To read part 1 of "The Gift of Adoption," click here.
To read part 2 of "The Gift of Adoption," click here.
After Luisa and Jarrett received God’s direction to pursue adoption, Luisa said she felt so happy and her heart was at ease. She no longer had fear, it was more questions than fear. They completed the adoption paperwork on Joseph and Matthew’s birthday and officially submitted it on October 10, 2018.
They learned it would cost $34,000 - $40,000 to adopt from Colombia. Luisa and Jarrett didn’t know how they would get the money but they put their trust in God.
“We thought God had taken us this far. We trusted He would provide. We had to keep reminding ourselves of that, though, as we faced challenges along the way.”
Jarrett and Luisa shared their story with family and friends and they started a GoFundMe site. Friends organized fundraisers. Every time they received a donation, Luisa would dance all around the house in gratitude - praising God and the generosity of others. Luisa said her family kept asking if they had the money.
"It was hard for them to understand how we would raise that amount of money. I kept saying that I didn’t know how it would happen but we trusted that God would provide.”
The money started coming. Luisa and Jarrett were hearing from so many people. Doctors and nurses of Joseph and Matthew, friends, friends of friends.
“My parents and family were in awe when they saw all the support. God provided every penny!”
Another challenging part was attending the trainings on becoming a parent of an adopted child. They heard about all of the difficult situations, and they would discuss how they would respond. They didn’t know the child's age or other emotional/health situations they would be faced. There were a lot of unknowns. Their powerful prayer experience and receiving confirmation that adoption was God’s plan was the foundation for their journey. They kept reminding themselves that He was leading. He will provide.
By mid-April, the last of their paperwork was submitted. It took them 6 months, significantly less time than the majority of cases. On April 22, 2019, Holy Week, Jarrett and Luisa learned they were approved by the Colombia orphanage to be adoptive parents. It meant they were officially on the waiting list to be matched with their baby. They were told this waiting time could take six months to two years before they would be matched with a child. They started praying for an Easter miracle that they would be matched with a child during the Easter season which is a period of 50 days. Luisa is a music teacher at a Catholic school. She asked all the school children as well as all of their family and friends to pray for a miracle.
Next week, you’ll read about the Easter Miracle in the final segment of “The Gift of Adoption.”
To read part 1 of "The Gift of Adoption," click here.
To read part 2 of "The Gift of Adoption," click here.