EXCITING NEWS & PERSONAL POST FROM THE SHIFLETTS!

EXCITING NEWS & PERSONAL POST FROM THE SHIFLETTS! 🎉💞

We are super excited about an announcement that we're now able to share with all of our friends, family, and ministry connections. After years of prayer and seeking God's timing, we are joyfully pursuing the adoption of a beautiful and wonderful child that is out there somewhere just waiting on us to be united as a family!

This hasn't been an easy decision to come to, but after saying yes, we are both now very excited to move forward into all God has for us in one of the greatest ministries and adventures of all - being parents! 🙌🏻👶👧🏼🧒

We both know that this will be one of the most amazing journeys of our lives.

(More on how you can help and support our effort below)

With the overturning of Roe V. Wade laws, many in the body of Christ are discussing adoption, and how the church needs to step up and adopt these precious children, who desperately need a good and Godly family.

However, our decision to adopt did not begin with the recent historic overturning of this law. This is something we have prayed about for a number of years, but awaited God's direction and correct timing. Through an encounter that Darin had with a precious little girl in January of this year, God revealed His "Fathering heart" to us, and gave us the green light to nurture, love, train, equip, and raise up a child through adoption!

Darin and I are called to do many things, but we have felt the call to "parent" from day one. After all, it is the ultimate attribute of our Heavenly Father. All of us have been adopted into His family, through the blood of His son. Parenting requires purpose, intent, and selfless love that allows life to go forward, and for legacy and blessings to flow from one generation to the next.

Some (very few, and mostly only those who know us personally) have been aware of our great desire to have a child, as well as our struggle with infertility for over a decade. Those very few have prayed and contended with us for our children. I want to thank those people for your earnest prayers and continuing in faith for us, as none of it was in vain! We covet your continued support and prayer towards that promise. Everything in God's timing...

For those who don't know our story, I will be sharing more about our 10 year journey through infertility in another post soon.

WHERE WE ARE WITH OUR ADOPTION PROCESS

We are aggressively pursuing every adoption avenue available, and are excited to learn that after 6 months of a grueling training, home studies and certifications, we are now "approved" through the State of Tennessee to foster/adopt! We went through the state, and Smoky Mountain Children's Home, as it held strategic advantages with getting things done expediently, and also with off-setting some of the heavy financial burdens and up-front cost associated with the adoption process.

We are approved to foster-to-adopt, but fostering isn't our plan at this time, and we intend to pursue all adoption avenues that are available. Because we are now qualified through the State of TN, other opportunities are available that utilize the same qualifications, so we are excited about what God will do to connect us to our child.

In fostering, there are many things that are not in the foster parent's hands, in regards to health decisions, religion, and other important factors, until you are able to fully adopt the child. For those reasons, along with others, we aren't doing just straight fostering. Although we have gotten approval through the state system, this should also help us in private adoption as we move forward, which is what we really desire. Many of the things we have had to complete to get approval, such as "Home studies", CPR, etc, would need to be done in private adoption as well. We will not be fostering unless a case comes up that will almost assuredly lead to adoption, and unless we feel it is the right fit for us at this time.

Adoption in any form is typically a very difficult and challenging process, not to mention extremely expensive, but nevertheless, we will follow the Lord's leading through this process. We are not ashamed to say that our desire is to get past the process with supernatural Godspeed, and get on with raising and loving children of our own. There are countless avenues to explore, but we want the "God avenue"! We Covet your prayers in this matter and value your support for our journey - for our biological children, as well as those we believe we will adopt.

We know exactly what God has shown us, and has graced us for at this time. There is a precious little child out there somewhere (newborn - 5 years old), and we intend to find that child. We have felt that maybe it is a girl through several encounters and dreams of ours and others, but are open to whatever the Lord has, either boy or girl. We feel He will confirm the right one for our family.

Please feel free to reach out (PRIVATELY PLEASE) if you think you have a viable connection to a scenario that is similar to this, where you know someone who is wanting to place a child for adoption, specifically in a Christian and God-fearing home. You can email me at propheticreformer@gmail.com with ADOPTION in the subject line. Please do not message me here on FB, as I simply get overrun with messages at times.

A few who have already heard our exciting news have asked us to provide a link to give monetarily towards the cost of our adoption, which as many know, can be quite costly. For those who would like to give towards this, you can do so on our ministry page by clicking the link HERE, and make sure the drop-down menu says "Adoption".

Thank you all so much for your love, prayers, and support! We love you all, and are so glad to be surrounded by such a great family - the Family of God!

With hope & excitement,

Amanda & Darin