Shaffer Family Adoption Story

God placed the desire to adopt in both of our hearts individually long before we met. Danny was adopted when he was nearly 3 years old and always planned on adopting himself. His dad would say that the only way that we are accepted into God’s kingdom is through the amazing act of Adoption. Danny didn't know how or when it would happen, but that it would happen. Kristen, even as a child, thought adoption was beautiful and hoped to adopt when she grew up. In fact, we talked about how we both wanted to adopt on our very first date! After we got married, when we began considering starting our family we wondered if it was the right time to pursue adoption. We always knew this would be a part of the story of our family. God had different plans for us and first gave us our son, Emory and two years later our daughter Elena. We have considered when to pursue adoption many times over the years, but God always said “Wait”. So we had decided to wait until our youngest was 6. God’s timing, as it often is, has been different than our own. And it is the Lord’s perfect timing! Now here we are, 9 years after that first date, and it is finally time! It has always been a part of our vision for our family and we are so excited! We can't wait to meet our baby (or babies)!

God laid domestic adoption on our hearts and continued to put people in our lives that confirmed that desire. Kristen met a woman at bible study that had recently adopted and, through a series of God given events, it has been confirmed that same agency was where He was directing us. This has lead us to the domestic infant program of an agency in Georgia. We have been accepted into the program and have completed our home study! We are thrilled with where God is leading us and are so thrilled to meet these little ones who already hold a place in our hearts. Our daughter, who is 3, has spent the last year insisting we should have 2 babies! One for her and one for mommy! Honestly we would love to add 2 babies to our family and are preparing for twins or siblings!

There are children out there that He has created us to parent, and He has prepared us, uniquely, to love and teach them about the Lord who has adopted us. We long for these little ones and miss them intensely. We want to hold them, let them know they are ok, they are safe and that we will always love them. We pray for these babies and their birth parents. Since we had originally planned on waiting a few more years, we thought we would have more time to save. However, God has bigger plans and clearly brought us to the spot of knowing we must move forward in obedience and faith in pursuing adoption now. Adoption can be very expensive with attorney fees, agency expenses and the travel costs when we go to pick up our baby (or babies) and bring them home. We believe God will provide the finances and we are asking those who know us to be a part of our journey. We ask, first and foremost, for you to pray with us and secondarily, if God so leads, to support us financially in meeting the upfront costs of this adoption. We don’t know when our family will be together but we know that we are being obedient in preparing to welcome them home. We long for the day when they will join our family and we are together. Once we are in the active pool with our agency, it could be 6 months to a year. Our children are so excited and pray for their brothers and sisters and ask us frequently when we will find them?! Our whole family will celebrate and are praying now for God’s will and leading in the journey He has set before us!