Personal Update from the Stewarts

From the day Sean and I knew that we were in love, wanting to get married, then got married (almost four years ago), we knew that we wanted to have a family. 

We got married when I was 32 and Sean was 35 so we had already decided that we would try for a family right away. Two years went past, no baby.  The day before my 35^th birthday, I had a miscarriage.  Heartbroken doesn’t even begin to describe how we felt.

Our hearts desire has always been to have children. It’s been my desire since I was six years old and got to watch the birth of my sister in the front seat of my dad’s Mercury LN7. I was in the back seat (well, actually the luggage compartment) with my three year old brother and six month old cousin.  It was absolutely AMAZING (maybe not for my parents at that particular moment) and I couldn’t wait to be a mommy some day.

It just may not be the way we always thought it would be...

Over the past six to seven months, Sean and I have been really praying to God as to what His steps are for us.  We kept quiet about it for awhile, just for us to really seek the Lord, asking Him to open and close doors so that we could see His path.

A few months ago, I did some research and found that what we were praying about was possible and a bit easier than what we thought.  So we then brought it to our families to pray with us about it.

And so....

On Monday, January 14^th, 2013, Sean and I visited an adoption agency in and have begun the paperwork to adopt a sweet baby boy or girl from Kenya.

Because we have lived in Kenya for a minimum of three years, we are eligible to adopt a baby as Kenyan residents and not as an international adoption.  We still have quite a bit of paperwork but not nearly as much as an international adoption does.  We still have a fee to pay but again, not nearly as much as an international adoption.

We were over the moon excited that we could proceed this way (and the child would also become a Canadian citizen). We shared it with a few close friends/advisors and asked for prayers from them.

Without even asking, soliciting, anything, we had great friends of ours say that they would like to help us pay for the adoption fee.  And in fact, they are paying for the whole fee. We have other friends, who told us that they too, would like to help pay for what is needed. 

We had found a lawyer in our area that has fees for adoption but they are quite expensive so we talked to the adoption agency about it. They are passing on some contacts of lawyers for us that will be at least half the cost of the lawyer we know about here.

I am continually in awe of my Father and how He takes care of us.

We have our eyes and our ears open to the struggles too.  We are not going into this blindly. We know that my IMpatience of the slowness of the adoption process and all the paperwork needing to be completed will flare up from time to time.  But my impatience stems from just wanting to see and hold our sweet baby for the very first time. 

But all good things come to those who wait.....

(at least that’s what the Heinz Ketchup commercials would say...)

So won’t you join us in prayer and in this journey?

Prayer Requests:

1.       All paperwork can be done in a quick manner. We are aiming to have everything complete by early March.

2.       The adoption will be approved right away and not deferred or rejected.

3.       Those who are skeptical or afraid of adoption will learn from our walk that it’s not based on blood, genes or skin color but of God’s amazing love. Love is love.

Thank you to those who have offered amazing encouragement and love to Sean and me so far. We can’t thank you enough. Keep ‘em coming!

Stay tuned...

Much Love,

Meredith