When Jesus Says, “Follow Me”

The Terrebonne Family has some thrilling news to share:

We are adopting from INDIA!!!!!

And let me tell you something, friends. This is not something we are entering into lightly.

Many of you already know the heartbreaking adoption losses we have experienced in the past. If you are unfamiliar with our heart-wrenching struggles, you can read more about them here. Adoption, and international adoption in particular, is not for the faint of heart. It is a scary, lengthy, and expensive process that has the potential to end in a painfully empty way.

We know. We’ve lived it.

We also know that no matter how devastating an adoption loss can be, God is in control. And when He calls us to adopt, He will keep His word. This was evidenced by our beautiful and precious Jonah.

Today I want to share how our family came to the decision to adopt internationally from India and how you can help us in the process.

When Peter was deployed last year, unbeknownst to each other, we both began to feel God call us to adopt again. Peter even went so far as to inquire about bringing an Afghan baby home with him but the Afghan government doesn’t allow their children to be adopted. At the same time, I could feel the Lord pulling me toward India. I have been drawn to that beautiful country and those beautiful people for a few years and I could sense God leading me there in some way.

When we got brave enough to share our hearts with each other, we realized we were both being pulled in the direction of international adoption. And frankly, we were scared to take that leap.

Peter came home in June and life got predictably crazy. Our kids are wild by nature, our home is almost never calm, Peter and Brienne both underwent surgery, and we sort of just let the whole adoption thing fall to the wayside.

But…

(There’s always a “but,” isn’t there?)

A few weeks ago, some friends of ours announced on Facebook that they were adopting from India, and my heart pricked a little bit. I mentioned it in passing to Peter, not thinking too much of it.

Then a couple days later, we attended church as usual. The missions director at our church preached that day, but I was working in the nursery so I didn’t hear the message. When we got home from church, Peter was irritated and grumpy so I asked him what was wrong.

His response?

“I’m feeling convicted. I know we are supposed to adopt again and we just need to do it.”

Y’all. I was floored. Because those of you who know my husband understand that this desire is not coming from him but from the Lord.

So I began to pray that God would lead us where He wanted us to go. And He has led us to India. Through a series of events, daily readings, blog posts, and church messages and videos, we realized India was where our baby #4 is.

I need to be completely honest with you: I am fearful of many things.

Fearful of the whole thing falling through

Fearful because we don’t have the necessary finances

Fearful because I don’t know what our family dynamic will be like when we bring another child into it

And the timing couldn’t be worse:

Peter is about to retire and begin Physical Therapy school 

I will have to go back to work full time to help support our family

We will be moving out of state this coming summer

When I mentioned these things to Peter, he reminded me of this: Of course the timing couldn’t be worse. Because God doesn’t want us to do anything in our own power; He wants us to do this in His power.

So we are now beginning this 18-month journey.

You may be asking how you can help. Here are two ways:

1. Pray for our family. Pray that we will continue to have a sense of peace as we work toward this adoption. Pray that the process would go smoothly in the way that God has ordained. Pray that we would not get discouraged during the process and that we would be able to see the Lord’s hand each step of the way. And pray for our children as well as the child that we will be bringing home.
2. Give. Friends, we are seriously stepping out in faith here. This adoption will cost over $25,000 and we don’t have that kind of money just floating around in our checking account. Some of you may think we are being foolish by committing to an adoption without the financial resources necessary to complete the process. But we are believing that God will provide what we need. We have set up a Go Fund Me account if you would like to contribute. Every dollar helps. And we will also be doing a t-shirt fundraiser in the near future. I will keep you updated with that information when we know more.

We are excited and nervous and intimidated by the amount of paperwork and government hoops we will have to jump through over the next few months. But we are thrilled to dive into this and follow where God is leading our family!

Will you join us on this adventure?

Thank you for your support and I promise to keep you posted!

 

I will be posting periodic updates as we progress through this journey. If you would like to follow along, enter your email address below. And as a “Thank You,” you will receive a free download of Scripture Notecards.