A Matchbox Car

This is one of Rock's favorite matchbox cars because it goes really fast.  We have recently learned that the Serbian flag consists of a red, white, and blue flag.  It has been so fun to learn about the country of Serbia as a family.  The serbs celebrate Christmas on January 7th, 1/3 of the world's raspberries come from Serbia, and there is a huge minority of Roma people in Serbia.  The Roma people are what you and I would call gypsies.  There are many Roma orphans needing to be adopted.  Through this process of adoption, God has brought Trey and I to a place, where our arms are open wide, and the cry of our heart is "God, we want you to make our family beautiful....whatever that looks like."  The bottom line is that last Spring we began to pursue a blonde hair, blue eyed boy in Russia and now we cannot wait to bring home a darker skinned, dark eyed, dark hair little Roma boy that will share a room with his brother, Rock.

Adirondack Chairs

These are the chairs Trey and I sat in last Spring (May 2010) and knew God was calling us to take the "next step" in the adoption process.  We did not know at the time but the next step was to choose an agency and a country.  At the time God put strangers in my path in unusual places to lead us in the direction of an agency called European Adoption Consultants  We desired another son so we became interested in Russia for 2 reasons.  Russia is the exact opposite of China.  There are 14 boys for every 1 girl needing to be adopted.  I also had the visual of bringing home a little boy who looked very similar to our other 3 blond hair, blue eyed children.  
Without going into a lot of details, over the course of the summer God closed the door to Russia, and opened our eyes to a country we never even knew existed.....SERBIA!
"Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God and of the Holy one of Israel..." Isaiah 55:5

The Journey Has Begun

Hey Gang,

Trey and I just wanted you to know that we have started the process of adoption!  We began praying about adopting while I was still pregnant with Hollis.  Over the course of the last year and half we have continued to pray about adopting and God has not changed our heart but strengthened our desire.  This past Spring we took "the next step" and chose a country and an agency.  We initially began to pursue adoption in Russia.  In many foreign countries rheumatoid arthritis is a pretty significant red flag including Russia.  We spent the summer in preliminary paperwork and letters from my rheumatologist.  To make a lengthy story short we found out Labor Day weekend that Russia was a "no go".

Over the course of the last few months God has brought Trey and I to a place of opening our arms and saying " God, we want you to make our family beautiful the exact way you want!"  God has used my rheumatoid arthritis and Hollis's young age to close doors and open wide the door to the country of Serbia(former Yugoslavia).  

We have completed our home study and are now waiting on my fingerprints to clear (Trey's fingerprints cleared weeks ago and I am the hold up).  We then start round 2 of intense paperwork.  Our time frame looks like we would be bringing home a 12-15 month old baby by next Christmas.  We would love to bring home a son and that is what we have specified.

Trey and I have had a year and a half to process the idea of adoption and what that would look like in our family.  It has been a sweet thing to walk through with our kids.  Each night as we put the kids to bed, Rock Fulton says "Mom, lets pray for my brother in Serbia tonight."

I am going to attempt to blog about this adoption journey.  I have trouble finding the time to brush everyone's teeth and feed the fish but I really want to try.  I will keep you posted.  As God brings it to your mind, please pray for our family as we take "the next step" in this adoption process.

Campbell and Trey