Home studies: they're nothing like the movies

At five til ten on the morning of October 28^th I anxiously paced the house and kept peeking out the window curtain every few minutes.  The doorbell rang, our case worker was here.  To my surprise, in walked a bright-eyed sweet young girl about our age.  From there she proceeded to “interview” Luke and I.  In reality, it felt nothing like an interview, but more like catching up with an old friend on everything from why our family chose to adopt, why Ethiopia, our marriage and of course parenting.

I look back and laugh at how worried I was about the home study.  I meticulously cleaned the house and we baby-proofed to the best of our ability.  She quickly skimmed the house and gave us a few instructions on things to fix before she returned the following day.  Prior to our home study, we had several adoptive moms and dads tell us not to worry about a thing and that the agency was on our side, but I guess I had to experience it myself.

 

It got me thinking about how I so easily define my experiences by what the world says they are supposed to look like.  When I catch myself playing this comparison game or telling myself lies about what the world can offer me, I need to, through His spirit, remind myself that Jesus is better.  Because of this truth, I am filled with an unmovable peace and an eternal perspective.  “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”  Colossians 3:2

 

So you’re probably wondering why the title Jen?  Well let me explain…

The only home study comparisons I had were those from the movies in which a crotchety old woman grills you to death and is out to get you.  Anyone familiar with this description I’m playing out?  Just like most things in life, the movies inaccurately portray everyday life.  Luke and I felt an instant bond with our case worker that went way beyond our paperwork, an eternal one.  Our God handpicked her to walk alongside of us.  I am consumed by the sovereignty of our Lord.  Sovereignty can be defined as “one possessing or held to possess supreme power or one who exercises supreme authority.”  When we confess with our lips He is a sovereign God, we can apply that to the big things in our world like the daily rising of the sun, to life’s details, like the countless steps and papers that fill our adoption journey.  He is King of it all.  I’m sure days will go by where I am walking in this truth wholeheartedly while we wait, and others where the ways of the world get me down and I need to be reminded of the freedom in these truths.

 

We are pleased to have the home study complete, as this is a big hurdle to cross in the adoption process and we will now send in our 1-600 to be approved by the United States government to adopt and allow the child to enter the US.  Then, we will continue with more and paperwork to complete our dossier which is sent to Ethiopia for translation and approval.  Then…the true wait begins.  It varies, but the average length of time we will be waiting is about a year before we receive a referral of our child.  We ask for your prayers that we can wait well.

 

One last thing I want to encourage you with is this:
If you or your family have ever felt that you may be called to adopt, but didn’t think you could either because of financial reasons or because you didn’t think your home was adequately equipped, we would love to share more with you.  We have been in utter awe of God’s provision and faithfulness to us through the whole process.  We thank you for your shared joy, love, and prayers.  Merry Christmas from our family to yours.  All our love.

 

 

Jen & Luke

Schwoch-a-bye Baby Adoption Garage Sale

 

Wee morning hours opened in prayer and ended in ceaseless praise.  Leading up to the garage sale, Luke and I thought we had a pretty good idea of about how much we thought we would raise based on the amount of stuff we had.  The Lord, through friends, family, and mere strangers completely blew us away in His provision and graciousness.

 

Not going to lie, garage sales are A LOT of work & I think the week leading up to it the words “I’d be fine never having a garage sale again” left my lips.  Looking back, I can see the fruits of the countless hours we spent preparing and also what an amazing fundraiser idea it is for families pursuing adoption.  Why?  Luke and I had the opportunity to share our hearts and souls with shoppers who were curious as to why we were doing what we were doing.  In a way, even just by shopping, we were inviting them to come alongside of us in the process.  There was one woman who drove down from a city north of Austin because she saw our ad in the newspaper and was thrilled to shop with all the proceeds going to baby Schwoch.  A few people and events stand out, but the list could go on and on…

 

 

-To Luke’s best friend Mark who drove down from Houston and woke up with us at 5 a.m. and also helped to design and donate the sign “Help us adopt by adopting our stuff” which attracted tons of shoppers to stop by

 

 

-To a precious couple in Grant and Gretchen’s small group in Brooklyn who have never even met us and chose to financially support our family and care for the orphan because they felt called

 

-To a handful of shoppers who handed us a dollar, five, ten, or even twenty to pay for their items and said “keep the change for your adoption”

 

-To our sis, Gretchen, who design the LOVED tee for us, these shirts pretty much rock

 

-To all those who we call family, friends and even those we just met, thanks for shopping and for purchasing a t-shirt and those of you that gave way more than the shirts costs, we hope you enjoy them and sport your shirt all around town

 

-To ALL of you who donated items, you are the ones that made the sale even possible

 

-To those near and far who have joined us in prayer over the sale and our adoption journey in general, it is so amazing to see family in a whole new way, God's family may not all look the same or see each other often, but is eternal!

