Exciting Family News!

We’re excited to announce that our family is soon to be a family of SEVEN! No, Marsha is not pregnant, but we are expecting our next child. We are in the process of adopting from China.

 

Why now?

We believe children are an incredible blessing from the Lord, and we are beyond grateful that we are ready and able to adopt another. Having three biological sons (Noah, Levi and Silas) and one adopted daughter (Zoe), we believe God has given us these gifts and enabled us to have another. Yes, raising children can be difficult, overwhelming, expensive and stressful, but oh, how they’re worth it!

When we brought Zoe home from Ethiopia 3.5 years ago, we knew it would be a tough adjustment for our family. Now, though, we can’t imagine life without her. It’s as if she’s always been a part of our family.

 

Why adoption?

Adoption is such a beautiful picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we put our faith in Jesus and in what He did for us in His death for our sins and His resurrection for our eternal life, we become God’s adopted children. There is nothing we can do to earn this adoption, but rather He chooses us. He saves us. He adopts us.

When we adopted Zoe, she did absolutely nothing to earn her adoption. We chose her, adopted her and brought her home to be a part of our family. Now, she is just as much a Drake child as our biological children. This is a picture of the gospel.

Furthermore, even though Marsha and I are still physically able to have biological children, we recognize the tremendous need for adoption in the world. There are hundreds of millions of orphans and so few people (in comparison) willing to adopt these children. We consider it an honor and a privilege to be family to a little boy or girl who might otherwise grow up without a mom, dad, sister and brothers.

Our hope is to raise our children to love and follow Jesus, to be a gospel example to those around us, and to be used of God to spur in other Christian families a longing to adopt.

 

Why China?

Because we adopted Zoe from Ethiopia, we wanted to adopt from Ethiopia again. Unfortunately, though, for various reasons, this isn’t possible. Thus, we had to pick another country.

While we didn’t necessarily feel a pull to one country over another, everything has fallen into place nicely for China to be the country. We were open to domestic adoption and also to just about any country where we could adopt an orphan needing a family. There are several factors that make China the best fit for us, and we won’t bore you with all the details. Thankfully, though, we will be able to keep our birth order the same (by adopting a baby or toddler) and are adopting from a country that has a clear, reputable process without the corruption that many other countries have.

 

Will we get a boy or a girl?

As with our first adoption, we are open to either gender. We want an orphan child who needs a family. When we were adopting from Ethiopia, we were told that our willingness to adopt either gender meant that we would get a boy, since most people specifically choose to adopt girls. We were fine with that likelihood, but surprise – we got a girl! Although it was nearly impossible for us to get matched with a girl in Ethiopia, God obviously decided that’s just what the Drake family needed next. So, Zoe is now our little girl.

Likewise, we have been told by the China program with Holt International (our adoption agency) that our willingness to adopt either gender means we will very likely get a boy. Again, we are very content with that likelihood. Even though Zoe would like to have a little sister, we as a family are open to whomever the Lord has for us.

 

When will we be bringing our child home?

While it’s still a little early in the process to know for sure, our hope, prayer and expectation is to bring our child home within the next year. We’ll be keeping people posted with updates on DrakeCity and on social media.

 

How can you pray?

Adoption can be a very overwhelming and difficult process, so we greatly covet your prayers for our family right now. We just finished the home study portion of the process and are beginning to gather our China dossier – a very large file with lots of paperwork. Here are some ways you can be praying for us…

1. Please pray that we will rely on the Lord, and that He will be our source of hope, strength, wisdom and joy.
2. Please pray that things will go well logistically as we continue to move forward in the process.
3. Please pray for our child. He/she may or may not have already been born. Please pray for his/her health, development, protection and salvation.
4. Please pray for Noah, Levi, Silas and Zoe. They are very excited about getting a new brother or sister, so please pray that excitement will continue, and that they will be drawn closer to the Lord and closer to one another throughout this process.
5. Please pray for financial provision. Adoption is very expensive, as we know very well from our last adoption, but we serve a faithful God who provides for our needs. We trust He will continue to do so.
6. Please pray for God’s name to be glorified throughout this process, and in and through our lives.

 

If you have any questions or want more information, please contact us. For those who wish to donate to our adoption, please click HERE. To support our adoption and get a really cool shirt, click on the shirt below.