our faith statement

we sent off another important piece of our remaining parts of the adoption file, and we wanted to share this with you...it's our faith statement and also our plans for raising our child in the faith.  Thank you all so much for your continued prayers...we can feel them. 

Statement of Faith     Tiffany and D.G. Hollums

1.  State your religious and spiritual beliefs, jointly.

We believe in God:  God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit.  We believe that God is revealed fully  in the Trinity.  We believe that everything revolves around relationship with God and with one another.  We believe in Scripture, the Old and New Testament, and that it is God’s inspired word to us. 

We believe that Jesus is God in the flesh. That he died, rose, and ascended to heaven.  We believe that He will return to bring in a renewed heaven and new earth.   As we abide in Christ through relationship, we are transformed to  look and act like him. 

God has called us to love others but especially those without a voice:  the poor, widowed, orphaned, rejected, and pushed aside.   We passionately believe that God has called us to care for others; to be a transforming force in the world. 

We believe in the Church, the universal Church, and that it truly is to be the presence of Christ in the world--To be his hands and feet.  We feel a personal calling together to commit to the Church, but particularly the United Methodist Denomination as ordained clergy. 

We believe that the Kingdom of God is here, but is also yet to come.  This is a beautiful mystery.  We also believe that life is abundant with Christ, both in the future and now.  This is a much forgotten part of who we are as Christians, and it really does inform how you view others, yourself, the world, death, and your purpose.  We have joy in Christ. 

1.  State how you plan to provide for the spiritual growth of your child. 

We both passionately believe in the miracle of baptism of an infant:  there is something truly amazing that happens when a church and Christian parents make this baptismal covenant to their child to love them, model the Christian faith for them, and to surround them in Christian love.  We have made this covenant to many children, and it brings us such joy to think of it being our own child! 

We also believe, through our own lives, the importance of raising our child in the church:  taking them to Sunday school, worship, special events, youth group, etc. We want our child to be saturated in Christ and His church; to watch people pray and to be encouraged to search out their faith.  We were both given this gift by our parents and it is so important that a child be surrounded by the faith, because slowly it becomes a part of who you are as a person. 

Our home is a Christian home:   we pray as a family, serve as a family, read the Bible as a family.  It is so important to read the Bible to children, and we want to start this discipline with them as a baby.  First with pictures, that they ill remember as they grow, and then to teach and to model for them how to spend time with God. 

FBI prints....check!

D.G. and I received our FBI reports this week and they are in the mail to Edna Gladney:  i know it might be shock to you (:) but we were clear!  We also sent off our Child Abuse registry check, but we were given the wrong forms, so we are working on getting those notorized and resent this week.  We also are getting Halo and  Sushi's vaccinations up to date to send in those reports...so we are on our way. 

Just on a personal note:  We can't thank you enough for your prayers and support.  It is tough to explain our feelings and emotions through this process, but we really want to be able to share this journey with you....to be able to all rejoice over the ways that God moves and guides us. 

The first part of this journey, the infertility, was just so incredibly painful and tough.  We still have our moments of grieving, which I think is just normal.  Yet, the indescribable joy and hope that we are feeling now awaiting our next 'leg' of the journey of adoption just really is breathtaking to us.  People ask me if the process is stressful...the paperwork and waiting and unknowns, and my answer sometimes surprises folks:  NO.  it is tough to describe, but this is how I (Tiffany) explain it:  To go from having 0 hope that we would get pregnant to knowing that at the end of this process no matter how long it takes:  we will be a Mommy and a Daddy is just remarkable.  The hope that we feel is just so amazing. and I really feel that we are quite realistic about it all too.  We know it will take time, it will be tough at times, it is expensive, and there are tons of unknowns...we know this, but we are so ready.  And we really can sense a turning tide....like we are coming out of the desert to a beautiful place of life.  Wow...it is just so worth the wait, really.  we love you guys

Our Next Steps

Hello Friends,

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers.  Here is an update of where we currently are in the adoption process. 