 

 

 

-To my grandmother who has blessed us in more ways than she will ever know for opening up her house to us as our current place of residence and the place where our garage sale took place

 

-To our Schwoch-a-Bye Baby team who woke early, baked goods to sell, hung clothes, conversed with customers and were there for us

 

 



Our child is already so LOVED!  If you are interested in a t-shirt we still have some, let us know.  To see the breakdown of the earnings from the 10/19 sale check out our youcaring at: http://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/schwoch-a-bye-baby-adoption/79828

A full album of all of the photos taken for the garage sale will be coming to Facebook soon!

Love you all,

Jen & Luke Schwoch

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world

I recently attended a newborn class at a local hospital with my sis and mom.  I was there both to learn the ins and outs of infant care and for moral support.  I have yet to carry a child or have a babe to call my own to tend for, but the term “paper pregnancy” is something I have felt and has become so real in my life as we dig deeper into this adoption process.  My child and his/her biological mama consume my thoughts and prayers on a weekly, daily, even hourly basis.

The class covered everything from irregularities in babies immediately following birth to feeding logs to umbilical cord care to swaddling, etc.  Shortly into the class I found myself in tears.  As confident and joyful as I am in the Lord’s call on our life to begin to grow our family through adoption, I couldn’t help but think of all the “firsts” we will miss out on in our babe’s early life.  What will the birth experience be like?  What will our child’s first cry sound like?  Who will be the one to cut the umbilical cord?  These are just a few of the many questions that began to flood my head as I aimlessly participated in infant bathing and swaddling.

As despairing as these thoughts and questions may be for me as my child’s earthly mom, I feel an overwhelming sense of peace and hope in the sovereignty and comfort that comes from Christ.  Luke and I may miss out on some monumental events in the life of parenthood, but our child’s heavenly daddy not only won’t miss out, but has been in our child’s presence since He himself marked that being into life.   When I reflect on the many characteristics and names of God, I am overwhelmed in amazement.  God the Creator is one I am reflecting on as of late.  Specifically, in the book of Psalms, chapter 139 describes details of our existence.  “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full and well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:13-16)

Although these are verses I have read many times before, they seem to come alive to me now in a whole new way.  David describes the intimacy in the creation of life.  God, the creator of the universe, who made the planets that orbit and the tallest of mountains, is also the creator of every being that walks this earth.  To think of the details and the preciseness (and not to mention the anatomical factors) that goes into the intricacy of our bodies leave me in awe.  Even the smallest of details are His workmanship.

Every country and agency are different as far as the specifics of the adoption process.  In Ethiopia, and specifically with our agency, West Sands, there is an opportunity to meet the birth parents once the adoption is finalized assuming they are living and willing.  I could see, from an outsider’s perspective, how the adoptive parents could have some negative feelings towards the birth parents and wonder questions such as why would you want to give this precious child up for adoption?  For me, this is not the case at all.  I may not know my child’s birth parents yet, but I love them and pray for them already.  I see them as people who were created in God’s very image.  I praise God everyday that the birth mom chose life for our babe and that He predestined this specific child for our family.   I have never carried a child for 9 months, but I can imagine it to be an exhausting yet beautiful thing.  She will carry our child.  For this I am grateful.  Circumstances will be different for each child and many investigations are done, but children are put up for adoption due to abandonment, the mom dying during the birthing process (in Ethiopia specifically that is a 9:1 ratio), or the birth parents lacking resources and wanting their child to experience life to the fullest.  There are, I’m sure, many questions that will never get answered, but for now I will pursue this call like crazy and continue to dream of the day baby Schwoch is in my arms.

I LOVE adoption

“Why do you want to adopt?” This is one of the most common questions that Jen and I have gotten over the last 3-4 months. One of the things we have loved the most in the beginning stages of adoption has been the fact that no matter which way an adoption conversation goes, it’s impossible to not talk about God and His love for us in Him. So many Christians feel uncomfortable, scared or nervous to talk about their faith, and I can relate, but God has broken down those barriers and given us an avenue to talk about Him daily.

