt a boy younger than Zuri.  Most experts suggest maintaining the birth order of your family, so the new addition is also the youngest.  Lifeline, the adoption agency we've chosen, has a special relationship with an orphanage in MaoMing, Guangdong, China.  We don't know if our son will come from MaoMing, but only Lifeline works with the orphanage, so it's a good chance.  We also think that having his Chinese-American cousins Caleigh and Corey will be a great advantage!  So, to bring everyone up to speed, on Sept. 15 we went to DHR to get fingerprints and start our background check.  Then we filled out a stack of papers and turned everything in.  We had our first homestudy meeting on Oct 12.  There will be 4 homestudy meetings culminating in our social worker, Mallory, visiting the house and meeting the kids.  Zoe asked why she can't just tell them we're good parents so we can get our boy!  Please pray for us through this journey.  We have a lot of reading and writing ahead of us right now.  The kids are excited and want him here for Christmas!  It has become real to us that our son is in China and we have to leave it in God's hands that he is being taken care of in the orphanage.  We wish we could speed up the process, but this is how it works.  On a related note, we met Katie Davis today at church.  She is a missionary in Uganda and has adopted 13 girls!  Don't worry, we're not competing!  It was so moving to hear her story.  http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/  The next step is writing our autobiographies from childhood to present.  That should be fun!  We are so eager to be matched with our little boy that it's hard to be still.  We'll keep you posted!  Love you all, DeAnna and Ken.

Zoe's contribution...

Zoe helped me update the blog today, so enjoy the new background!  It has been pointed out that you couldn't leave comments unless you were signed in to Google.  I believe that I have fixed that.  Love you all.  Ken

Here we go!

This is Ken.  I though it would be appropriate for me to start this blog with a few thoughts on, "Why?"  I know some of you are wondering if we've lost our minds... that we're acting prematurely, swept up in the moment.  DeAnna and I have been together for 12 years.  Ever since I've known her, her heart has been on the suffering of children.  Hunger, neglect, and abuse of children have weighed heavy on her heart every day.  We've been on a long road to address that need with organizations such as Feed the Children, Smile Train, Sumaritan's Purse and Compassion International.  Along the way, I have come to some personal conclusions about fatherhood.  First, I think that being a dad to my children, raising them, shepherding them, is what God put me here to do.  It gives me more satisfaction than anything else I've ever done in my life.  Secondly, I believe that many of the things that are wrong in our society can be traced back to the father... abusive fathers, fathers who abandon their children, fathers who are never there.  So, I think that the greatest gift I could ever give a child is to be his father.  I love my children, and I'm told I do a pretty good job.  Add to this the fact that both DeAnna and I have for some reason always pictured our family to include four children.  We are both the youngest of four, so I guess it just seems natural.  Now, I'd also like to point out that, in my opinion, adoption is a calling.  I believe that we are all called (or will be called) in different ways.  You know it when it happens.  I think we're pre-wired for it, and it just seems natural.  Not everyone will adopt, nor should everyone adopt.  But I do feel that we should all help in some way, and that's part of the reason for this blog.  I know that as friends and family of this as-yet unchosen future Horton (who is most likely alive and kicking this very second) we can all lend a hand in the process.  I also want to mention that I'm initially opposed to the idea of a blog about adoption.  I believe it's wrong to stand on the street corner and pray out loud so that everyone will look at us.  I know none of you would ever think that we're doing this because it makes us look good.  So the intent of the blog is just to allow all of you to join with us in this long and complicated process.  Adoption is truly such a beautiful picture.  I am so excited and so terrified!  We're turning in our paperwork tomorrow.  We will have a "home study" within a couple of weeks.  I will let DeAnna take the next post and let you all know what country we've chosen!    

Mandi Mapes / This Love / P E M MA

Mandi Mapes / This Love / P E M MA by jamesjosephaudio