We sent in a large packet of information the last of August, and we received a new list of items that we need to turn in to get ready for our office interview at Gladney in Dallas and the homestudy.  Once we get these items into their office, then we will get the dates set for the interview and homestudy.  So pray for us as we complete the following things:

Autobiographies (both of us write ones...no longer than 3 pages and including significant events from birth to now!  )

Faith Statement:  this is done jointly and in it we also include how we plan to spiritually guide our child.

Central Registry Check paperwork

Pet Vaccinations

Copy of our Insurance Card

a 'lady doctor' health referral for Tiffany

afloorplan of our home and uses of each room

waiting for our FBI fingerprints to be received and processed

$2000 for the home study costs

I think that is all, but we will see. 

I know the process can seem daunting and we have our days in feeling overwhelmed, but it is so amazing to see that we are making progress.  I like to think of this as us 'expecting'...we are going through the growing and getting ready that others do when they are pregnant.  This is just what ours looks like. 

We just cannot thank all of you enough.  We are still attempting to put our thanks into words on cards....that seems to be the most overwhelming part of this:  how in the world do we thank each of you who are helping to make us having a family possible.  Words just really do fail us.  But we thank God for each of you and we just have such hope. 

Join us in praying for the birth mother and father.  They are out there, and even now, our lives are all getting ready to join in a very real way.  It's incredibly tough to even wrap our hearts and minds around it all. 

Lord, you are in the one who is in charge of all of this.  Help us all to hold onto you and be directed by you.  This is YOUR child, and we are yours.  We just ask that you be glorified in this journey.  Amen. 

The first check has been sent!!!

Hello Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for taking this amazing journey with us.  yesterday was a very important day:  we sent in a check for $6,625 or 25% of our adoption program costs.  Wow!  It really is happening, and it is really tough to stop and soak it all in, you know?  The only other things that we need to do to complete our application are:  FBI background checks (getting fingerprints at the local police station to send off) and writing our autobiographies.  Then at that point, they will contact us to schedule an office interview in Ft. Worth at the Gladney offices with our case worker. 

Thank you all so much for making this miracle a possibility.  I (Tiffany) actually wrote an article today and submitted it to a contest for the Real Simple magazine answering the question:  When did you first realize that you had become a grown up?  I shared Dg and I's journey from infertilty to the hope of adoption.  Each of you are such an important part of this journey.  We are so blessed and love you each dearly.  We are all adopting!!!

Application is SENT!!!

Well, it took us longer than we would have preferred (due life and ministry), but we sent in our part of the adoption application. Our part of the application was mostly financial background and debt stuff. But it also included a medical background questionare, etc... The other parts of the application is in the hands of others. The insurance company needs to send in a letter stating that an adoption child would be covered if we adopt, the Dr. himself must send in our physicals to Gladney (the agency), and of course we have a few recommendation letters sent out that they need to write and send in to Gladney, as well. But, our part is done and send in to them. (Well, come to think of it, I do need to send in a picture of the front and back of our house, but that can happen electronically.

So, needless to say the beginning of this process is in full motion now and we are thrilled! We cannot tell enough of yall thank you for your support and help so far. 

Also, as you can see we have added (with the help of our friend Ben) a thermometer on the side of each of the website pages to show everyone where we are with the financial needs and how much more we need to go. Thanks Ben!

So, where to go from here.....

1. Once everything is sent in for the application, then the next step is the home study and flying back to Dallas/Ft. Worth for a personal interview at Gladney. 

2. Then (if approved) we get to start creating our "profiles" basically ten books that are "all about Tiffany and D.G." that will be put into the hands of the birth mothers to help them decide what adoptive parent/s are right for their child. We will also probably add another page to this website that will be our online profile that is all about us, as well. I might even put up a place for anyone to be able to leave your thoughts and encouragement for us and the birth mothers to read. (still thinking that one through). Anyway thank you as always, and Tiffany and I can not express to all of you our love and appreciation.

What can you do?

1.Pray for the Edna Gladney Adoption Agency as they continue to help families, mothers, and fathers!

2. Pray for the birth mother and her child. (and all the birth mothers)

3. Pray for me and Tiffany.

4. Continue to prayerfully give towards the adoption.

5. Pray for our friends the Rains who just adopted thier new little girl!