We are the Children of God

My wife and I had the pleasure of attending a Third Day concert Saturday night at their show in Grand Prairie, TX.  One of their recent tracks, Children of God, is a powerful testimony to the scriptural basis for adoption.  Check it out.

It gets even better.  Mac Powell, the lead singer of Third Day, and his wife adopted a little boy in February of last year.  Watch him give his honest testimony at the Catalyst conference in March 2010. 

Can I really afford this??

We had our March meeting last Sunday with Bruce Kendrick from Embrace as our guest speaker. He covered the "million dollar" question that so many of us ask when we start researching adoption--how can I afford this??

Spend enough time surfing the net, and it can lead to some daunting statistics:

• International adoptions may cost anywhere from $15-60k
• Domestic birth mother adoptions may range from $10-35k
• Adoptions from the foster care system range from $0-1500
  

These upper ranges are not the average, but in some cases, adoption can become quite expensive.

The most important thing to remember in all of this, is that God can provide; it's all His anyway. If He "owns the cattle on a thousand hills" (Psalm 50:10) surely he can figure out a way to pay for your adoption!

So, Bruce covered some practical information regarding ways to fund an adoption.

First, consider less expensive alternatives. Adopting through the state foster care system typically ranges from zero to $1500. You may not be called to adopt in this way, but honestly ask God and wait for an answer.

Second, understand the government programs that are available to you.

• Federal Adoption Tax Credit: This is a dollar-for-dollar credit against your tax liability. For adoptions finalized in 2011 and 2012, the credit is actually "refundable" meaning even if you have zero tax liability, you may qualify for a tax refund based on the adoption tax credit. For adoptions which qualify as "special needs", the entire credit will apply. Adoptions which are not considered special needs will qualify for the actual hard costs incurred as a result of adoption. Speak with your tax advisor for additional information on this important resource.
• Title IV-E of the Social Security Act: Children adopted from foster care may qualify for an adoption subsidy under the federal Title IV-E program. An adoption subsidy is an ongoing monthly stipend meant to help offset the cost of raising children adopted from the state foster care system. Not all children will qualify for Title IV-E, but those who currently do may be entitled to receive the subsidy as well as Medicaid coverage. Title IV-E may help bridge the gap for families who would love to adopt but struggle with the additional financial costs of adding children to their families. Title IV-E exists because we the people recognize that permanently placing children into loving, healthy families is far better and far less costly than allowing them to linger in the foster care system.
• Private funding programs: There are many non profits that offer adoption assistance, several of which are faith based. Among them are Show Hope, Abba Fund, and Tapestry Fund. There are many others. The internet is a great resource to research them. This document from Tapestry has a list of several others. Each organization will have an application process, and many of them are matching grants as they want to see you invested financially into your adoption plan as well.
• No interest loans: There are organizations that provide no interest loans. While I cannot advocate taking on debt to adopt, this is an option available to families. They are usually short term loans which are repaid quickly and then as they are repaid the funds are lent to other families.
  
• Your support network: Bruce pointed out that we should not neglect to tap into our own personal support network of friends and family. This is an opportunity to allow our support network to come alongside us and participate in God's plan for building our family. This isn't shirking our responsibility, this is allowing the "church to be the church".

Check out the handout from the meeting.

"For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." --Ephesians 2:10