Ellie's (and our) Story

How it began...

At the end of July, I received a text from a friend at church.  She had a friend who was trying to find a family for a little 18-month-old brown-haired, blue-eyed girl.  

John and I have been very open-armed with God about having children of our own.  We haven't tried to NOT have children, but we never got to experience seeing the blue line on the stick for ourselves.  Over the past couple of years, we started to notice the void that would surface on special holidays...and in life...and we knew something was missing.  

We hadn't formally planned to adopt yet.  We hadn't met with any agencies.  We hadn't had a Home Study.  We hadn't worked on savings to help fund any of it.  Not yet.  We just hadn't turned that corner to actively pursue it all.  It seemed so daunting.

But on the Monday that we met my friend's friend and little Miss Elizabeth for the first time, none of that really mattered.  The way she snuggled up to John...those sweet blue eyes and her happy nature...and the idea that her family didn't want her...it tugged on our hearts in a way that nothing ever had before.

So we sought council.  We sought wisdom.  We didn't want to do this out of reckless emotion...but we wanted to do this only if God meant for us to do this.  We knew we had all the love she needed...and we are surrounded by the most loving community of believers on the planet.  

Every meeting we had with pastors and friends came back a resounding, "Yes!  Absolutely!"  So we agreed to an overnight visit with Ellie in our home on Sunday, July 24th...and she's been with us every since.

Ellie was born to a 13-year-old mom in South Carolina, who's mom and stepdad adopted her.  But Grandma and Grandpa's relationship deteriorated, and the Grandpa found himself as Ellie's main caregiver.  He had a demanding job with the police force and worked long hours and extended tours.  He didn't want Ellie to constantly be in daycare, and he knew he couldn't handle parenting on his own...so he wanted to see her placed in a home that would love her and care for her well.

So we say that God dropped Ellie on our doorstep.  We believe that He lead her to us...and He lead us to her.  It truly was a match made in heaven!

• Our first challenge was getting the Consent To Adopt papers signed by the Grandparents.  Check.  (Thank God!)  
• Our next challenge is pleading for leniency with the South Carolina authorities because SC babies cannot be placed in North Carolina homes without filing paperwork that complies with the Interstate Treaty between NC and SC.  We have the cart behind the horse in this respect, since we already have accepted Ellie into our care.  We need your prayers specifically over this.
• Our most urgent (and expensive) step is to have an Expedited Home Study.  It should take 3 weeks--3 1-hour sessions.  We each will be interviewed, the agent will check out the house/neighborhood, etc.  But most of the emphasis will be on us, as potential parents.  
• Our final challenge will be going before the judge and making things completely legal.

For all of the prayers and support and love and clothing and food and gifts...we are forever grateful, and profoundly humbled.  We have been so blessed by God's gift to us...and so blessed by your love.

So that's Miss Ellie's story.  As you can see, we have a few more hurdles to cross together until we are an official family, and you can help us in so many ways.  We always will need your prayers.  We are taking donations, we are hosting a Benefit Concert on October 15th, we are selling t-shirts, and we'll be selling art prints to all help us fund this wild and crazy adventure.  

Any way that you feel you can contribute would be an incredible blessing to The Hogan Family.  We are starting to understand the "it takes a village" theory...we know we couldn't do this alone.  We are meant to be woven into community.  And we are so thankful to have all of you in our lives!