Back to the original question: why do you want to adopt? In the time that Schwoch Talk has existed and evolved into our adoption update blog, you’ve heard from Jen as she has poured out her heart for adoption and our family’s vision. I thought it would be a good time to share my heart for adoption and how I got to where I am today. Growing up I didn’t know anyone that had adopted or had been adopted. I didn’t have any adopted friends and never heard any of the churches I attended talk about adoption. Jen told me about her love for adoption at an early time in our dating relationship. I never thought much of it, just assumed we would have biological children because that was all I knew. I wasn’t against adoption in any way, just extremely uneducated.

Jen had been praying for my heart for years, I finally began to pray asking God to speak to me and show me how he wanted our family to grow. Over the course of many years, God slowly began shaping my heart to the point where now I cannot see our family without an adopted child. I began to learn the theology behind our adoption in Christ. The following verses began to speak to me very loudly about my identity and blew my mind thinking about the fact that Jesus not only died and forgave our sins, but God made us His children and we share in His inheritance with Christ: John 1:12 – “But to all who believe him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God & Galatians 4:4-6 “But when the right time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as His very own children. And because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”

A couple weeks ago I was sitting at our church, Austin Stone, listening to Jeff Mangum preach a sermon on prayer. I never expected Jeff to start talking about adoption during a sermon on prayer. I mean, what do adoption and prayer have to do with each other? Jeff went on about his experience watching families love on their adopted children in the exact same ways that they love on their biological children. If we are in Christ, we are His adopted child. We don’t let this soak in enough. Romans 8:14-17 says “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Jesus tells us how we should pray in Matthew 6, verses 9-13. He starts with “Our Father in heaven…” and continues through the rest of the Lord’s Prayer. How many of us begin our prayers with “Dear Father” and if we do, do we really understand what we are saying? This is the essence of adoption and it has everything to do with prayer. As I sat there and listened, I couldn’t hold in my excitement and the only thing I could think about was the fact that I LOVE adoption and cannot wait to bring our forever child home!

I look back at the past couple years and see how God has shaped my heart and I am so thankful. I am thankful that Jen and I get to display His love for us in a very real and apparent way. I am thankful for every one of you that reads our posts, prays for our child and its mother and supports us financially. I am thankful that each and every one of you will be tied to our family for the rest of our lives by helping us live out the gospel and bring our child home. But most of all I am thankful that God has revealed His love for us and given us a heart of love for the orphan.

Adoption Update:
I am going to start giving updates on where we are at in the process and how things are coming along. Jen and I recently sent in our Home study information packet and have been assigned a case worker. We will begin interviews with the case worker towards the end of October and hopefully finish up in November. We will then fill out more adoption paperwork with our agency, make the first of 3 agency payments, and then compile the paperwork along with the home study report into what is called the dossier and send it off for review.  Please pray for the process and that we can continue to be patient and continually be reminded that God is in control. We ask that you pray for our child (most likely unborn) and its mother wherever they may be and that God keeps His hand over her and protects her.

Our fundraising efforts have gotten off to a strong start. So far we have a raised $3,765 through our You Caring site. We are in the process of having some shirts printed that were designed by my amazingly talented sister-in-law Gretchen (stay tuned to Facebook and this blog for shirt updates) and we have our adoption fundraising garage sale coming up on Saturday October 19^th – Stop by for some breakfast, shopping and fun!

If you have not been to our You Caring fundraising website, I have included the link below.

http://www.youcaring.com/adoption-fundraiser/schwoch-a-bye-baby-adoption/79828

Why Ethiopia?

Below is a video that we created about how and why we chose to adopt from Ethiopia.  More to come soon.

-Jen & Luke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiciciTRapo

Adopted As Your Own, Alive to Make You Known -Aaron Ivey

     For years now I have felt a call the Lord put on my life to someday grow our family through adoption.  After years of prayer, & attending a gospel-centered, adoption- friendly church, I have seen Luke's heart become softened and also broken for the orphan as well.  Our family is responding to the call and slowly, but surely pursuing the long, but invaluable process of adopting a child. 

                                  Why adopt?

    "Why adopt?"  You ask.  "Isn't that just for infertile couples or a plan B or C?"  For us, it all points back to us being children of God.  He not only loved us, but adopted us into His family and kingdom.  Pastor Tony Merida said it perfectly on Sunday during his sermon, "It's theology, not biology that calls us to these orphans."  Our God could have loved and forgiven us and it would have been the greatest proclamation, but he didn't stop there, hallelujah!  Ephesians 1:5 tells us specifically "Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will."  Paul goes on in Romans 8:17 to tell us "And since we are his children, we are his heirs.  In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory.  But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering."  So in this way, we can extend physically what Christ has done in our lives.  Our prayer through this journey has and will be that our heart for adoption is God's heart for adoption.  He is for the orphan, so we are for the orphan. 

      One statistic I came across during my research was this:  "if less than 8% of Christians worldwide adopted an orphan, orphanages would be EMPTY.  With that being said, as believers one of the greatest commandments we have in this life comes from Matthew 28.  "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."  Matthew 28: 19-20.  This commandment isn't a kind request or a command reserved to church leaders, but rather a command on anyone's life who claims Christ as savior and king.  In this, we believe we have an opportunity to adopt, love unconditionally, and be earthly parents to a child who was once orphaned and may have never had the opportunity to hear the good news. 

                             Pregnancy in Adoption

      The way we have decided to grow our family may not be the American standard or the norm.  We are taking this opportunity to share the heart behind our motives and invite others to join us on our journey.  It has been said that it takes a village to raise a child, so it must also take a village to adopt a child, right?  We joke that we are pregnant in adoption, but in a way we are.  There is preparation for us as well, it may just look different and not on the 9 month timeline of having a biological child.  The wait will be long, and each day we will yearn for our forever child, but my hope and prayer is that we will draw closer to Him in the waiting as we trust in Him and give over control. 

                                What's Next?

       We took a prepare class on foster and adoption several months back through the Austin Stone Community Church, our church home.  While we already knew our family would eventually adopt, it was a great way to meet other families on our same track and learn the in's and out's of adoption (both domestic and international).  There's a lot to learn and pray through!   We are feeling called beyond US borders, and are praying for guidance and wisdom in the choosing of a country.  Although even this seems as if it's an impossible task to narrow down to one country, one orphanage, and one child when there is roughly 14 million orphans in the world today, it's one step closer to one less orphan.  We will soon begin the home study process of our journey.  We covet your prayers for provision, wisdom for the road ahead, our child, and our child's birth parents.
                                                                                      With love,
                                                                                      Jen & Luke Schwoch

To hear Tony Merida's sermon titled "Adoption:  The Apex of Redemptive Grace and Privilege" and other sermons on our spiritual adoption visit:
http://austinstone.org/resources/sermons


*Photo:  God Found us You by Lisa Tawn Bergren, a book we have already purchased and found helpful in what it will look like to process through adoption with our little one one day.



"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18
                                                                                                                        

    



                                                           

Seasons

I've always been one to have a bit of a control idol when it comes to my future; although friends & family may say a bit is the wrong adjective. The irony is that I am in the least bit in control & I am learning truth in this lesson on a daily basis, hallelujah!

After hours & hours of studying, dedication & even having to re-take some classes from back in my days at BU that didn't make the cut, I landed one of the 18 spots in the dental hygiene program at ACC. There have been tears, laughter, & maybe even some pokes & prods that my patients can vouch for ;D. Although at times it has been hard to still be considered a student, I can't imagine it any other way. We have managed & at times struggled on one income. Friends & family all around us are starting families, buying houses, & moving up in their careers. Although I rejoice in their lives & their seasons, I am embracing the fact that our family & our seasons are orchestrated by our Lord.

A few years back if I was in the position I am in now, I would have been frantic. Verses like Romans 8:28 & Jeremiah 29:11, which some of us know by heart & find so comforting, have become more applicable & allow me to fully trust in Him, His plans & His desires. Come May, the Schwoch family has more than a handful of question marks &, I by the power of Christ, can fully say "I’m okay with it." My confidence rests in the fact that before I was born, yet alone married the Lord knew my every detail & plan.

Instead of living in the "what if world" I am recognizing the fact that He predestined me to Austin, school, & who I would live life with. So instead of looking into the summer ahead & wondering where I will work, where we will live, & how we will pay off student loans, etc., I look up & cling to him.  Now on to take my National Boards!